: There is nothing wrong with hard edges, plastic boats have hard
: chines. Now if you meant the ribs instead of stringers, that
: could be. But if the ribs are hitting the skin then the boat is
: not built correctly. I not a racer nor have any desire to be.
: But I will put my Long Shot up against any similar hard shelled
: boat any day. If you think just because it is SOF that is slow,
: you going to be surprised.

Jeff,

You need to find an old race boat to try. The old ones you might keep upright for a few minutes at a time, the new ones you get to swim alot trying to paddle :)

The differences in speed are very easy to see once you try one, the full on race boats make most other kayaks seem like a barge. Of course they are not fun boats to paddle in anything other than flat water so are really only good at doing one thing, going fast. Find a race somewhere, there usually are boats there that the owners will let you try. Even something like a West Side Boat Shop EFT (extra fast tourer) is surprising compared to conventional kayaks.

Bill H.