Mentor vs Honcho Guevara

Both of these look great, has anyone paddled both to compare?

Their use would be fitness/recreation.

Has anyone any thoughts on the Mentor?

I have a bunch of Mentors at my school here in the Caribbean. They are well built and robust but still fairly light for a beginner ski. The early models had big gaps on the adjustments and a floppy footstrap but they have fixed this now with more holes in the rails and a better supported strap.

I have heard some people say that it is less stable than the XT - I can honestly not tell the difference. I have had complete novices paddling it in flat water without falling off. It feels faster than the XT but that may be subjective - I have not had the chance to do a proper back to back test in all conditions.

I have not paddled the Honcho Guevara yet but I would say the Mentor is less stable but a lot faster than the Honcho Rookie.

Hope this helps
Stuart

Stuart.

Your reply has helped a lot.

...fairly light for a beginner ski.

What do you mean by this?

I have heard some people say that it is less stable than the XT ... It feels faster than the XT but that may be subjective...

I've heard both these as well, but haven't managed to paddle an XT yet.

I posted comments about my paddle with a demo Mentor ski a week or so ago and enjoyed paddling the ski - I was more comfortable after swapping back from a deep-seat Icon. I've since paddled the Robberg Express, but found this too tight on my hips as well as being quite tippy.

The Mentor does seem to have a higher seat that the other skis (Icon and Robberg Express) and I wondered if this could cause issues in rougher water.

I've paddled XT and Mentor a number of times: no question, XT is heavier, slower, more stable. I find the seat more comfortable; my paddle-mate prefers the Mentor.