Choosing a Jem

[OnkaBob]

A great range of plans, a forum full of experience and advice, a well laid out site and a simple soul like me can still go round in circles .

I have a fairly good idea of what I want now - although there are a couple of "close seconds" that may cause a change of heart yet - but it has occurred to me that a comparison table of sorts would be of help to some (many?) new Jemmers. If there is such a page already here then I can't find it.

I am thinking of a chart listing all the boats down the left with information and comparative ratings in other columns. The basic specs such as length, beam and weight would be the main physical items although some indication of recommended paddler size such as deck height and/or cockpit size would be handy too.

Apart fom these there are a number of "performance" items that could be rated comparatively - something that I think the members here could do extremely well due to the number of multiple builders.
Aspects I would be interested in are stability, speed, tracking, suitability to water types (still/open/surf etc), uses (fishing/photography/touring etc), ease of construction.

Things like stability can be measured and given in units but that's not what I'm thinking of here. If someone has built a Laker and a TV while someone else has built a TV and a Cape Fear then their opinions can be used to give a comparison between all 3 because the TV is a common point. Some people of course would be able to give data on several models straight off and I think this would be a great starting point.

Once a heap of comparisons are made then it could all be scaled to fit into a 1 to 10 (preferred) or 1 to 5 rating system. And with all the feedback that comes this way it wouldn't be hard to keep up with new model ratings.

Of course this would mean someone having to set it up and evaluate data so if it doesn't happen I quite understand. It just seems to me that a lot of wonderful information will be lost in the depths of the forums as more reviews are added over time.

Now that I've raved on for ages - is there a summary page that I've missed?:lol:

Cheers, Bob

[jbo_c]

I think that's a great idea. There is a 'comparison' page, but it isn't as detailed as that. A simple spreadsheet look would handle it well.

Jbo

[jem]

I've often thought about trying to develop something like that but I simply don't have time to set up a web page that would have all those comparisons.

That's not to say it will never be done, be in the immediate future, no.

[wedgtail]

pick the middle one your thinking of and build that one first , the rest will follow when you have the building bug. I baught enough ply to build 2. cheers Mark

[LEE SCHNEIDERMANN]

Matt's biography on Duckworks gives a great piece of advice about renting a couple of different boats before you decide what's "right" for you.

Once you know "what" you want from a boat, you can really narrow down which boat will do "that" for you.


Lee