: Pandora's box? Now that I'm about to start my first stripper (Shooting Star),
: I'm of course wondering what next year's should be. I'd love to hear a
: fuller discussion ala the remarks above about the relative merits of the
: Outer Island, Night Heron, the forthcoming King (Joe G.), and rumored
: Disko Bay (Rob M.). Anyone paddled the first three? Rob: when do we see
: the DB?

: Just for info, my benchmark boat is a Pygmy Coho, and I tend to compare other
: boats to it. (Thus, if the Shooting Star is a Porsche (I've paddled Ken
: Katz's: it's marvelous), the Coho's more like a BMW, etc.)

I unfortunately haven't paddled either the OI or Night Heron, but the King is a wonderful boat. Using analogies: if the Coho is an old pair of stiff, straight downhill skis; the King is like the new "shaped" skis.

The King is a very sweet design that will enable you to do paddle-less edged turns. I didn't get the opportunity to paddle it in rough water. Joe's other Redfish designs are very strong tracking (a little too much for my tastes), but the King was more playful, and a super balance between tracking and maneuverability. The lines are also sweet!! He didn't have very tight knee hooks in it, so I couldn't give a subjective opinion of its roll-ability, but with its deep cockpit recess, it should be pretty easy for layback rolls while maintaining good volume for weeklong trips.