Builders' Forum Archives

Re: sport tandem

Posted by Steve C on Jun 28, 2004

Mike:

Some misc. comments from my experiences -

I have a CLC Triple that I use with my kids. My kids are now 9, 8, and 4, and all have been in the boat in CALM waters for two years. My youngest, a girl, has been cool as a cucumber in the boat since day one. The CLC Triple exhibits monolithic stability and high freeboard, which are assets when using the boat with kids. I am, however, essentially the sole power source when paddling with the kids, and 80 percent of the power when their petitie Mom is in front. Therefore, I find my range limited to about six miles with the kids. Now that my son (9) is older, and can paddle in a contributory way, I would perhaps venture into a one foot chop this year.

If your kid is a natural at kayaking, perhaps she'll be up to it by the time the boat is built. But I haven't heard anything about the Sport Tandem that suggests stability - personally, I think that LeeG's suggestion of the Eider or CLC 16 is more approriate for use with young ones. By the time its outgrown, she'll be ready for her own.

From what I know about the Sport Tandem, I think it would be a boat to grow into, but at least for me, I'm thinking that my kids would need have a decent level of competency in order to crew with me in that boat. But, by that time, I would expect that they would want their own boats anyway. The boat we have now requires no skills on the part of my youngest kids.

Also, I think that you might have to ballast the boat up front to level it out and retain its designed paddling characteristics. I have used up to 30 pounds of water ballast to level out my Triple with the kids in it. This was necessary in order to preserve the ability to turn the boat.

FYI: This months issue of Atlantic Coastal Kayaker is devoted to kayaking with kids.

Our first family trip of the season is tonite in Monmouth Beach NJ.

Best Regards, Safe Paddling,

Steve C CLC LT17 CLC Triple