Stability difference
Paddled it again today. My impression is that it has a little less primary stability than the Explorer--stability that I don't need or miss--but has huge secondary due to the thigh bumps. At least, I think that's what it is. Made it hard to dip the coaming into the water, there was so much resistance from the shape of the thigh bumps (I can dip the Explorer's coaming below the water despite its being a wider boat with narrower cockpit). Then again, if you're heavier, it might be easy to do simply from sinking the boat down more.
The bumps make me think of old pickup trucks with flare sides, what I jokingly call the muscular haunches.
Yesterday I added a small wedge of minicell under each side to improve the fit. And they did. Got a bit more secure feel for rolling with zero interference with forward stroke. I could add more but I'll hold off on that. The stock backband is going to stay in its back-of-the-seat-lip position; it's lighter than the Snapdragon backband and gives me about 1/2" transition past the top of the glass seat's back lip.
Hatches were all dry after 40-something rolls.
Speed impression is interesting. As expected, it's been easier to get moving from a dead stop, compared with the Explorer. Also as expected, it feels faster at moderate effort and cadence. Nice glide. What's a little surprising is how much easier it feels for that gain in speed. At a sprint, they feel similar. Completely subjective report, of course, no GPS used.