Hi Craig -
Which comments did you find puzzling?
I was looking for a boat that would have a shorter overall length but still retain a decent length at waterline. The Caspian Sea at 15'3" has a waterline of 14.5' compared to the 17' Arctic Tern which had a waterline of 14.8'. One other thing I forgot to mention is that the Caspian Sea has gobs of foot room. I have size 11.5 feet and can wear my Teva sandles in the boat!
We encounter lots of 1-2' whitecap chop and short period waves paddling along the shores of Lake Erie and John Winters told me the Caspian Sea would be a good boat for those conditions since it was very forgiving and stable, tracks great and turns great,too. The reviews on paddling.net about the Q400 and the production Caspian Sea seem to support that claim. I haven't had it in that kind of chop, yet, but do find it tracks just great, even in the high winds we had yesterday and it turns VERY quickly.

: I'll second the curiosity; I was intrigued by the Caspian Sea's size but left
: puzzled by the comments on handling which are part of the website, and
: I'll be really curious to know how it turns out.