C-Forum

looking at their website, they advertise 5 c1 models-all virtually the same length/width, all at the same price, each touted as fast, stable, etc. anybody here familiar with these boats & their differences/strengths/weaknesses?

http://www.galasportusa.com/commerce/in ... Path=35_38

I am by no means an expert in slalom boats, but as far as I know the Makao was designed by Tony Estanguyet for his paddlig style, with the Yin and finally the 64 being evolutions of it, the 64 being the most recent design. They all have a maximum weight of about 165 lbs.
The Scorcho was designed by Robin Bell and is designed for larger paddles, ~180 lbs and up.
The TT Syphon looks quite different, very high rocker compared to the others.

TGG!

With slalom boats having a minimum lenght and width requrement, the fact that they're all the same length and width should be pretty easily explained, the differences come in with:

• Hull profile (how flat or rounded, with flat being common for canoes and rounded for kayaks)
• Rocker (a comparitively recent introduction into slalom design)
• Wings (to decrease waterline width whilst maintaining the minimum width requirement)
• Volume distribution (less in the tail is easier to dip-turn and "neck gates" with; putting volume directly behind the paddler increases the momentum gained back after the dip, more volume up front prevents the boat being subbed out in stoppers and losing speed but increases the likelyhood of touching a pole with your boat)
• Deck profile (a flat deck provides carvable edges where the deck meets the hull at the seam, a rounded deck sheds water much better and is generally more predictable in confused water.)

the only advice would be: test the stuff
every paddler is individual and you might love a boat while your fellow - even with the same physique as you - hates it. How a boat performs is dependent on the paddler, too

I am currently having a Syphon (though it's the older model). It's a good boat with a rounder hull than makao and co, it was based on michal martikan's designs. But it is hard to make this boat track and keep it gliding since it turns off it's course extremely quickly wich at times makes it hard to get where you want..it's not too stable neither.
the Syphon is said to require lot's of skills from the paddler, so Sideris Tasiadis (german ntional team paddler) makes it work perfectly well. For me on the opposite - I have as little as 5 years of slalom experience, from wich only two have been serious- most coaches recommend a boat that is easier to paddle like the Vajda Lady Lizzard (wich I hate, though) or the Vajda Supremo


the makao on the other hand has a flat hull and seems to be hard to turn


to sum it up, the syphon has an agility I miss in many other designs, it's like the opposite of the makao to me. But it's still not what I'm looking for

however, this is just my personal opinion