My take on it.
Posted by: kelvin1
on Jan-07-13 8:08 PM (EST)
A quirky boat can become a classic depending on what else was as widely available at the time of it's original release.
The Anas Acuta was the first commercial fiberglass sea kayak so becomes a classic by default. I still occasionally paddle one and still find it fun.
The Nordkapp was probably the first widely available expedition kayak and was used for ground breaking expeditions eg: Paul Caffyns circumnavigation of Australia. I found my Nordkapp HM to be much less fun to paddle and definitely quirky.
The NDK Explorer is IMHO not quirky in any way and is one of the most capable and forgiving designs I've paddled. This combined with it's use on attention attracting expeditions gives it classic status.
The Bahiya is a much more recent design with many more alternatives so is a small fish in a big pond whereas the others had far less competition and were big fish in a small pond.