Quote Originally Posted by jalama View Post
a discount sporting goods retailer has a pelican sot yak for a fraction of the cost of the ocean products. weight of the boat and weight capacity are all similiar. how much difference can there be between the pelican and the higher priced boats? a friend of mine bought one of the pelicans last year and it doesn't handle as well as my sit in boat but certainly seems to be adequate. mine is also a discount sportng goods version by perception, a real cheapie.
Why don't you paddle a few of the higher priced boats and determine that yourself?

I'll tell you there's a huge difference, but you'll never know until you paddle a few.