C-Forum

Greetings everyone, I have a question for zoom owners out there. I am going to purchase a zoom to alleviate the beating my phantom is taking and wanted to know a couple of things. First, I paddled one today and it seemed like because of the haul design my knees were considerably closer together then in my phantom, enough to be noticable. Has anyone else noticed this when switching to the zoom from another boat? I am thinking, and it was suggested to me, to use 1/4 knee pads instead of 1/2". I am definetly going to get the boat but wanted to see if anyone else had noticed this. Thanks.

Your knees will be a lot closer together. I glued the knee pads right on the chine to get as far apart as I could. But you will certainly notice the difference, and it will feel uncomfortable for a while. Just something you have to get used to if you want to paddle the boat.

I used the 1/2'' kneepads, but scored the bottoms so they would bend around the curvature of the bottom of the boat.

I also noticed when outfitting the boat that you have to be a lot more careful about weight distribution (the boat is short, too) than with previous boats (I paddled an Ocoee before the Zoom). I spent a lot of time sitting in the boat in my basement, balanced on a broom handle trying to find the balance point.

Good luck. I think you're going to love the boat (after a few swims). It took a while for me (and I still can't keep the thing upright), but that uneasy feeling of the initial instability did eventually go away.

Econpaddler thanks for the feedback. I figured I would need to get used to the boat, as with any new boat. Thanks again. I'm kinda surprised you are the only one to post though, I figured this would be something that other zoom owners would have noticed.

I've had a Zoom for a couple of years and definitely notice that my knees are close together - I've found having a lower saddle (around 8.5") helps quite a bit.

You know, I thought about lowering the seat, too (I actually pulled the saddle out of the old Ocoee). But I decided to leave it, and it seems to be working.

If I had it to over, I'd try the bulkhead-type system. I'm set up right now with knee cuffs and toe blocks. But I'm thinking that the bulkhead system would be a little harder because of the need to get the knees into the chine of the boat.

I'd love to hear how your setup works out.

I never felt that my knees were really close together in the Zoom. I have basically the factory outfiting (8in high saddle) which is similar to Mike Yee outfitting with double thigh straps. My other boat that I had before the Zoom is a Shaman which is also narrow. I guess it is all relative. In my Criuse Control my knees are only about 4 inches apart!! Makes the Zoom feel really stable. You will get used to the initial instability of the boat if you put in enough seat time. Also the boat likes to be paddled leaned over a bit on the chine. Take advantage of this and make it carve. Jim