: You're worrying about nothing. 1-2" wake is nothing especially
: as you start to push the boat. You didn't say anything about the
: length or width of the boat and your weight. I guarantee if you
: put a person 40 lbs lighter in the boat, the wake would be less.
: Generally Baidarkas move along with good hull speed because of
: their lack of rocker and rounded bottoms. There's nothing wrong
: with your boat. If you want a faster one, then you would have to
: go narrower and longer (sacrificing stability). You would try
: models to see how they feel to you. All new paddlers go through
: a "how fast" syndrome in the beginning and then they
: mellow out and enjoy the on-water experience. I guarantee your
: boat is perfectly fine. If you go to events where builders have
: various boats, you can try others to see if other hulls are
: faster and if you like that, you can build one of those. There
: is no one ideal kayak.

I reckon that that response from Jay is spot on regarding being on the water. If you are in good company then that extra half knot seems less important.

Some boats are better off-wind and some better upwind, and some boats just FEEL quicker even though they may not necessarily be so. Some boats also feel more buoyant and interactive with the water state while others seem to just plod along. Speeds may not be that different though.

I have a friend who used to kayak marathons and we always put him in the slowest ugliest boat we can find and he still complains that he is having to wait around for us all the time. He is a strong paddler, but that does not really explain it. He doesn't seem to expend more energy than the rest of us. He is just zoned in, through years of doing it right. He just effortlessly gets the maximum potential out of whatever boat he finds himself in. Very annoying actually.

Et