Questions about the Esquif Zoom

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Anna

Questions about the Esquif Zoom

Post by Anna »

Hello,
I know a lot of people have posted questions about the Zoom, so I won't repeat what they've already asked. Are there any female paddler's out there (or even guys who might know about this) who have paddled the Zoom? I was talking to Ryan Moore this week about the boat, and he recommended it as a good boat for a smaller paddler.
I'm at the point now where I'm tired of running into brick walls trying to find open solo canoes that aren't going to cost me 2400 dollars with tax and outfitting. The Zoom is a boat that I can have in the water in the next couple of weeks. I know it will thorw me for a huge learning curve, but that could be a good thing, right? Any thoughts on any of this would be most welcome.
Thanks,
Anna
Steward R

Post by Steward R »

Anna

With out knowing your skills its hard to say if this is a good boat for you. There is an good article in the winter edition of Rapid on the Zoom. To quote Rapid Mag, this would be a disastrous first boat.

I've only paddled it a few time. I seen your post looking for and Ocoee. If you like the Ocoee, you will probably like the Zoom. I paddle an Ocoee and found it had many similarities. Possible even less primary stability but as everyone will tell you it is secondary that counts and the Zoom has great secondary stability.

It's not a large boat so small paddlers should not have any problem with reaching for vertical strokes.

Personally I really like the boat and would condsider buying one
Kevin
C Guru
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2003 12:12 am
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Post by Kevin »

Hi anna, i had a chance to paddle Ryan's Zoom, on my Level 3 course last spring. I paddle a Dagger Phantom right now. Im farly tall at 6ft but i only weigh about 155bls. I had a blast in that little thing. I found that you always had to be on edge and really agressive in it. It was really fast, and even faster on edge, and it really carves into the eddies. Compared to my phantom. Great for playing too, surfs anything. I would say it's more like a phantom with occee edges. really hard chines, takes a while to get used to but when this boat is dialed in it rips. It doesn't track all that great cause it's short, but if you have good paddling skills, you will really enjoy the boat. If i were to buy a new open boat right now, it would probably be a zoom. Being a smaller person will make it more forgiving, and it will be easyier to control because it is a smaller boat.
I should realy start paddling my open boat a little more.....all this talk is giving me a craving, my c1 kingpin 6.2 isn't quite the same......

Good luck on finding a boat,!
Drop Waterfalls, Not Bombs
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