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Swift new infusion system

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Ok can someone explain this to me? Use small words please.

Do you think this means they are now building a vinylester resin boat that is stronger, a little lighter, uses no gel coat and can offer a 2 tone colour?

Here is the video and it states this in the description
https://youtu.be/WUooPU_eumQ

We've developed a new resin infusion system that allows us to build Swift boats without an exterior gel coat. What does that mean? It means we've removed the exterior paint and improved hull strength by using a new urethane acrylate resin that's unique to the industry. This resin system creates the highest inter-laminate shear strength and the best strength:weight ratio we've ever produced.
 
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I have no idea but that "tweedy" basalt innegra look on the hull is weird.
And that carbon innegra texture is just more strange expensive bling.

Love your boat designs Bill, but starting to wonder about the fabric and colour choices!

Bruce
 
Strong boats for sure but I have always liked gel coat because it provided abrasion resistance for the inevitable dragging ( even if we are not supposed to). Gel has no structural strength however. Cool looking but some weaves leave me seasick
 
I have owned both gelcoat and skincoat canoes and used both a lot. I believe skin coat boats are less likely to have fiber damage when they are bent or have impact. gell coat gives the bending a "Lever point" which stresses the fabric fibers while the skin coat layup simply bends and springs back without damage. I have had several cases of damage of this kind to my gelcoat boats, but none to the skincoat ones.
 
Those are interesting new lay-ups. I kinda wish Bill didn't say "super cool looking" over and over. I do think the basalt innegra is a good new technology since it has "memory" that can allow a boat to pop back into shape after the hull deforms after a big impact. One thing I'd still wonder about is abrasion resistance...something that Bill doesn't brag about. I'm also a fan of gel coats just based on my own experience. The boat in the pic took a full power hit on square-edged concrete and all that happened was a couple of tiny pieces of gel coat popped out...so it was easy to repair. The fabric was untouched. The gelcoat also absorbed 20 years of normal abrasion (it's a 1999 Bell with a thick gelcoat that definitely adds weight). But all gelcoats are not the same and all impacts are different.

I hope Swift is able to bring their prices down a bit with the new lay-ups since they are really getting up there. It also looks like they have reduced the number of canoe models offered...I don't see my two favorite solos (Osprey and Shearwater) even offered as "classics" any more. I remember Bill saying that the pack boats are becoming very popular and they do look nice.
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Maybe you guys don't know about Hellman Canoes, they are in Nelson BC and Bob as been making boats for a long time and his boats are light and super tough, and capable of hitting over and over and over with out any issues, they pop right back to shape... So be careful of all that "new" technology out there, might not be all that new.... And when the main sale pitch line is great looking I would be a bit suspicious.... I know swift have been making boats for a long time and they make great boats, but sometime it is not worth reinventing the wheel just to try to sell more boats!!
 
I should also say that my experience with skincoat canoes is mostly with savage river who use epoxy resin. I have had incidents that I thought would seriously damage one, but had no damage at all. I haven't dragged one very far except on vegetation and mud, so cant say how they stand to to gravel.
 
I should also say that my experience with skincoat canoes is mostly with savage river who use epoxy resin. I have had incidents that I thought would seriously damage one, but had no damage at all. I haven't dragged one very far except on vegetation and mud, so cant say how they stand to to gravel.
I had a Souris River Jensen Solo 16 that was a skin coat with epoxy resin with their "flexible rib system". Only 29 pounds but I had a lot of confidence in it and one could feel it just flex when going over rocks. I kinda wish I hadn't sold that boat.

Although the new Swift lay-ups may indeed be "better" I'm also a bit cautious/suspicious and have to wonder if they are easier to manufacture or more profitable...whether they are better for us or for Swift. I'll be curious to hear from owners that use them hard.
 
Had not seen the Hellman Canoes before. Thanks for the info, Canotrouge!
Nice canoes. Not a huge fan of the cross ribs for my style of canoeing. I had an older Wenonah Spirit II in their old style tuf-weave, and it had cross ribs like that. I am a kneeler and those ribs were literally a pain to deal with. Anyway, pricing/weight ratio of the Hellman canoes seem quite good, compared to other manufacturers.

I don't own a Swift but always considered them on the front edge of technology and innovation when it comes to canoe building and weight savings. All that comes at a price. I have some experience in product development and improving the last few % of an important product feature, like the weight of a canoe while maintaining other favorable attributes like stiffness, comes at a disproportionate cost compared to the quick gains that can be had for less.
 
Had not seen the Hellman Canoes before. Thanks for the info, Canotrouge!
Nice canoes. Not a huge fan of the cross ribs for my style of canoeing. I had an older Wenonah Spirit II in their old style tuf-weave, and it had cross ribs like that. I am a kneeler and those ribs were literally a pain to deal with. Anyway, pricing/weight ratio of the Hellman canoes seem quite good, compared to other manufacturers.

I don't own a Swift but always considered them on the front edge of technology and innovation when it comes to canoe building and weight savings. All that comes at a price. I have some experience in product development and improving the last few % of an important product feature, like the weight of a canoe while maintaining other favorable attributes like stiffness, comes at a disproportionate cost compared to the quick gains that can be had for less.

I'm a kneeler too and no problem in the Hellman!!
 
I had a Souris River Jensen Solo 16 that was a skin coat with epoxy resin with their "flexible rib system". Only 29 pounds but I had a lot of confidence in it and one could feel it just flex when going over rocks. I kinda wish I hadn't sold that boat.

Although the new Swift lay-ups may indeed be "better" I'm also a bit cautious/suspicious and have to wonder if they are easier to manufacture or more profitable...whether they are better for us or for Swift. I'll be curious to hear from owners that use them hard.

I own a sours river briefly and they are tough, Hellman and Swift are ex business partners and build boats in a similar way!
 
Swift just put up a video from the Toronto boat show. At 4:50 Bill talks about the new layup and does a rock strike and abrasion test. What do people think?


https://www.facebook.com/SwiftCanoeandKayak/videos/259104688389171/?type=2&theater

Nice video, Bill is a great marketing guy. I'm a big fan of test data, so liked the gunnel comparison test. I'd like to see the same test applied to the side of each gunnel, as I have never had one damaged from pressure on the top.
 
Looks like Swift really Raised the Bar ! Some great technology !

The only question I had, was if those removable seats don't fall out, while the canoe is strapped to the top of a vehicle, and going down the road ?

I'm afraid to ask the price ! I'd love to have one !

Jim
 
Swift just put up a video from the Toronto boat show. At 4:50 Bill talks about the new layup and does a rock strike and abrasion test. What do people think?


https://www.facebook.com/SwiftCanoeandKayak/videos/259104688389171/?type=2&theater

20 years ago when I was selling Hellman canoes we use to have a square piece of the hull layup just like bill in the video... Use to take that piece and use a pair of needle nose plier and hit the piece as hard as we could and would not go through.... We use to take the same piece and fold it in half over and over and over.... Nothing really happened to that piece of boat hull. So I don't know, this might be new technology for Swift, but maybe not new technologie really!! As for the gunnel test, useless, need to be tested side ways, not to the top!
 
It sounds like Hellman used this "new" technology 20 years ago. I am curious why most canoe folks then seem to know Swift for their innovations and not Hellman.
 
It sounds like Hellman used this "new" technology 20 years ago. I am curious why most canoe folks then seem to know Swift for their innovations and not Hellman.

Probably different fabrics and technology but they'd like you to think that canoes used to be fragile but now they're strong. I don't ever remember hull failure being a problem so it probably wasn't. Maybe their newest layups are tougher. But maybe the old layups where already tough enough.

Also, to the best marketer go the spoils.

Alan
 
Agreed. Swift probably has the highest (?) web-presence of all canoe manufacturers. To their credit, they know how to build canoes and they put a lot of thought into their product development, while others seem to be largely contended with tried and true models...for which a case can certainly be made as well.

As far as tough goes, many moons ago I had an old fiberglass canoe that took a horrible amount of abuse during many many shallow water river runs. Aluminum was (is) also almost indestructible. However, glass or AL canoes weight more than even my old 16' Royalex "Legend" and that thing isn't exactly light weight. I took said Legend out for a spin on Sunday because I do like the battle ship feel of it. Loading it back on my car reminded me quickly why I hadn't used that canoe in a while :).
 
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