new kayaker

1691 Views 5 Replies 6 Participants Last post by shredjesse, Jun 10, 2014

Yak_406

Discussion Starter · Jun 8, 2014

I bought a prijon tornado from a guy on craigslist. Pretty sweet for the price. I'm 6'2 230lbs, so I liked the longer boat and its nice that it bears my weight. So far, I've been trying to get used to it on one of the larger lakes in the area, and I've found that once I get going it doesn't track very well. I think this is mostly due to my form ( or lack there of ) Any suggestions? I'd like to get out on some rivers before the end of the summer, but right now I don't feel like I have much control of my kayak. I used a shorter slightly wider kayak earlier in the summer with absolutely no issues, in fact I was hauling ass and no one could keep up with me.

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Dave Frank

· #2 · Jun 8, 2014

That is an old school long boat that will be harder to learn on. To get it to track straight, take slower even strokes and make sure that the bow goes just past straight ahead with every stroke, kinda like a metronome. If one side doesn't do this, you'll quickly go in circles. Hold your stone a little longer on one side like a rudder if needed. Wider, sweeping strokes from bow to stern will have more turning action than closer strokes with a more vertical paddle.

You can learn in that boat, but it will be harder and much less maneuverable than a shorter modern design.

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Pizzle

· #3 · Jun 9, 2014

Sell the tornado, put an add on the buzz, someone will buy it quick!

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mvhyde

· #4 · Jun 9, 2014

Definitely an old-school boat. It's going to behave like a slalom boat with a rocker and not the good attributes of a real slalom boat. It'll get you down river, but you ought to dump it the first chance you get and find something a bit more forgiving. On the plus side, it is easy to roll...

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dirtbagkayaker

· #5 · Jun 9, 2014

I don't think any whitewater boat is going to "track" on a lake like you would expect it to. In whitewater terms a good tracking boat sucks compared to lake boats. Whitewater boats are mean to spin. The best way to paddle a ww boat in a straight line is to get used to the boat bow making figure 8's as you paddle and keep your focus on distant objects all the way across the lake or river. Its more about keeping your body moving in a straight line than making your kayak go straight. It take some practice but once you get it, you got it. Also, remember that on most rivers you'll never need to go more than 20 yards before you need to change directions. So, practice zig-zagging and changing directions. Learn to quickly change directions and explode 4 to 6 strokes in a straight line then turn and repeat. Good Luck

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shredjesse

· #6 · Jun 10, 2014

I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm new myself and at first I found white water boats impossible to not just spin around on me after a few paddles. White water boats are just prone to spin and really reflect technique issues like a rec boat can't/won't. Some things that really helped me were to make sure I analyzed wrist roll to ensures the paddle was actually pulling flat through the water and not introducing spin. I have found this will vary depending upon the paddle bend, but typically I rotate my right wrist forward like rolling off the throttle on a motorcycle, and even more than that I can roll extra forward to change the nature of the right sided stroke to rotate me right a bit, should I be trying to spin pretty far to the right.

Anyways, it just comes with some time. Farting around on a lake and getting your stroke down helps... at least it has helped me

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