: I have a Chesapeake 17, and plan to sell it when I get my Cormorant 16 done.
: I don't paddle with anyone who wants to keep a 6-knot pace. The 16 will be
: more fun for me for day trips, and playing in waves.

: Shawn

....after we built the first Cormorant 16, Christy took it and gave me her Patuxent 17.5 . It has not been in the water since. I am not being critical. The Pax was a good yak.

As far as the Chesapeake, it is a much different handling kayak than the Cormorant. The Cormorant 16 turns quite easily, but because of the design of the keel it tracks much better than it looks like it should. So it depends on what you are looking for. But I don't think there is any reason to be nervous about it. I think they both are good yaks, just different, probably more so even than they look.

For the record, I would not comment if either CLC or us had even a nickel riding on your decision, and would not even share my anecdote about the Pax were it not a discontinued model. But since we are only talking about freebies, I thought I would try to be helpful.

If you decide to build the Cormorant, don't worry about our note that the information is given as is and is unsupported. I have a way of not being able to sleep well if there is someone out there who needs help. Good luck with whatever you decide to build .

Grant