: Those of you who have built and/or paddled baidarkas such as the Shearwater,
: Fire Star, Shooting Star, or others, could you give me some idea of how
: they paddle? I would expect them to be pretty fast and track well and
: handle surf pretty well. But are they lively and at all maneuverable? What
: do they offer that a regular hard chined design doesn't other than a
: unique look? Just curious.
Patsy-A couple years ago I drove twice to New England to check out Rob Macks' North Star; I paddle a Pygmy Osprey HP, a very stiff tracking fast boat, but with my weight, not a practical camping boat (I'm 200+ lb.). The first time I paddled the North Star, I immediately noticed how little resistance I felt compared to the HP. I found it to be much more maneuverable than the HP. The secondary stabilty is exceptional, I could roll it to the shear and it just stopped dead; the HP has a point past which you're going to dump. The second time I paddled it, at the Newfound Rendezvous, there was wind and waves enough to enable me to get a good feel for how it handled those conditions. I paddled one again a year ago at the Mid Atlantic Small Craft Festival here in Maryland; the owner said I should paddle out about a mile past a small point where there were good surfing waves; I did, and found the boat to surf like mad. The HP doesn't surf for beans, but the NS just flew. The only things I didn't love about the boat were the fact that it throws spray in moderate chop, and it belly whops in large waves. I think I can manage to alleviate these characteristic with time and modified technique, but if not, I don't really care. The NS is a fast boat with huge volume, great for those trips to Assateague Island where you must carry your own water, and much more maneuverable than what I'm used to. Rob told me that the guy who commissioned the first North Star compared it to a twelve-cylinder Jaguar, and while I've never driven a twelve-cylinder Jag, I get the analogy. Now, if only the part-time business I run out of my basement will slow down enough, I can get around to setting up the strongback and building.-Greg