After trying out many kayaks in the beginner/intermediate/co-ordinated beginner I finally decided on the Eclipse 5.7m. Coming from no kayaking background I found the choice almost impossible. Every single multisporter/reseller/guide/friend/manufacturer said something different about what kayak to get and why. But to make matters worse, there was a lot of totally conflicting opinions on different boats, and a great deal of misinformation about the differences. Some said the JKK was going to bust at the seams, some said it was the strongest boat out there. People said buy a tippy boat that you feel unsafe in now, because you will get better over time. Others said buy a safe option, bacause its only your first boat and you want a dry run down the Waimakariri. Then there was cost, availibility, resale value, kevlar or fibreglass, ocean/surfski vs multisport, bulkheads or not, center crossbar steering or outside seperate steering, primary and secondary stability, shallow water or deep water hulls. The list goes on.
I got so confused, I had to go back to basics. I rememember when I bought my first triathlon bike, and I ended up buying it because it came in black, and I felt like it would go fast.
I applied the same logic and went with a gut feeling. I like the green JKK's and they felt like I could go fast given some training.
What made it hard was that I got offered a really good deal on my second choice, the Ruahine Intrigue, but decided to go with my instincts and spend more money (a whole chunk more!) and get the one that felt like the better decision. Time will tell if it was the right decision.
So here it is...
See JKK Racing for
details.
2 comments:
Hi Ben,
How did you get on in the Coast 2 Coast?
I'm entering it for the first time in 2010 and I'm also a novice paddler who is paddling an Eclipse 5.7.
I would love to hear all your search for kit too. I can use wings in the UK, where I stay, but I don't have access to them in NZ, which is a bit of a bummer. Do you know anywhere I may be able to hire them?
All the best,
Sarah.
Hi Sarah,
Not so well as I never made it to the start. I dislocated my shoulder 2 months before the race, and could not recover in time. I did manage to go down and support some of my friends and see the race first hand. I will say that I knew it was hard and after doing the bike/run course I still severely underestimated how hard it is to do in one day, and how much (on course) training you have to do. I have done 3 ironman's and quite a few half IM's and the Coast is another level up. Just a word of warning, that course knowledge can count for 30min to 1-2 hours, so I hope you make it out to NZ early and get as much on course practise as possible. C
There are hundreds of tips/websites/referrals/advice over on http://www.sportzhub.com/newsgroups/ so get on there and ask questions. But read a lot of the previous posts as there are hundreds of people in the same boat (not pun intended) as you, and it is an invaluable resource to learn from their questions/mistakes.
Best of luck. The coast is a big job. Email me over at http://www.facebook.com/benwright if you like.
Go the JKK 5.7!
Cheers,
Ben
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