Thinking of buying a kayak

[wil2195]

Hi im thinking of buying a kayak im 6ft 3 an about 17stone can anyone got any suggestions which one to get? Gonna try fishiing in the teifi estuary for bass to begin with then maybe cardigan bay when i get used to it, anyone on here fishing this area with a kayak?

[Shropfisher]

Welcome and good luck, there is a lot of choose, every one will promote what ever they bought, so I won't be any differrant, After much research I chose the Ocean Prowler big game, I believe it's the largest in the sit on range, the most stable, not the fastest, but then I'm not entering any races, Plan on using it around the Poole area, also looking at going to Jersey this summer for hols, definetly taking the Yak, or I won't go !!

[Simon Everett]

There is a lot of misinformation about kayak stability and wider kayaks being more stable, normally put about by people new to kayaking - it is bunkum. As a kayak angler since 1972 and having built my own and been involved with the design of fishing kayaks I feel qualified to answer this.

Wide kayaks appear stable on flat water, in that they do not move about - do not confuse this with stability, it is not the same thing, that is simply lack of movement, which is not stability. Stability is the ability to not tip over, do not confuse a kayak that moves on flat water with one that is unstable.

Kayak stability is mostly governed by centre of gravity, and as YOU are the biggest mass on you your kayak the height at which YOU sit greatly affects the stability - the higher the seat, the higher the C of G and so the less stable it is. The American market is the largest, so it is natural that the main manufacturers build for that market - big blokes on flat wtaer who don't want to get their bum wet. This KAYAKING we are talking about, you are going to get wet.

Given a set kayak, raising the seat height just one inch loses 17 degrees of capsize angle. Simply dropping your head height by bending forward or backwards will alter the stability of a kayak - beneficially. Your head is actually quite heavy, and it is stuck up in the air!

To understand kayak stability you have to understand HOW they work. A solidly stable kayak is a liability in rough water. There is no feedback and the flat section bottom has to remain flat to the water - a wave isn't flat, it comes at an angle, or it isn't a wave. The flat bottom has to remain at whatever angle to the water the water takes - steep wave means the kayak stays flat to it - at an angle. Result, you fall off very quickly.

How can a slim kayak be more stable than a wide one? Given the same hull section, it can't. BUT, a rounded hull slim kayak will be MUCH more stable than a wider flat one, and roundness above the water line does nothing to stability - it is not in the water so it cannot do anything. It is the underwater section that you need to look at.

A round hulled kayak can mould itself to the face of a wave, so in rough water the "stable" kayak tips you off, the "skinny, unstable" one stays upright.....which one has the stability now?

Next - paddle ability. A kayak is manually propelled by a paddle. YOU provide the enrgy to propel yourself and the craft. On a wide, high kayak you have to reach down to the water and your paddle stroke is restricted by the width of the kayak. A longer paddle overcomes this somewhat, but the longer lever puts more strain on you - pick up a bag of shopping in your hand - now pick up that same bag of shopping on the end of a broom handle, same weight, more pressure on you though.

So you have lost out in the fact that the kayak is heavier, less stable and more difficult to paddle. Now we'll add some wind into the equation shall we.....the windage of the bigger kayak is now also working against you, because you have to paddle it through the wind - going with the wind is easier,but it stillis nowhere near as afst as a slimmer kayak with less windage, even though you would think it would help.

this is because of the amount of water the wider kayak has to shifdt to make its way through the water - and the distance that water has to travel around the kayak.

I was marshalling at the Exmouth event (over 100 kayak anglers there for this one!) and giving free paddle tuition. On the Sunday the wind got up to force 7, so the comp was called off. I could paddle my kayak at over 5 knots into the wind to go and fetch a few kayaks sittingoff a headland about 2 miles away. Coming back with them downwind I only needed to hold my paddle across, out of the water, and I was going faster than they were paddling. THAT is what I call easy to paddle.

may i suggest anyone looking for a kayak come to one of the workshops being held on safety and paddle tuition this summer, it will save you a fortune in wrong decisions.

i have a little feature done on how kayak speed is not for racing - it is for SAFETY. You say I am not entering any races - but just look at the figures to see how your kayak speed very quickly affects your safety. i will go and finsd it and post it up.