The guys that complain about their corsairs are the ones that don't maintain them properly. They're awesome reels for 70 bucks that will put up with a ton of punishment IF you take care of them. (I fish it once or twice a week from a kayak and that's as hard on reels as tubing)

They are built much like freshwater reels and are susceptible to corrosion. Clean them regularly and lube with the correct lube, but don't overlube. I take mine apart after every 2 or 3 trips and clean it and lube it. Like with my other reels, I spray it lightly with fresh water, wipe it dry, then loosen the side plates so it will dry inside. I had the problem with the old corsair (after fishing it hard for 2 years) where the anti reverse bearing began to slip backwards. I took the reel apart, cleaned the bearing, and re-lubed it. After that, I had no problems at all. I heard they were replacing the old ones with new ones so I sent mine back. Had the new one for a year and after recently cleaning the bearings and re-lubing, it casts like new.

I've caught hundreds of barracuda, calicos, and a some yellowtail on the reel and the drag is still as smooth as butter. That's the reel I'm going to use next summer for trying to land a yellowtail on 2# test.

So if you're like me and don't have $160 to spend on a Calcutta I'd suggest going with the corsair. I don't have any experience with the abu, but I'm not sure you can beat the drag on a shimano. I also have an old quantum iron IR3 which is about 10 years old. It still works great. Only problem is that the line guide pin is worn so the levelwind occasionally gets stuck.

Whatever reel you get, you'll have to maintain it much more than if you were fishing from a boat. Tubing and kayaking is very hard on reels. I'm not sure I'd want to bring a premium quality reel out where it would have to put up with such abuse.

TL,
Adam