Sea Kayak review
Rick Barrett
I am considering the boat for paddling in a wide variety of water
from bayous and bays to the Gulf of Mexico (I live in Pensacola,
Florida).
Currently I have a Valley boat, the Selkie model. I like it a
lot but after four years I am looking for something sportier and
more challenging.
Any thoughts on the Hawk or other boats would be appreciated.
Thanks
Rick Barrett
Pensacola, Fl.
--
Rick Barrett
to...@islandnet.com
I paddled the Artic Hawk last year at the Task Symposium. I felt it was very responsive and handled well.
I have not however, paddled it fully loaded or in rough water.
One boat you might try is either the Ascente by Seaward, or the Arluk II by
Necky Kayaks. If you like greenlander style , sporty boats these will be up your alley.
The other boat worth reviewing is the Lootas by Nimbus ( now Rainsfort Designs)
It has a high rocker, tracks well , and is very senstive.
I hope this helps .
Happy Paddline.
Al Pietzold
> Does anyone have an opinion on Wilderness System's Arctic Hawk.
>I am considering the boat for paddling in a wide variety of water
>from bayous and bays to the Gulf of Mexico (I live in Pensacola,
>Florida).
> Currently I have a Valley boat, the Selkie model. I like it a
>lot but after four years I am looking for something sportier and
>more challenging.
> Any thoughts on the Hawk or other boats would be appreciated.
> Thanks
> Rick Barrett
> Pensacola, Fl.
>
>--
>Rick Barrett
Rick,
I don't have direct experience with the Artic Hawk. Another paddler up
north here (Rochester NY) traded in his Eddyline for one, because he was
more interested in the West Greenland style. I paddle a P&H Baidarka
Explorer, one of Derek Hutchinson's early designs. I'd suggest that you
check into kayaks from Southern Exposure, which is located on the east
coast of Florida. That's where I bought my boat from. They build kayaks
designed by Derek Hutchinson and Nigel Foster, both well known British
paddlers. Their boats are classic British types, which generally means
very fast and seaworthy, but also very narrow,"sporty", and
"challenging". If you need Southern Exposure's address or phone number
let me know, and I'll look it up.
Al
Scott Ives
I've never paddled the boat, but I sat in one. It is very pretty in a
simple, straightforward way. I liked its uncluttered deck and sharp
lines. It reminds me of a cross between a real Greenland Eskimo boat and
a Nordkapp. They also make a somewhat smaller version of this boat - I
think they call it the Sparrow. Both should paddle very well if you are
at least an intermediate- if not be prepared to get a little wet until
you become one!
Chris Holtz
75>I am considering the boat for paddling in a wide variety of water
75>from bayous and bays to the Gulf of Mexico (I live in Pensacola,
75>Florida).
75> Currently I have a Valley boat, the Selkie model. I like it a
75>lot but after four years I am looking for something sportier and
75>more challenging.
75> Any thoughts on the Hawk or other boats would be appreciated.
75> Thanks
75> Rick Barrett
75> Pensacola, Fl.
Rick,
I've paddled both the Artic Hawk and the smaller Artic Sparrow at the
Chesapeake Paddlefest and enjoyed them both. Wilderness Systems boats
generally have excellent pricing which makes them deserve serious
consideration. If you haven't already, you might also try two boats
from VCP, the hard-chined AnasAcuta, and its soft-chined sister, the
Pintail. Both are lower volume boats like the Sparrow and are great
playboats. The Artic Hawk is one of the largest volume hard-chined
boats I've seen, and I'm not sure I'd label it as a "playboat"
especially for smaller paddlers.
Chris Holtz
Cambridge MD
---
* OLX 2.1 TD * All hope abandon, ye who enter messages here.
JohnDurrua
any questions. you can call me at 908-458-5777 (Jersey Paddler) or E-mail
me at pad...@gramercy.ios.com
LKFJR
makes quite a lot of difference. Better way to judge this is to look at
relative times, not places. Look at winning times and then the times of
the later placings.
I suggest you contact Lesley Collins in St. Petersburg at Suncoast Sea
Kayak. She is quite knowledgeable in both Euro and Greenland style
paddling and has boats of both persuasions. After paddling a Selkie, you
might appreciate a narrow kevlar model.
Bruce Fisher
<75121...@CompuServe.COM> wrote:
> Does anyone have an opinion on Wilderness System's Arctic Hawk.
> I am considering the boat for paddling in a wide variety of water
> from bayous and bays to the Gulf of Mexico (I live in Pensacola,
> Florida)...
My subjective impression is that although a very attractive boat, it is
one of the slowest kayaks I've ever paddled - not to be a flame-bait
statement - just my 2 cents worth.
--
- Bruce Fisher
b...@ssnet.com
http://ssnet.com/~bef/BrucesPaddlingPage.html
{Public PGP key available}
ESzcze
-one of the slowest kayaks I've ever paddled - not to be a flame-bait
-statement - just my 2 cents worth.
--
- Bruce Fisher
-b...@ssnet.com
-http://ssnet.com/~bef/BrucesPaddlingPage.html
-{Public PGP key available}
Interesting...Atlantic Coastal Kayaker's Blackburn Challenge 1995 race
results has many Artic Hawks as decently placed finishers.
Randy Bullard
>
>--
>- Bruce Fisher
I think that "seat of the pants" impressions are misleading. For instance,
I sell both
the Reiver designed by Derek Hutchinson and the Legend designed by Nigel
Foster. To me
the Reiver should be slower than the Legend. However, when ever I paddle
the Reiver, it
seems just as fast. I just took a refresher course from Nigel Foster this
past weekend.
During our break, he was talking about the design differences between the
Reiver and the
Legend. The obvious thing is that the Legend is longer. What is not obvious
is that where
you sit in the Legend is behind the center of the boat. With the Reiver,
you sit in the
center. This means that you are farther from the front of the boat. Later
it hit me. Just
like cars with longer front ends seem like they are going slower than cars
with short
front end, kayaks with longer front ends seem slower even though they may
be faster.
You have to rely on something more reliable than impressions when judging
boat speed.
Randy Bullard
Classic Kayaks