new wave "sleek"?
David Smart
If so, how is it?
I need a new boat and I've seen alot of them out there. I'me 5'10" and
200, and it looks like a boat that would stern quirt fairly well. Right
now i'm back in my old Infinity. Let me know what you think. Thanks.
victoria christian
Might be too little for you. They are pretty tight little boats.
Incredibly maneuverable and quick. Sweet looking little craft - but all
the men I've seen in them are smallish. Bigger guys seen to go for
the pyrannah (sp?) Acrobats.
>
Andrew Douglas
CGQ...@prodigy.com (David Smart) wrote:
>anyone paddling this boat?
>If so, how is it?
>I need a new boat and I've seen alot of them out there. I'me 5'10" and
>200, and it looks like a boat that would stern quirt fairly well. Right
>now i'm back in my old Infinity. Let me know what you think. Thanks.
>
Ya gotta paddle it. This is a boat that you either love to death or
hate...and it would not be a good choice as an only boat, IMHO. It surfs
incredibly well, and even a midweight like me (155) can stern squirt it,
BUT....it takes a lot of effort on your part to make it perform...very,
very slow (at nine feet, what do you expect?), and many if not most find
the outfitting uncomfortable.
Give it a try, and draw your own conclusions. Me, I chose a Transition
instead.
Andrew Douglas, Belvoir Publications, Greenwich, CT USA
===================
Did he say "squid"?
Jon Sword
> In article <43fllf$1e...@usenetw1.news.prodigy.com>, CGQ...@prodigy.com (David Smart) says:
> >
> >anyone paddling this boat?
> >If so, how is it?
> >I need a new boat and I've seen alot of them out there. I'me 5'10" and
> >200, and it looks like a boat that would stern quirt fairly well. Right
> >now i'm back in my old Infinity. Let me know what you think. Thanks.
I have MANY friends who are paddling the SLEEK and all of them
love it. I have seen 145-150 lb. guys do stern squirts on small eddie
lines. They love the way it surfs, and blasts. I have seen them
blast some pretty big hydrolics with bigger smiles on there faces!
Other people that I know call it an "Idiot Boat" because you don't
even have to think to make it do things it just does them. I have
friends paddling them from 145-220 lbs. and they don't have any
problems with size. Actually I can think of one case where there was
a problem but it seamed to be unique to his boat. He eventually
traded bulkheads with a friend and his boat was OK (he also had very
long legs).
Hope this helps!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jon Sword
Carleton University
Email address: jsw...@chat.carleton.ca
WWW: HTTP://chat.carleton.ca/~jsword TRY IT OUT!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Phil Green
>
>> In article <43fllf$1e...@usenetw1.news.prodigy.com>, CGQ...@prodigy.com (David Smart) says:
>> >
>> >anyone paddling this boat?
>> >If so, how is it?
>> >I need a new boat and I've seen alot of them out there. I'me 5'10" and
>> >200, and it looks like a boat that would stern quirt fairly well. Right
>> >now i'm back in my old Infinity. Let me know what you think. Thanks.
>
> I have MANY friends who are paddling the SLEEK and all of them
>love it. I have seen 145-150 lb. guys do stern squirts on small eddie
>lines. They love the way it surfs, and blasts. I have seen them
>blast some pretty big hydrolics with bigger smiles on there faces!
I really think this boat should have been named the Blast! I am 6' and 175 lbs and
love my Sleek. This boat surfs like a dream but really shines when there's some
backwash to juice up the surf. No waves to surf? Find an eddyline and have a blast
doing stern squirts. At 200 lbs David Smart is at the upper weight range for this
boat and will definitely have to be prepared to spend some time looking up into the
sky.
>Other people that I know call it an "Idiot Boat" because you don't
>even have to think to make it do things it just does them.
Sketchy bro'. So what? Time to leave the comfort zone and take your paddling up to
the next level with this boat. Boat designs are changing rapidly and when the design
is successful (however that is defined), then the things that it was designed to do
should be easier. If that clogs up the play spots with barflys that's just too bad.
I'd rather be blasting a screaming wave in an "Idiot Boat" than fighting it in a boat
whose design is just not suited to it. These "other people" probably all paddle
classic Dancers and have "river God" attitudes. You know the type.
The Sleek is not perfect of course. No boat is. It has very little hull speed as a
result of its blasting capabilities and its short length. The rocker in the stern
starts right behind the cockpit and you really need to get your weight forward to get
any speed out of this boat. It does not backsurf very well. You really need to shred
and keep that stern out of the slab or else its all over. Unless there's a little bit
of foam pile you can use to turn it over into a front surf. It has pretty soft chines
and does not turn/carve very sharply (compared to say the Super Sport or the
Scorpion). This can be partially offset by the rail effects achievable with the stern
on certain big, steep waves. The easy access to the 3rd dimension with the stern is
offset by the relatively difficult access with the bow. The Sleek has a short and
bulbous bow and will ender but not as easily as other boats, nor are the results as
dramatic when the buoyancy kicks in. Rodeo moves like the McTwist are difficult.
If you spend a large percentage of your paddling time surfing waves like we do here
in Ottawa then the Sleek could be your fun machine. If you want a stepping stone to
squirt boating or are a squirt boater looking for some bow volume for flat and
controlled boof landings on steeper runs look at the Sleek. If you want a high
performance rodeo machine I would suggest a boat with a little pointier bow and lots
more edge.
See the Sleek in action at http://www.synapse.net/~kayaker/space.html
Phil Green
Idiot Boater
Phil Green
Jon Sword
jsw...@chat.carleton.ca (Jon Sword) wrote:
> >
> >Other people that I know call it an "Idiot Boat" because you don't
> >even have to think to make it do things it just does them.
> Sketchy bro'. So what? Time to leave the comfort zone and take your
>paddling up to the next level with this boat. Boat designs are
>changing rapidly and when the design is successful (however that is
>defined), then the things that it was designed to do should be
>easier. If that clogs up the play spots with barflys that's just too
>bad. I'd rather be blasting a screaming wave in an "Idiot Boat"
>than fighting it in a boat whose design is just not suited to it.
>These "other people" probably all paddle classic Dancers and have
>"river God" attitudes. You know the type.
Hey the term IDIOT BOAT is not an insult, I would love to be
an idiot in one. Makes for a great day of paddling and it makes me
look good! (and that is really important!) Sorry about the confusion.
> If you spend a large percentage of your paddling time surfing waves
>like we do here in Ottawa then the Sleek could be your fun machine.
Yah, I do spend a lot of my time surfin' waves in Ottawa.
Actually I live up in Beachburg for the summer!
> See the Sleek in action at http://www.synapse.net/~kayaker/space.html
> Phil Green
> Idiot Boater
Jon Sword
fellow idiot boater
StephenLAc
Bill Wells
(StephenLAc) wrote:
> What's your take on this boat for a 120 pound paddler?
I'm 125-130 pounds, own a sleek and love it. It's not as easy to stern
squirt for me, but with good technique and some luck it occasionally
works. It's an awesome play boat. For me it's the most comfortable boat
i've ever owned. Some folks will vehemently disagree with that, however -
it depends on leg length, etc.
The drawbacks: It's slow. I've gotten cartwheeled and kept in some holes
that I was trying to punch through. But always got out too. Not much space
for self support, either, but what are friends for?
get one,
Bill
Savage Yak
big stern squirts without a whole lot of effort. This boat also surfs well
and blast holes where most others can not. The down side to this design
is thats about all it's good for. The high volume bow with the rounded
chines [or lack thereof] doesn't allow for enders, pirouttes, mctwists,
etc... you might have limited success but thats as good as it will get...
The funky cockpit/seat position doesnot promote correct paddling form.
All in all, this boat can keep you entertained for a long time, but it
will still be a bummer when someone else is having more fun.....see ya on
the river, WILD BILL...
Phil Green
>The funky cockpit/seat position doesnot promote correct paddling form.
What *exactly* do you mean by "funky cockpit/seat position" and how
*exactly* does it *not promote correct paddling form*?
I'm not disputing your claim, just that you didn't exactly make your
case.
Phil Green
Doug Jackson
I never got a chance to try the sleek in a good ender
spot, but the frontend seemed to go down pretty easily.
I was also able to do some McTwist type moves in a small
pourover/hole. Actually they were like cartwheels only
about 30-45 degrees high (not vertical) [which from what
I understand is a McTwist - correct me if I'm wrong]. The
boat seemed to come around fine. The backend actually
landed on the rock forming the pourover at times.
This boat was indeed about the easiest plastic boat I have found
for stern squirts. Definitely easier than the super sport.
The boat was very nimble for surfing as well.
_ ( ) .
\ \ oo \ / \ paddles? we don't need
Douglas S. Jackson \ | <_ \ | no stinkin' paddles...
Cray Research Park \.__ / \ |
655F Lone Oak Drive \---// \ | (cow doing an cartwheel
Eagan, MN 55121 \ // \ / | in a sleek)
(612) 683-5637 \' | |
|\ \ /
~~~ ~W~W~ ~W~
--
-Doug
Dsj@hickory015.cray.com (doug Jackson)
edu!news.sprintlink.net!in1.uu.net!mr.net!news.mr.net!timbuk.cray.com!
driftwood.cray.com!dsj
From: d...@hickory015.cray.com (Doug Jackson)
Originator: dsj@hickory015
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Nntp-Posting-Host: hickory015
References: <43fllf$1e...@usenetw1.news.prodigy.com> <44h00d$soe@newsbf02.
news.aol.com> <44knkv$g...@sentinel.synapse.net>
Phil Green
>I never got a chance to try the sleek in a good ender
>spot, but the frontend seemed to go down pretty easily.
>I was also able to do some McTwist type moves in a small
>pourover/hole. Actually they were like cartwheels only
>about 30-45 degrees high (not vertical) [which from what
>I understand is a McTwist - correct me if I'm wrong]. The
>boat seemed to come around fine. The backend actually
>landed on the rock forming the pourover at times.
This is encouraging news, I still have a fair amount of difficulty
with this move ( I'm refering to the McTwist initated with the bow).
There's no doubt the Sleek will ender, any boat will given the proper
river conditions. My point about the difficulty with McTwists
initiated with the bow has to do with the shape of the Sleek's bow and
how difficult it is to stick it into the slab at a small angle (as you
suggest about 30-45 degrees) compared to say a Super Sport or a
Scorpion. The Sleek's bow is not as pointy as these boats and instead
of stabbing into the slab and slicing through the hole's backwash, the
Sleek's bow with its greater volume at the tip tends (for me anyway)
to either simply pop the boat up or sort of bounce off the slab
instead of stabbing into it.
The stern is killer though. Maybe not enough volume in the stern
however for real rodeo stars.