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(Gene Cosloy) wrote in message . com...
Thanks to all who posted particularly John whose comments cockpit
fit and posture I've recently come to appreciate. I'm now about a
month later in my search and am welcoming a well fitting cockpit which
only a month ago I found confining. The boats I still like are the WS
Tempest 170Pro, the P&H Quest, and the Necky Chatham 16 (only demoed
the plastic model). I've settled on a 21 to 22 inch beam and a boat
that has reasonable primary stability bit feels lively on the water.
I need a large deck depth for size 11-12 feet .

Recent experience needs to add the Impex Currituck to the above list.
Last evening I also paddled the Necky Chatham 16 and 18 composite
boats. The 16 had all the positive attributes of the Poly version
which I had previously paddled and enjoyed a lot. Unfortunately it
also shared the one negative I felt about both boats, an uncomfortable
combing width of but 15". Gravity allowed me to enter the cockpit and
once there was quite comfortable. Getting out, however was another
problem: my average size hips needed another 1" of width and I could
see myself getting stuck and capsizing leaving the boat or worse
getting stuck during a wet exit upside down. The Necky people
recommended twisting the hips so one enters and leaves before the
other. Minor annoyance to them, dumb design and lack of forethought to
me!! Interestingly, the 18' with only a 20" beam had a larger combing
and was not a problem. While the Necky Chatham 16 performed great and
would have been my first choice, it was edged (no real pun) out by the
Currituck which had a more traditional 16" wide cockpit, seemed easier
to edge and lean, and seemed to be more lively and faster straight
ahead then the Chatham. Since every boat design involves tradeoffs the
designer had in mind, I can only conclude that of all the boats I've
paddled, the Currituck's tradeoffs are the ones I most agree with.
While the Currituck also felt faster, more lively, and faster than the
Tempest 170, it was not as fast as the P&H Quest, nor was it as
straight ahead tracker as the Quest. Again, tradeoffs, make your
choices.

Thanks to all who helped me along this interesting learning journey.

Gene