Seth,

You e-mailed me about the Spring Run, but I'll answer it here for others to see. I am also 5' 11", but I am building the Spring Run for my wife. I have paddled the kayak and it does fit me quite well. It has plenty of room and freeboard for camping gear with me paddling it. It does track quite strongly. It requires less effort to reach and maintain cruising speed than my Artic Tern. I think top speed is about the same with both the Arctic Tern and the Spring Run. The shape sheds wind nicely, but the extra freeboard will catch some wind, if you are paddling it empty. In my testing of the kayak it did not seem to weathercock much. The Spring Run did not feel tippy to me and seemed to have good secondary stability.

Mike

: I want to build a strip kayak no more than 17 feet long. Where I paddle there
: can be some wind so I want one which sheds wind well, tracks well and is
: reasonably fast and stable. After some research I am headed in the
: direstion of either the "Georgian Bay" or the "Spring
: Run". Are there other good choices? Will someone who is experienced
: with either kayak please help me with some insight into their performance?
: Thank you

: I am 5' 11" and weigh 175#.