I've built two of them -- Station 2 seems to be in the wrong place but it moves and fairs fine, really dislike the system for hatches and changed it for the second one saving, literally, a couple of months of Sundays work, the plans are awkwardly written in places so it is easy to make mistakes particularily on the hatches. That is the total negatives I have on the boat. Rob has some good ideas within the plans, he is quick to respond to problems, the boat goes together well and is an elegant eye catcher. It is quite fast, it is easy to paddle, it seems a bit tippy to start but is easy to adjust to, the cockpit is sloppy but can easily be modified, it rolls nicely, has large gear capacity although I have not tried it on an extended trip (used my canoe instead). It has excellent straight line stability and requires a lot of room to turn -- I also added a bit more rocker to the second and it will get its test run in the next few weeks. I fell in love with the lines the first time I saw one and have not regretted a minute of the time spent building and playing with it. As an avid canoeist, I am amazed by the way it coasts and how easy it is to bring it to cruising speed.
Be glad to talk to you about it more.
take care
don
Hi all. I'm considering building the Panache by Laughing Loon. Does anyone
: have any experiece with either building or paddling that boat that I could
: talk with? I'm interested in it's handling characteristics and the
: ease/difficulty of building it.

: Also, I'm in the Tidewater, VA area. Anyone in this vacinity have one that I
: could test paddle?

: Thanks

: Rick