PA12 vs PA14 stability

I know the stability topic has been beat to death but we were talking about this on the water yesterday. I've had my PA14 now for 5 years. I've never flipped it or even come close. The only time I even got slightly nervous was when crossing a channel with a strong outgoing tide and 40mph winds that were blowing against the tide. I was fishing the Jax Kayak Classic in Northern Florida on that day and the was transiting the only section of big water that I had to cross to get back to the ramp. The waves were stacked up pretty big and I got turned broadside in the wind and waves. When I crested the top of a wave I felt the wind get underneath the hull and it lifted slightly. I was able to counter the lean and made it across safely without further incident. Other than that I've had no issues with boat wakes even from 50' offshore boats in the California Delta running by my at full steam. I also fish the Pacific Ocean here and have done so in an eight foot swell with no stability problems.

I haven't spent any time in a PA12 but it seems like the majority of the stories I here about the flipping of Pro Anglers center around users that went with the 12 instead of the 14. Does this sound right? Is there that much difference in stability between the two hulls just due to the 2 feet of length difference?

I would think that having the shorter bow section would place the anglers weight that much further on the nose of the boat. The center sponson of the hull being narrow at the bow and not having the support of the outside sponsons would then decrease the stability. Does that make sense?

I'm a big guy personally at 6'4" and 250lbs so I like the idea of the 14'. I'm about to buy a new 2015 PA14 in fact and will be giving my 2010 model to my 12 year old to use so that I don't have to pedal him around on the back of mine anymore!

Matt,

Hope all is well with you. If I decide to get another PA, it will probably be another PA14. I think the additional footage on the front of the PA14 helps when moving up to the front area. It seems to ride a little higher than the PA12 when shifting weight. The one time I tried a PA12 I did notice that little bit of difference for me.

I'm sure your son will love having the 2010 PA even if it's a hand-me-down...lol.

Steve

_________________
Steve Stubbs
USAF (retired)

SeaDek Fishing Team
Unfair Lures Pro Staff
Ziptailz Ambassador

2015 Pro Angler 14 - Papaya
2018 Compass - Sea Grass

Things are going great Steve! I told my wife that Evan was getting too big to be on the back of my PA14 anymore (he's up to 127lbs) and needed his own Hobie. We tried to fish the other day with myself and his little brother on the PA and Evan was paddling a pirogue but with the wind blowing he just didn't stand a chance. His momma signed off on me buying another boat but didn't realize that I was buying me a new 2015 PA14 and that Evan would be getting my old one! LOL Evan knows that I've been wanting a new boat but has no idea that he'll be getting my old one. He's a little small for it but with the pedals set on position 4 he can actually get it going pretty good. It'll be nice to have two PA's so that the whole family can go out for a day on the water if we want to.

Back on topic:

I don't think I could swap out to a PA12 anyway. I pack so much stuff into the Pro Angler that a reduction in storage space would be tough to deal with. I guess I'm still in the mindset of more is more instead of the minimalist attitude that most kayak fishermen have.