You mean I can't have it all? Just kidding. I guess I got carried away with my wish list, trying to cover everything.

Looks like you've uncovered my own subconsciously conflicting desires and uncertainty about what it is I really want. On the one hand, since most of my routine paddling is done on pretty large lakes, I'd like a boat that covers large expanses of open water more quickly and in a relatively straight line so I can explore more in the few hours a week I have to paddle. I think my paddling skills have improved to where a boat that tracks like it's on rails isn't at all necessary - my Vista certainly doesn't although it also isn't what I'd call terribly "squirrely." What I want really only needs to be maneuverable enough to make turns without it feeling overly sluggish.

Part of the problem is that I really haven't tried very many boats. And yes, I'm looking for something very different from the Walden Vista. Other boats I've paddled are the Alto, Piccolo, Sealution, Looksha, Sparrow Hawk, Arctic Hawk, and Romany 16. The Alto and Sealution were too heavy and big for me. The Piccolo was my other choice when I bought the Vista but it felt too squirrely at the time. I could probably handle it fine now that I've been paddling for a year. I didn't like the Hawks as I just felt like I was sitting up in the air too much without enough boat around me. I LOVED the fit of the Romany 16 but didn't get to paddle it long. It seemed like it might be a good all around boat for me though. I'm not positive which Lookshas I paddled but they seemed pretty good to me, although not in the same class as the Romany. On an estuary trip with my 13 year old son, I paddled either a Looksha IV or IVS and he paddled ( I think) a Looksha Sport LV. I took his kayak out through the inlet and had a blast in it and loved the fit. The IVS seems like it might be a good boat for me.

So my "on the other hand" is that I'd like to play, but won't get many opportunities to and shouldn't put that very high on my priority list of attributes.

Does that knock out any of the conflicts or just make it worse?

Patsy

: Patsy, I'll leave the recommendations to other folks as I work for CLC and
: don't want to skew the participatory nature of the board. Just want to
: point out that you've chosen conflicting characteristics with paddler
: skill being a large part of the formula. Track well and playful
: maneuverability are different ends of the scale with other characteristics
: affecting the mix. Sounds like the boat you are looking for is much
: different than the Walden Vista, what other boats have you paddled that
: are close to what you are looking for?