Hi all,

Currently I am selling some of my kayaks and as I have always liked C-1 boats I figured I might give it a shot. At least I have some cash to afford one

What shoud I look for in a C-1? Here's what comes to mind:

1/ Speed. It's probably easier to get speed with a kayak paddle than with a single canoe paddle so it should be reasonably fast?
2/ Easy to roll: being a newbie (well, in C-1, I've been in a kayak for over 20 years) my roll will probably suck like a huge hole
3/ Flatwater capabilities. I live in Holland so most paddling will be at my local pond and occaisionally in the sea surf.

Some boats that might be interesting to have a look at: the Prijon Delirous, Robson TwinTip, for flatwater stuff even a Zelezny Igo might be fun (although it's dead slow, even as a kayak).

Let the good tips roll

Cheers,

Michiel

PS: I also love the sight of OC-1's but apart from the Robson CU Fly they all seem huge to me?

hi, if you life in NL and want to buy a c1 playboat Markus Maas is your man. look in the C1 section of playak.com. boats are nearly same price than k1 but with perfect c1 outfitting. he usually got some demo boats. so if you don't mind a trip to the mighty erft (his local spot) wou can try first.

I've met Marcus a few times. He's a really nice guy who does know what he's doing.

I might give him a shout (must have his e-mail somehwere in my mailbox at home).

Thanx for reminding me!

Well I must say that the Prijon Delirious does paddle well as a C-1. It's got great hull-speed (although the difference between kayak and C-1 speeds isn't actually huge), is fairly stable - quite wide, and the ends are so slicy that even I can flatwater wheel. I'm about 5'9, 140lbs-ish. I endorse it heartily.

I'm not particularly familiar with the other boats you listed, but I do know that my friend/teacher paddles a LL Vision and is enjoying himself, although he doesn't like it as much as his old Space Cadet.

On the OC-1 front, I'd say nay to the weird little half-boats that wish they had a spray deck. They strike me as redundant. On the other hand, full open boats are awesome. They've got lots of hull speed, are really stable, can go on trips efficiently, and have much more panache. And plus, if you're in a bad mood (and among good friends!) you can kick kayaks of a wave with ease, suing the might-always-makes-right principle. But use your discretion there.

if you are after a c1 then the wavesport zg makes a really gd c1 but the best oc1 has got to be a spanish fly or a robson fly i think it is.