The PSK Library
by John Willacy The debate whether to choose the Rockpool Taran 16 or the Taran 18 rages at the moment. A decade ago I designed the Taran 18 and then the Taran 16, and of course I’ve been paddling Tarans ever since. This piece is not aimed to be a ‘which-Taran-should-I-buy’ guide. That decision is …
by John Willacy
And though the Taran was now in production there was still plenty to learn about the new boat. You have to remember that at the time the boat was a serious departure from the norm, an unknown in many areas…
by John Willacy
The Rockpool Taran first took to the water in August 2009. To mark the end of that first decade I thought I would take a little look at a photo history from those 10 years.
by John Willacy
The idea for the Taran came about while Mike Webb and myself chatted about the limitations of the boat I was using at the time. I’d designed a couple of White Water Racing boats and we spoke about incorporating some of their ideas into a faster sea kayak. A floating test-bed boat was made, but eventually it became too heavy to paddle effectively. So we needed a floating proof-of-concept boat to test. I shaped a rough plug and then a mould was made, and eventually out came the first prototype Tarran – the yellow/green ‘Citron’. Something like a year had gone by by now I think…
by John Willacy
A number of years ago I drifted into the Rockpool fold and found myself shaping a couple of wild water racing (WWR) boats. We used these boats to try out some new ideas and hull features, we were pleased with what we learnt and how the boats paddled. Later following my first record, the Anglesey Circumnavigation, I was chatting with Mike Webb about what I saw as the limitations with the boat that I had used. The conversation ebbed and flowed over a few days and before we knew it there was an idea for a new Rockpool kayak – something different to complement the fleet, a sleek fast boat.