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Clipper prospector 14 debate

I know the whitewater guys like those cross forward strokes, but I've always found them to be useless if you are really trying to make headway in a wind. Better off just adopting a straight switch stroke and put the hammer down.
Or a double blade.


Kind of surprised that the opening shot of a guy in the prototype Prospector 15 is using a double blade. At least he is kneeing.

(By the way, this video showed up on my Facebook newsfeed this morning - they must be watching me...)
 
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Facebook marketplace algorithms are weird and the search often doesn’t return things I know I’ve seen before, and then that same item will pop back up days later on its own as I’m scrolling, so I know it was there when I searched for it, it just didn’t show up for some reason. No clue why it’s like that.

I have this listing saved though so I can get back to it, seems to still be up for now:

You know, that appears to be pretty good price for a brand new Duraflex P14. But I'm not sure I would need Duraflex. I think I would be fine with their Ultralight layup, saving another seven pounds. What's another $400 anyway? ;)

Their pricing really is attractive. A young strong guy (with lots of robust years ahead) might go for a fiberglass P14 at about $1500 USD (that's what the exchange rate is currently, anyway).

Makes me wonder - how much difference in durability between FG and Duraflex? Not that FG would be an option for me....
 
You know, that appears to be pretty good price for a brand new Duraflex P14. But I'm not sure I would need Duraflex. I think I would be fine with their Ultralight layup, saving another seven pounds. What's another $400 anyway? ;)

Their pricing really is attractive. A young strong guy (with lots of robust years ahead) might go for a fiberglass P14 at about $1500 USD (that's what the exchange rate is currently, anyway).

Makes me wonder - how much difference in durability between FG and Duraflex? Not that FG would be an option for me....

I agree, the pricing looks very good.

I actually ended up calling them today just to ask a few questions and they were very accommodating. They said the duraflex was significantly tougher than the standard fiberglass for what it’s worth. They said the duraflex is built with many extra layers and multiple different skid plates added in several spots, and said he believed it was more than any other manufacturer was doing that he was aware of in terms of layers. He also said the duraflex has two full layers of S-glass on the outside which adds a lot of abrasion resistance (one 4oz layer and one 6oz layer). He said the resin in the duraflex vs the FG has 30+% more elongation, so it can withstand much more in terms of impact.

He also said they can do gel coat on the duraflex, but don’t usually recommend it for hard whitewater use (no surprise there) even though the gel coat is thicker than many manufacturers. He told me they are doing a minimum of 15-18 mils, with up to 100% more (25-30 mils) at the stems and other high wear areas. For reference I believe Hemlock told me their normal gel coat layer is around 12 mils with a max of 15 allowable, but would go up to about 18 mils if requested (and if you don’t mind the weight penalty).

Additionally, he said they are still doing wood trim even though the website says otherwise (just hasn’t been updated in a while).

Finally, he said the rocker spec is definitely surprising because it has much more maneuverability than the Caribou S, even though the description puts the Caribou at a little higher rocker. He put a note in for the owner to give me a call tomorrow to talk about the rocker some more and compare it to some other whitewater boats as he felt he didn’t have the adequate experience in whitewater canoe “play boats” to comment on that like the owner would.

Oh one more thing, he said they do several shipments to and across the US a year and getting a boat added to a shipment is usually not a big deal and greatly decreases shipping costs (as you’d expect).
 
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