I would be interested in hearing from anyone familiar with either of these shells and/or both. I am a novice wanting to purchase a nice rowing shell. I like these long sleek rowing shells, but have never rowed one. Would like someone to point out advantages of one of these shells over the other. I weigh 220 pounds and I've heard this is going to be a variable in my purchase. I intend to use the shell on a lake off the Tennessee river that has ski boat, jet ski and from time to time barge traffic. Any information on a comparison of these two shells would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

-- Paul Mueller (pmueller@comtrakinc.com), June 23, 2000

Answers

PAUL: I also weigh 220 pounds. Our rowing club has two Bay 24s and one of the Bay 24's predecessor's, the Pacific 24. They are excellent boats for a big guy looking for a slider that is a reasonable compromise between stability and speeed. Our boats are older and have proven to be tough but they weigh well over 50 pounds. This is not a problem for most big guys to lift off the rack and carry to the water, but smaller folks have difficulty. I believe the current model Bay 24 is lighter. Another boat you may want to consider is the Maas 24 which is narrower and lighter. Consequently it is faster but more difficult to set up. The Maas is beautifully crafted, but being lighter, is not as tough as the Bay, and it may not be a wise choice for rough river rowing. I do not know the Pegasus. Good luck with your search. Keep Pullin' John Mullen

-- John Mullen (mullen@connect.net), September 18, 2000.