Shearwater

Posted by LeeG on Oct 3, 2005

if the hull is the same as the Merganser 17 I paddled it 5yrs ago it's tippier than a Chesapeake, about midway between a Northbay and Chesapeake, a smidge tippier than a Caribou, tracks as firmly as a Chesapeake but will respond better on a lean with less of a slide to a broach as the Chesapeake/Northbay with waves from the stern. I can't compare it to the Arctic Hawk but I'm guessing it's more resistant to weathercocking. Knee room for thigh bracing is good but if you're used to splaying your legs far apart your knees will hit the side deck panel. Foot room is good. Basically if you are a 6' person and don't know how to brace you'll be learning eventually even in flat water with the SW17 whereas a person paddling a Chesapeake could get away with butt balancing in flat water. It's much more predictable than the Northbay regarding the transition to capsize I'm guessing the volume of the SW17 is a smidge less than a Chesapeake 16. I don't mean to give the impression it's overly tippy ,it's not,at some point a kayak that's meant to be leaned to apply steering input or feel comfortable in chop has to be easy to lean, whether it's 25" or 20" wide. The important thing to me is how linear the correlation between lean and turn is. With this hull it is. One thing that takes hp is paddling in wind,,in waves you can finesse more with technique but when it come to paddling from point A to point B a lower windage kayak like the SW17 that responds well to a lean will get you from point A to point B with less energy and more comfort than more stable kayaks like the Chesapeake or theoretically faster kayaks like the Northbay that eat up energy bracing or managing waves from the stern. I've built a Patuxent17, MC13,Ch16,18,Northbay,Pax20,my own 18'x21s&g,PygmyCoho,PygmyGE13,Merganser 17W,16,18 and have owned about a dozen production sea kayaks. Generally a surf chicken but have paddled the Patuxent,Northbay,Coho,Ch16,Merganser16 in the surf and high winds so I have a sense how they handle for comparison.

In Response to: Re: Pgymy vs CLC by Brad Shook on Oct 3, 2005

Replies:

• Re: Shearwater by J.Schott on Oct 3, 2005
  • Re: Shearwater by Brad Shook on Oct 4, 2005
    • Re: Shearwater by CLC on Oct 4, 2005