Seems like every couple of threads is about OC1 preference. Everybody has an opinion (or twelve) there, and it's a pretty subjective topic.
How about a poll? Like, a place to tally all those subjective thoughts. Unfortunately, it'd take some help from our already generous moderators, but I think the platform (phpBB) does support polls, yeah?
Anyway, once it was setup, you could login and evaluate canoes on criteria like:
Flatwater Speed/Run
Bigwater Surfing (swells)
Windchop Surfing (small kine)
Comfort (ergonomics)
Build Quality
Weight
Balance
Dealer/rep support
Suitablility for Heavy (190+) paddlers
Suitability for Light (<190) paddlers
Give 'em all a score between one and ten. Everybody knows it's totally subjective, but at the end, you'd see how people perceive canoes. I bet this information would be as useful to builders as to buyers. And wouldn't it be interesting to see if people thought a particular canoe was only for, like, light paddlers, or if a canoe had a reputation for being a dog in the flats.
Watch - at the end of the poll you'd find out that the highest rated canoe overall was, like, a Kaiwi Challenger or something...
Submitted by oishidesneh on Thu, 06/02/2005 - 6:52am
I think this is a good idea. Being new I was asking all these questions and looking for answers all over the place. Having a place to go for information in one place would be helpful everytime you are ready to try another boat would be cool and really helpful to new paddlers trying to find the right boat for them.
#1 Thu, 06/02/2005 - 9:39am
I too think a poll would be a good idea. However, the paddler who fills out one of these polls should also list these other relevant factors:
--Years of experience on an OC1 and the paddler’s best accomplishment on an OC1 in a MAJOR race (want to prevent people who think they know what they are talking about, i.e. blowhards, and also the reader should know whether the paddler sucks or not).
--How long the has spent on the particular canoe.
--Where the paddler trains (we want to prevent paddlers who train and race in calm waters from rating a canoe in the surf).
--The paddler should disclose whether he/she is sponsored by a canoe-builder, or has an economic interest in a canoe builder’s success (i.e. disclose all “back scratching”).
I think disclosing these factors will contribute immensely to the integrity of the suggested poll.
#2 Mon, 06/06/2005 - 10:20pm
I have an idea: why don't we send all of our canoe paddling qualifications to numerouno, and let him decide who is "good enough" to have an opinion.
#3 Tue, 06/07/2005 - 5:26am
goto,
That would be a great idea. Bullshit and sarcasim aside, all I said was these factors would contribute to the integrity of the poll. If I am considering considering buying a new OC1, these factors are definitely relevant.
The greater the experience on an OC1, the more reliable an opinion. Although the fastest paddlers on OC1s have sponsors—thus possibly biased, I give greater weight to their evaluation of a boat’s performance than the people at the back of the pack. The faster one goes the more in tune one is with the boat's ability and performance.
#4 Tue, 06/07/2005 - 8:42am
Guys, the debate is academic. If you look at a race like this year's Maui-Moloka'i, the top 5 solo finishers were all on different boats.
Bottom line: It's not the horse, it's the jockey.
#5 Tue, 06/07/2005 - 9:23am
Good points (more or less) all. But I never meant to suggest the results of this poll would tell you what the best boat is. It'd only tell you how people perceived different boats. That's a huge difference.
Of course, "it's the motor." I mean, duh. But if you're gonna participate in this sport, you gotta buy a boat. And a reader poll would be just as useful (or not) as having anybody at all (even non-Moloka'i winners) weigh in on different threads. And sure, you'd probably get what you deserved if you took any poll results to your local retailer and said, "gimme boat X, because that's what a buncha people i've never met said on the internet."
But I still think it'd be useful to people who build/market/sell boats to see what their reputation in the general (non-sponsored/elite/whatevers) population is.
Dang - everybody relax, aiight?
#6 Tue, 06/07/2005 - 9:49am
Hi all,
I have a suggestionnnnn! I see two ways to do this. Have a general poll and rate how you like, say what you want. The second way is to have different types of paddlers IE, A pro level, a top club paddler but not pro, an average paddler, a big guy, a small guy and a beginer.
They all paddle the same 5-10 OC1'S and rate them. Thats how they do it for surfboards, get a bunch of guys and have a test day. You could organize to do it with different groups in differnt areas then cross referece the results.
What do you think? might just work.
Mahalo
Koka
#7 Tue, 06/07/2005 - 3:39pm
I go with dmehling. It's not the horse but the jockey to a certain degree. Take Karel for example. He could probably win in a bathtub. So would you buy a bathtub if he recommended it?
#8 Thu, 06/16/2005 - 10:43pm
Yeah, it's TOTALLY the jockey. That's why everybody races wooden dugouts. :roll:
Shoots...
#9 Fri, 06/17/2005 - 12:22pm