: Lee, When you say you trimmed away 3/16" of the bow panels where they
: meet for about 16" are you saying that you blunted or made the bottom
: "V" area more round (like a "U") or did you take the
: material off the edges of the two panels to make it sharper? I'm assuming
: you're talking about the bottom center line of the bow?

: Since I have no experience in a kayak of this type I'm thinking I won't
: notice the differences you have described, everything I've paddled has
: always been the canoe liver plastic. Do you think that the differences
: between the 17W and the AT17 would be so pronounced that a paddler like
: myself would be sorely disappointed if I went from the 17W to the AT17?

I made the entry V less sharp of an angle by removing a little so it brought those two panels together sooner. It was an experiment as the regular Mergansers are well "anchored" in the ends and the ends don't slide. I'm guessing the biggest thing you'll notice is that the AT17 has more cockpit room as it doesn't have integral thigh braces and the cockpit is larger.