Hi Shawn,

Nice to hear from you about boat design/compromise. And real good to hear from an experienced hand with this exact boat design like Jack who has paddled this very boat for 2 1/2 years now. Like I said though I was NOT making ANY comment on THIS boat, because I do not know it, I was just pointing out there is a difference between compromise and compromised.

: I don't believe it is a "compromised" design. I think compromise is
: more accurate. I think these designs also reflect Nick's taste in boats.
: If your taste in boats is similar to his, then you have a winner. The
: designer can't design one style of boat to fit all paddlers...

: Benefits of maneuverability over tracking are much greater control--when
: surfing chop or wind waves, you're much less likely to broach, since the
: boat isn't as likely to dig into the wave and spin you sideways. When
: playing in tidal rapids or currents, you need your paddle strokes to have
: great effect, and not have a "twitchy" hull pulling you every
: which way.

: Learning to paddle in a straight line is not so much an
: "adjustment" as it is skills refinement. Using those same
: straight line paddle strokes will be just as efficient in a strong
: tracking boat as they are in a maneuverable boat--your properly balanced
: strokes are just more apparent in the looser boat.

: If your gear load is causing your boat to weathercock, a strong tracking boat
: will be more difficult to bring back onto course (note that I am only
: talking about poorly trimmed boats--boats that weathercock too much with
: no gear load are a design flaw). A tiny bit of weathercocking is
: preferable to leecocking, but that's a whole other issue.