C-Forum

I saw the Robson brochure for the Finkenmeister at some festivals last fall and was interested in buying it. Unfortunately, they didn't have a demo or even an actual boat on hand and I am too cheap to buy one without more information. They did say that they could have one in from Europe in two weeks after an order was placed.

Has anyone paddle the Finkenmeister extensively? From the stats it looks like it would be a great creek boat, tons of volume but much shorter than the Cascade. The photo makes the lines look like some of the fairly new kayak creek boats.

So does anyone have some feedback on what it is like to paddle? Or even better someone have one in New England that I could look or demo? Many thanks,

Don

Well, I never paddled it and people say it's pretty good, but in my opinion there is a wrong thing in the design of the shape: the wider point is in front of the cockpit. I think a C1 works better when the wider point is behind the cockpit (like a slalom boat).
I had done several kayak to c1 conversion (hurricane, rpm, dna, mephisto, mr clean, giro, switch) and I always feel better
with boats wider behind the cockpit.
With the shape wider behind the cockpit you have a better turning point when the boat is on the edge, more support where you need it, more stability and a more efficient j stroke.
This is only my opinion. I would like to read more opinions.
Paolo

The Riot Boogie surfboat is also a little wider in front of the paddler, and supposedly the boat surfs better with that shape.

Perhaps that is the idea with the Robson?

The first thing I thought when I saw the shape of the boat was that it looked like a great surfing boat. i'd love to know if it is.

But actually it's a creek boat.
The best surf boat I ever tried is the necky switch and isn't wider in front...
The switch - witch was the best surf boat in 2001 - 2002 on paddler magazine reviews...