I second what "Imposter" says above. We are being a blind follower by switching to these boats. All the European "standard" boats, whether 10-bench BUK or 11-bench GEMINI, have the same hull specifications and are both tippy and S-L-O-W. The general consensus is that these boats are slower by about 10 seconds in 500M, and roughly 30 seconds in 2000M, compared to the 6-16. It is ironic that the GEMINI's are 550lbs and the FASTER 6-16's are 1,000lbs.
I suspect the main reason that the GEMINI's were purchased is because some decision-makers (race committee?) are paddlers and wanted the boats for training before headed to competitons at venues that use these boats. They totally neglect that of the 180 teams that raced in Vancouver this year, probably only 5 -10 would travel and benefit from this. So we have 170 teams paying for, and suffering with, these slow boats so the other 5-10 teams can benefit. All we really need is just a couple of GEMINI's at Dragon Zone to rent to those few teams that want it. These boats should not be used in the festival; they turn MOST paddlers (even sponsors) off. Look at all the capsizes and swamping at New York.
As to our team, we paid the entry fee, shut up and paddled.....frustrated and not happy about it.....Boy, am I glad we can express freely in this forum
Now we have Kelowna to look forward to.....
