For me the biggest advantage of C-boats over kayaks is that you can see where you are going. (Well, not ALL the time -- try looking down Lava from the start eddy -- but most of it).
The second advantage is that you have a MUCH more powerful brace & thank-God stroke ( that being the situation where you only get ONE stroke -- or else). And the more powerful brace means fewer rolls -- and when you do roll, especially after an off-side flip, a faster set-up & go. Rolling a C-1 IMHO is harder to learn, and MUCH easier & faster once you have it -- than for K-1.
And of course, a C-1er can get in a kayak and be reasonably functional, while a kayaker in a C-1 is just kind of pitiful.
Disclaimer -- I'm a C-1er with limited OC experience, (& it looks like most posters here are OC-1ers), so my opinions on rolling & running big water maybe don't apply entirely. But I was B-ranked when I trained in kayak for a couple of seasons, so I stand by my comparisons of C-1 & K-1. It's sad that most kayakers don't even know what a C-1 is -- they think you mean a "sea kayak".
I don't like kayaking...
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