- 1928 - Franz Romer crossed the Atlantic using a modified 21.5-foot Klepper folding kayak mostly under sail.
- 1956 - Hannes Lindemann crossed the Atlantic using a 17-foot Klepper folding kayak under sail.
- 1987 - Ed Gillet paddled a Necky Tofino tandem sea kayak by himself from California to Hawaii.
- 2001 - Peter Bray crossed the North Atlantic ocean paddling a 27-foot custom built kayak with a cabin.
- 2007 - Andrew McAuley made a tragic, unsuccessful attempt to cross the Tasman Sea in a modified stock tandem Mirage kayak that was just under 21-feet long.
- 2007-08 - James Castrission and Justin Jones successfully paddled across the Tasman Sea in a custom built tandem just over 29-feet long with a sealed cabin behind the cockpits.
- 2010-11- Aleksander Doba crossed the Atlantic in a 23-foot custom-built kayak that was self-righting and had a sealed cabin.
When McAuley and the team of Castrission/Jones were making their preparations to cross the Tasman Sea, the sea kayaking legend, Paul Caffyn, expressed his feeling that using a 29-foot kayak with a cabin was essentially "cheating". It wasn't really a "kayak" in his estimation.
How do you feel about this question? What is the definition of a "kayak" for the purposes of doing a major crossing for the record books? Does it matter? And what about all the new communication technology that is available to today's adventurer? We'll address that specific issue another time. For now, let's focus on the definition of a kayak. What do you think?
Sherri
With all due respect to Paul Caffyn (undoubtedly the greatest sea kayaker of all time), what a ridiculous thing to say. Paddle craft come in all shapes and sizes, their key defining factor being that they are "paddled". They built a kayak that was designed to keep them alive as they crossed one of the most dangerous seas in the world and then paddled it for 60+ days. No one else has done that. My total respect to the boys for their achievement.
ReplyDeleteI can't speak for Paul Caffyn, but it is interesting that you chose the term "paddle craft" not "kayak" saying that they come in all shapes and sizes. I don't think you would get an argument from Caffyn that Justin and James were using a "paddle craft". I suspect that his argument is that a "kayak" does not contain a sealed cabin for sleeping. (Just my interpretation of Caffyn's objection.) Although it is interesting that Andrew McAuley's "kayak" was modified with a dome that could be pulled over the cockpit to make it a sealed sleeping cabin.
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