Thread: Boat style
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Brian Nystrom
 
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Default Boat style



jal wrote:

OK, now I see that these are from the same guy, different article.


Exactly. You have one person's opinion. Now look at what the
overwhelming majority of people who do expeditions are paddling. They're
using sit-in kayaks, which should tell you something.

The whole re-entry thing is a red herring. With good bracing skills,
capsizes are not much of an issue and sit-in boats are typically much
better than SOT's when dealing with the steep waves that cause capsizes.
Wide boats cannot be leaned into waves effectively and are prone to
being thrown over. Learn to roll and re-entries become largely a
non-issue. Paddle with other skilled paddlers and even if you do come
out, you can be back in the boat in less than a minute (yes, we practice
this and it's easily done). Sit-in boats also do a far better job of
protecting the paddler from the elements. They keep you drier, which can
be critical to comfort on long trips.

There are good reasons why sit-in boats are preferred by most sea
kayakers. There is no such thing as an "inherently safer" boat, only
safer paddlers.