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Additional tips I found useful: (boat has to be tilted away from you as much as possible - knee and back work together) - to make sure that it is your bottom knee that is pushing up on the hull and not your foot on the footpeg, take both feet off the footpegs. Later when you put them back on, make sure you keep the "knee only" action (tip from Henry Davies); - arch your back as much as you can (and more), shoulders flat on the water - think of extending as far away from the boat as you can - the twisting required to have the shoulders flat also helps the knee action; - keeping your head in the water: -- think of "keeping your eyebrows in the water" (an Helen Wilson tip). Nose can be out! -- keep your neck fully relaxed, head loose in the water - if your neck tenses, your head will come up too early - paddle: relax arm and hand and let it float up to surface so blades settle parallel to water (from John McConnell). Then even a gentle wrist movement will add support (especially with a Greenland paddle - tip Roy Martin) Good practice!

AFAIK, the Pintail has only had two hull versions I mentioned a possible third "post 99" version, bigger than the version #2 from 1995, because it has come up in a number of posts and in conversations I've had (with an ex-Pintail owner, a great trader of used boats, saying "I could have sworn my old 99 Pintail was smaller than the recent ones"). I have not yet been able to verify this personnally though.

Thank you Brian. Maybe one day someone will do out of sheer love a history of Valley and the industry around it, as it was done for Chestnut Canoes by Roger MacGregor. Regarding modifications, boat designers having a hard time leaving their moulds alone is not new. I remember a thread in which Peter Orton compared the first Sirius and Capellas to more recent ones - looks like he too preferred the old ones. Funnily enough, there was recently an article in the UK with pictures from a Valley plant. The plug pictured was one undergoing modifications… http://www.canoekayak.co.uk/categories/art...24&item=174 When the Pintail came out it was probably compared to the Romany (same Anas Acuta origin). Depending on market reception and comments, maybe they felt the need to tame it a bit? And after two iterations, they came out with the Avocet, which maybe a bit closer to the Romany? Just speculating…

Working link to the 1985 Valley catalog: http://www.ukseakayakguidebook.co.uk/short...ey_brochure.pdf

Out of curiosity, would anyone know in which year Valley first produced the Pintail? It has to be after 1985 (not in that year's catalog, available here: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=47731&p=367244&hilit=valley+1985#p367244) and before or in 1993 (I know of a 93). I asked on the UK Rivers forum but no one seems to remember. I am trying to put a time line on them. We know they first changed shape in 1995, then again in (?) which has to be after 1999 (I know of a 1999 which seems smaller than recent ones). Thank you.