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Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: Q700 - Handling/skill level question
Posted By: Paul Jacob In Response To: Re: Q700 - Handling/skill level question (Kris Buttermore)
Date: Friday, 26 September 2003, at 12:06 p.m.
Good comments Kris. Corresponds very closely with my experience learning to paddle a racing surfski (19'5" LOA, 18" BOA, 17" BWL). Of course I jumped straight to the high performance model without learning to paddle the more stable lifeguard spec ski's first. Small to mid size wind chop on the beam is the worst for me, along with straight down swell on a mid sized wind swell. Like you said, the hull stabilizes more when it's bridging more wavelets. Helps to progressively angle away from the chop to slowly get more sideways to the seas.
One practice drill I've done to try and relax is to come to a complete stop with a beam chop and use the paddle like a high-wire balancing pole, shifting it left and right to keep my balance instead of relying on my twitchy muscles. Helps my body relax under the constant hull motion. I also intentionally rock the hull side to side with my hips from time to time just to get the big muscles involved and to get the body to accept that motion without going spastic. Helps to find the 'edge' too. The final skill I've mastered is falling over more gracefully. There comes a point when the brace is failing and I can feel it so I just let it go. I had started up quite a collection of small bruises and little muscle strains before I just decided it wasn't worth the fight. In a kayak that means rolling, of course. I'd love to paddle a Q700 to see if my balance skills on the surfski are far enough along to get me comfortable in that kind of boat. Looking at their web site made me want one. Duh.
: Missing Info (at least for me): Where are you paddling your Q700? In what
: range of conditions?: Here's my impressions of it in what I usually paddle in: I find it fine on
: relatively flat water (what isn't), but much better if you purposely
: wiggle it regularly and do some leans to as far as you are comfortable.
: Don't just let it sit flat as any twitchiness will begin to magnify as the
: day goes by. Don't know why, but the more you try to be smooth and
: completely vertical the more the hull wants to dance. It reminds me a bit
: of a 3 year old thoroughbred just off the race circuit. Can't stand to be
: still. Has to be given a good run at least daily and walked all the time
: when it's not running or it goes nuts. Hold the reigns and just stand
: there with it and you'll get stomped or bitten. Q700 is much more well
: mannered than that, but still needs to move).: Most attention getting for me has been simple moderate chop. Hull gets a very
: lively feel that is particulary unnerving if your already a member of the
: white knuckle club. Makes me feel I need to counter all of it, so I am
: constantly twitching back against every little motion and getting very
: stressed and tired in the process. Mind you this is in pretty harmless
: stuff. About a foot of chop with fairly frequent small to mid wakes from
: various angles. If I would just relax the boat would easily handle it with
: minimal input from me!: In a little bit bigger stuff, like a 2-4 foot seas and light chop it feels
: much better. Less little twitchy stuff to deal with. The less frequent
: (but constant), larger, and thus smoother corrective body and paddle
: movemnents are less taxing on nerves and easier for muscles to cope with.
: More work, but real work, not nervous work. Easier to go with the flow -
: even though the flow is bigger and more irregular. As fatigue increases
: though, so will the nervous feeling.: I also find I don't like paddling with others when I'm in the 700. They go
: too slow. Putzing around, and having to wait for someone to catch up every
: few strokes, means a lot more bobbing around which makes it feel worse in
: chop. As conditions pick up - so does my speed. Seems others want to slow
: down then. Bad mix.: The Q700 is smoothest under power, cruising at 5mph or more. I know I need to
: feel comfortable at all speeds in various conditions, but for now I still
: like it better cruising. Yes, I know I'm leaning on the paddle as a crutch
: a bit. But there's more too it. The faster you go the more wavelets you
: bridge with the hull, the more points of contact the hull has with the
: water, and the less any particular one has time affect you. Does a lot to
: balance things out.: Ski paddlers should understand the moving required for stable feel comments -
: can't drop your legs over the sides in a SINK. After my comfort grows a
: bit more I'll go back to working on my social skills!
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