Re: Which boat to build?

Posted by J.Schott on Oct 19, 2005

I have paddled all three and my favorite, by far, is the Artic Hawk. Last April I paddled the WR18 and then the AH. As far as cockpit room goes, to me, there was little difference between the two. I'm not sure but the demo probably has the optional larger cockpit. The handling of the AH is what sold me right away. There is something almost magical about the way it handles. To me it seemed like it almost knew what I wanted to do before I did (if that makes any sense). It is not affected much at all by wind, and there was plenty of it that weekend. A close second is the Shearwater. It tracks like a Chesapeake but is easier to turn. It has a more room in the cockpit than the AH but is not what I would consider a large cockpit. It is also a very pretty boat, pictures do it no justice at all. For the record I'm 5'10", 210 lbs and wear a 9 1/2 shoe. All three boats fit tighter than my CH17, in a good way. I felt more connected to the boats and it took less input from my legs to make them do what I wanted. The WR 18 was the fast one of the bunch. It would be easy to cover a lot of distance in it. It's going to depend on what you want out of a boat. Clear as mud huh!-Joey

In Response to: Re: Which boat to build? by John Foster on Oct 19, 2005

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