Romany..

[Beryl]

Why does the Anus Acuta and the Norkapp get all the marbles? This understated boat just did stuff like going round the South Island of New Zealand. And it’s been around forever...?

[SJD]

I have experienced the opposite. Most kayakers I have known over the past thirty-five years really did not care for the Nordkapp all that much. The Romany and Explorer has had far greater appeal to many when comparing the two. Within the same cadre, the Anas Acuta’s main appeal is for rolling and a little playing, not much in terms of tripping or all round paddling.

[Phil Hk]

The Romany was barely a twinkle in Nigel Dennis' eye when Paul Caffyn made the first circumnavigation of New Zealand in 1977. More modern designs stand on the shoulders of giants

Phil

[simon64]

Kayaks from that era may be considered classics but the modern designs are better for most people, how many Nigel Foster Vyneck kayaks (circumnavigation of Iceland) do you see now ? and the Romany is old now, I remember when they were made in literally a shed and only available in yellow.

[Owen]

Wasn't the Romany heavily influenced by the original Northshore Shoreline, which is now the Atlantic LV?

[nickcrowhurst]

This shows my Romany and my pal Tony's Anas Acuta, and reveals their similar West Greenland influences. I also Have a Nordkapp which I converted from HM to HS. The Romany is a most excellent kayak, and the best rough water fibreglass kayak I've paddled. Unfortunately it is is extraordinarily heavy at well over twice the weight of my regular kayaks. It may have been constructed with extra lay-ups for training centre use.
The Romany deserves its international popularity. About 5 years ago I joined a winter pool club session in the USA. There were 31 kayaks, and 28 of them were Romanys. (Romanies?)

[Yellerbelly]

Why does the Anus Acuta and the Norkapp get all the marbles? This understated boat just did stuff like going round the South Island of New Zealand. And it’s been around forever...?

When did you last hanker after the 1300 Ford Escort you used to own over . . . i don't know, a Triumph Spitfire?

An old AA still had more of a hint of the Greenland style and (hate to use this word but) pretty. Impractical. A Romany is more functional. Very.

. . . . Ben

[nickcrowhurst]

... and the original Nordkapp HM was terrible for lee helm in strong winds. Paul Caffyn on his circumnavigation had a very bad experience. He stopped his trip , converted the HM to HS by chopping away the fixed skeg, and was then a happy paddler. My HS is a great kayak, but the ocean cockpit had too many drawbacks for my use.

[Yellerbelly]

Another sad thought occurred to me. The people who are doing expeditions and multi-day trips are not posting here. One too many post about how to repair a skeg and MarkR has defected to FB. :) And maybe it is less popular overall.

I know my club no longer does multi-day sea kayaking trips. The experienced paddlers that helped me 10 years ago have not been replaced by enthusiastic adventurous(?) folk. We all get older and become less capable. Is there less interest generally in sea kayaking?

[Chris Bolton]

There's probably more interest in day trips, rockhopping and tideraces, compared to multiday trips, but some of us still do trips. I don't tend to write them up on here (or anywhere else) - I've been too busy, and it didn't occur to me that other people were interested. More recently I've put some open canoe trips on SOTP, so I might put some kayak trip here, when we're able to do such things again.

[Jim]

Romany is a great design, let down only by variable build quality over the years.

In a group I used to paddle with a lot, the P&H Orion was a favourite boat - quite compromised to purists being short and wide, but reassuringly stable and capable of carrying a lot of kit for comfortable camping trips so very good for 'normal' paddlers.

But as noted by others, the appeal of AA and Nordkapp are largely historical, they were 2 of the first widely available boats and still good today, although quite niche. I have paddled (not owned) and enjoyed both, but currently paddle a Taran...

[Yellerbelly]

If I was capable of paddling around South Island NZ I'd have a Taran.

To paraphrase Lance Armstrong tho' "Its not about the boat". After all Anders Thygesen paddled the whole coast of Norway in a kayak made of wood, string and canvas.

. . .. Ben

[Chris Bolton]

how many Nigel Foster Vyneck kayaks (circumnavigation of Iceland) do you see now ?

On the other hand, you never did see many Vynecks! I've sold mine; I really enjoyed paddling it but after 20 years I was finding it too twitchy for photograph and rescues; Jeff Allen bought it for his collection.

and the Romany is old now, I remember when they were made in literally a shed and only available in yellow

I've seen the shed, and it's just that.

[oyvindbl]

I think the circumnavigation was done with the Explorer (formerly named as Romany Explorer). The original Romany (now sold as Romany Classic)is only 276 litre total volume, so it would have to be packed extremely efficient to carry
goods for more than a weeks trip.
I love my little Romany for rough water use, but I use an old Greenlander Pro for trips due to its bigger volume and higher speed.
I have had several NDK (SKUK) boats, and several of my friends have Explorers, Pilgrims and Romanys, and I haven't heard of any quality issues with any of these.
The Romany and Explorer are boats a lot of people here in Norway have heard of and talk about, but interestingly enough have almost nobody heard of, or seen, the Greenlander Pro which I think is at least as good as the Nordkapp as a tripping boat.

[PeterG]

One boat to do it all -the Aa..... if you are 65kg or less. I've ben lazy with my blog over the last couple of years, but still paddling. http://paddleswithananasacuta.blogspot.com/

[Beryl]

One boat to do it all -the Aa..... if you are 65kg or less. I've ben lazy with my blog over the last couple of years, but still paddling. http://paddleswithananasacuta.blogspot.com/

I’ve read bits of your blog and it’s well worth the effort. You must have tried many other boats in your time yet still stick with this “niche” boat. I’d love to know why....

[PortsmouthPaddler]

One boat to do it all -the Aa..... if you are 65kg or less. I've ben lazy with my blog over the last couple of years, but still paddling. http://paddleswithananasacuta.blogspot.com/

I’ve read bits of your blog and it’s well worth the effort. You must have tried many other boats in your time yet still stick with this “niche” boat. I’d love to know why....

He encourages his friends into them too. I'm happy with my AA,

[Beryl]

One boat to do it all -the Aa..... if you are 65kg or less. I've ben lazy with my blog over the last couple of years, but still paddling. http://paddleswithananasacuta.blogspot.com/

I’ve read bits of your blog and it’s well worth the effort. You must have tried many other boats in your time yet still stick with this “niche” boat. I’d love to know why....

He encourages his friends into them too. I'm happy with my AA,

Haha. I’m surprised it hasn’t made more of a comeback now we are more into ‘day-play’ than tripping. It’s as heavy as modern designs when made in glass so should be a direct comparison.