I would be interested in the opinions of anyone who has owned or paddled P&H
Kayaks? The Vela is of particular interest to me but, doubting that someone
will have experience with that particular boat, comments regarding the
general build quality of P&H's fiberglass and Kevlar kayaks would be
welcome. FYI - I have looked at the reviews on Paddling.net and all of the
comments were very favorable (but 90+ percent of the reviews on Paddling.net
are favorable!).
Chuck

"Wright" wrote in message
.. .
I would be interested in the opinions of anyone who has owned or paddled
P&H
Kayaks? The Vela is of particular interest to me but, doubting that
someone
will have experience with that particular boat, comments regarding the
general build quality of P&H's fiberglass and Kevlar kayaks would be
welcome. FYI - I have looked at the reviews on Paddling.net and all of
the
comments were very favorable (but 90+ percent of the reviews on
Paddling.net
are favorable!).
Chuck


I bought a P&H Vela about 3 years ago and love it. The build quality is
very good if a bit heavier than say Current Designs. The Vela is really
made for smaller paddlers than I, 6'1" and 160 lbs, but I really like it.
As I paddle with very little extra gear I found many boats floated too high
and felt to "cork like" without extra ballast. I wish the thigh braces were
a bit more extreme, but most sea kayaks have only vestigial braces IMO. I
come from a whitewater background. There aren't many dealers around but
they are worth checking out. The only boat I liked as well as the Vela was
a Current Design Caribou S. Both had hard chines, which I like, but the
Caribou was nearly two feet longer and I have storage issues.

Tim McTeague

On 7/2/04 5:33 AM, in article , "Tim
McTeague" wrote:


I bought a P&H Vela about 3 years ago and love it. The build quality is
very good if a bit heavier than say Current Designs. The Vela is really
made for smaller paddlers than I, 6'1" and 160 lbs, but I really like it.
As I paddle with very little extra gear I found many boats floated too high
and felt to "cork like" without extra ballast. I wish the thigh braces were
a bit more extreme, but most sea kayaks have only vestigial braces IMO. I
come from a whitewater background. There aren't many dealers around but
they are worth checking out. The only boat I liked as well as the Vela was
a Current Design Caribou S. Both had hard chines, which I like, but the
Caribou was nearly two feet longer and I have storage issues.

Tim McTeague


Thanks for the comments. I really did not think that I would 'luck-out' and
hear from someone who actually owned a Vela! I am a 130 lb male so the Vela
would appear to be made for someone like me; I am very familiar with the
cork like feeling that you describe. Even though I do not come from a
whitewater background I also like more substantial thigh braces - makes me
feel more in control of the boat. I guess if in the likely scenario that I
wind up buying a Vela that would give me something to tinker with! You did
not say anything about the rather narrow beam of the Vela - so I will take
that as a positive. The hard chines probably help.
Chuck

I have had nothing but good luck with the P&H Roto Capella I've had. It packs
a lot and rolls easily. I am sure it could do a lot more than what I put it
through.

My friends have different P&H boats and they are happy with theirs. Two guys
(one a VERY accomplished paddler) have the Sirius and another has the Quest.
My "expert" friend would say "go Brittish," regardless. That's one considered
opinion, anyway.

I didn't like the Quest as much as my Capella because it sat too high, but it
is a solid pack horse. I don't fit in the Sirius but it is a sleek and fast
boat. It tracks better than the Capella and (I would think) the Quest. It
seems the Quest is really just a big Capella.

There is a new boat, the Bahiya, that is more traditional with its hard chined
look. I have a boat like that and it has a different feel that takes some
getting used to. I imagine it would carve turns really well.

I WILL say that P&H has given me nothing but outstanding customer support.
They made good on a keeper issue I had and answered some questions about skeg
cables.

Anyway, look around. There's a lot out there.

Mike Goodman
High Point, NC

"Wright" wrote in message
.. .

Thanks for the comments. I really did not think that I would 'luck-out'
and
hear from someone who actually owned a Vela! I am a 130 lb male so the
Vela
would appear to be made for someone like me; I am very familiar with the
cork like feeling that you describe. Even though I do not come from a
whitewater background I also like more substantial thigh braces - makes me
feel more in control of the boat. I guess if in the likely scenario that
I
wind up buying a Vela that would give me something to tinker with! You did
not say anything about the rather narrow beam of the Vela - so I will take
that as a positive. The hard chines probably help.
Chuck


On calm water it feels very stable, it certainly moves around a lot but not
so much you feel you are going over. In rough water I do feel a bit
unstable at times. I have never actually gone over but I would not feel
comfortable trying to take pictures in anything other than calm water. I am
a bit over 6' so my center of balance is fairly high.

Tim McTeague

(KAYAKFAN) wrote in
:

Mike, I'm using your post for my response since you mentioned several other
P&H models.

Wright is probably more responses than he figured. Although I've never
owned a P&H boat I've paddled most of their models, including one called
"Iona". A friend of mine owned one and it was the one of the first kayaks I
ever paddled. It was somewhat like a shorter and a bit tippier version of
the Capella. BTW, I am in between Wright and he 6'1" guy so judge my reviews
accordingly.

I have had nothing but good luck with the P&H Roto Capella I've had.
It packs a lot and rolls easily. I am sure it could do a lot more than
what I put it through.

A lot of people like the Capella. I found a big difference between the poly
and glass versions. I thought the poly version was nice but I *really*
liked the glass version.


My friends have different P&H boats and they are happy with theirs.
Two guys (one a VERY accomplished paddler) have the Sirius and another
has the Quest. My "expert" friend would say "go Brittish," regardless.
That's one considered opinion, anyway.

I've paddled both the Quest and two sizes of the Sirius. The first time I
paddled a Sirius was after just a couple of seasons and it felt like it was
a little too much boat for me. After gaining some experience and more
skills I paddled one a year later and wanted one. The Sirius S would be a
good boat for a smaller paddler looking for boat to develope more advanced
skills. I also liked the Quest quite a bit. It seemed a bit stiffer
tracking than the Sirius and I thought that initial stability was remarkably
high for an "advanced" boat. It has very good secondary stability as well.
As far as other Brit boats go, a person of Wrights size looking at a Vela
ought to look at a VCP Anas Acuta as well. Not as long as a Caribou S and
much lower volume as well.

I didn't like the Quest as much as my Capella because it sat too high,
but it is a solid pack horse. I don't fit in the Sirius but it is a
sleek and fast boat. It tracks better than the Capella and (I would
think) the Quest. It seems the Quest is really just a big Capella.

The Quest has harder chines than the Capella and, to me, it didn't "paddle"
bigger than the Capella. I paddled the Vela and Quest one after the other
and their was a stiff breeze. The Vela felt very nimble in the wind but the
Quest required a lot more edging to get it to turn in the wind.


There is a new boat, the Bahiya, that is more traditional with its hard
chined look. I have a boat like that and it has a different feel that
takes some getting used to. I imagine it would carve turns really
well.

I haven't paddled a Bahiya but it's supposed to be for more advanced
paddlers. It's likely one of their tippiest models. I believe it's sort of
a lower volume and higher performance version of the Quest. It sure is a
sweet looking boat though.

I WILL say that P&H has given me nothing but outstanding customer
support. They made good on a keeper issue I had and answered some
questions about skeg cables.

The primary drawback that I would see with the Vela would be with it's
lengh. It's only 15'8" long. However, for a boat that short I found it
quite quick (but not fast). It wouldn't have a lot of storage for a
multiday trip. I thought the Vela had a good amount of initial tippiness
(not too tippy, not too stable). For a hard chine boat it would transition
to it's secondary stability point smoothly. The secondary stability was
very good and predictable. It rolled very easily.

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 16:35:57 GMT, John Fereira wrote:

Wright is probably more responses than he figured. Although I've never
owned a P&H boat I've paddled most of their models, including one called
"Iona". A friend of mine owned one and it was the one of the first kayaks I
ever paddled. It was somewhat like a shorter and a bit tippier version of
the Capella. BTW, I am in between Wright and he 6'1" guy so judge my reviews
accordingly.

I have two P&H kayaks, my traveling boat - a Sirius and a racing sea kayak, the
Spitzbergen. Both kayaks are very well built and fun to paddle although, as
expected, the Spitzbergen is less stable and fairly fast. I'm 5'11" and 180lbs:
both boats fit me well. From what I've seen of the latest P&H kayak in Sea
Kayaker magazine, it looks very nice... something to dream about... :-)
--
cheers, Stephen