I think rental places rent Sit-On-Tops for several reasons:

1) A Novice does not feel intimated by them. In an enclosed kayak, every Novice is concerned about being trapped. Since there are usually more Novices that want to rent, they fill their needs.

2) The Sit-On-Top kayaks are very easy to get back on. Many Novices will not be able to re-enter a traditional kayak and this would be real safety concern. Also, it is probably cheaper Liability Insurance costs for the same reason.

I wish more Rental companies rented traditional kayaks as well. We paddled a sit-on-Top kayak in the British Virgin Islands this Spring for the first time. It was a heavy plastic double without back supports. I sure would not want to paddle that beast for very long. I'm sure there are better performing Sit-On-Tops out there, but unless I'm going Scuba Diving, they can have them :)

Randy

> I don't agree with this at all. I once rented an Ocean Kayak Scupper and
> found it to have a very unstable feel due to the high center of gravity of
> sit on tops. I've never felt that way in any sit in kayak. I've also never
> understood why rental places will rent sit on tops with out any traning
> but not sit in. Whenever I or my friends have flipped our sit in kayaks we
> immediately fell out of them. Staying in was the hard part. But most
> importantly, I ve never seen a plastic sit on top kayak that wasn't
> embarrassingly UGLY and life is too short to paddle an ugly boat.