Which solo canoes are best for heeling?

[canoedad89]

I've had mixed results when it comes to heeling a canoe to the point that the gunwale is touching the water. In some canoes it seems that I can effortlessly tilt the rail all the way down to the water and maintain that position comfortably as I paddle, but in other canoes I am constantly fighting it and require lots of effort and energy.

I would like to know which canoes others prefer for ease when heeling. Assume a kneeling position with your butt on a bench seat and one knee in each chine.

 

[NikonF5user]

Any canoe that you think of as having very good secondary stability is likely a boat that can easily be heeled, but I am sure the best answer to this is that it depends on the skill and technique of the paddler first and foremost. I am so madly in love with the WildFIRE in part because it is playful and locks in well when heeled. Many that love the Dragonfly feel similarly about that boat, which heels quickly and can catch paddlers off guard, but in the hands of an experienced paddler can do great things. Depending on your height / weight, my suggestion would be to paddle a WildFIRE or FlashFIRE while kneeling and really play with heeling and bracing - it will be a ton of fun. If you do so on a warm day in nice water, let yourself go over to feel the extent to what you can reach!

 

[stevet]

The boat that will give you the most solid feel when at the rail is one that is constantly flared from the keel up to the rail a midships. Doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of those around these days. (Lotus Dandy and Egret/Cygnet are great examples of that)
The next would be something like a Wildfire, where the widest part of the hull is just below the rails. There are lots of these “shouldered” hulls being produced these days.
There are really too many to start listing them all. As always, the proof is in the paddlin’. Try a bunch. As mentioned by NikonF5user skill level is a factor, too.

 

[lowangle al]

The question I have is. Is it better to have a boat you can lean to the gunnel, or one that gives you the performance you want without having to lean it that far?

Another question I have concerning solo boats when leaning is, Do you keep one knee in each chine or do you put both knees in one chine like I would in a tandem?

 

[Marc Ornstein]

Most of the so called shouldered boats are essentially flared to the shoulders, then tuck in. As such they stiffen, as you heel them, until you reach the shoulder. Pushing them past the shoulder, they "release" a bit, making them feel, to some, a bit unpredictable, but only if the paddler wants to push them to the gunwales. Most paddlers don't heel to the gunwales and like the fact that they stiffen a bit while still maintaining a bit of freeboard. Flared hulls, as mentioned earlier by stevet keep getting stiffer as you heel them, all the way to the gunwales. Depending upon the paddler, this may be a good or a bad thing. For smaller paddlers, paddling larger boats, it may take some effort to get them all the way to the rail. They also don't give you much feedback that you are at the rail, other than feeling the trickle of water coming over.
Some bubble sided boats, popular in the eighties/nineties had fairly even and predictable heel, from level, all the way to the gunwales. The paddler had to rely heavily upon skill and experience to know when he/she had "railed" the canoe.
When I designed the June Bug, Illusion and Harmony (Savage River Works) I was aiming for that smooth even heel from level to rail. Those boats are not for everyone but they may be the ultimate, currently available, for those looking for those characteristics.
With respect to some of the above questions/comments, the purpose of heeling the canoe is to vary the effective hull shape, while you are paddling. Heeling (and related pitching) the canoe allows one to have a fairly straight keeled, easily tracking hull that is instantly convertible to a moderately or highly rockered hull that turns easily when desired. Below are links to a 2 part article that I wrote on the subject as well as a link to a variety of other articles on related topics.

A Pitch For Heeling, Part 1 – FreeStyle Canoeing

A Pitch for Heeling, Part 2 – FreeStyle Canoeing

The Cross Post – FreeStyle Canoeing

 

[NikonF5user]

The question I have is. Is it better to have a boat you can lean to the gunnel, or one that gives you the performance you want without having to lean it that far?

I typed this this morning before Marc's post and forgot to hit post!

I don't think it's really necessary to lean to the gunwale for maneuvering in pretty much any situation unless you are exhibiting - it's a skill I personally want to learn because I think it gives you more confidence and more tools in your toolbox, but I doubt many people ever go to the rail when tripping, even in heavy maneuvers. Leaning up to the shoulder in the WildFIRE allows for mighty nice spinning without getting into the tumblehome.

I DO think quickness to heel is a different story however - I have no data to back up this assumption, but I feel something like the Phoenix doesn't click with paddlers in the same way a WildFIRE or Dragonfly often does because it's slower to heel / greater primary stability...

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Another question I have concerning solo boats when leaning is, Do you keep one knee in each chine or do you put both knees in one chine like I would in a tandem?

That depends. It can be done either way, depending on the geometry of the hull, the kneel/sit outfitting, and the skill of the paddler.

As an adult, I first learned sophisticated, technical paddling as a whitewater paddler in whitewater outfitted canoes. In all such canoes in which I learned, the canoes were outfitted with central kneeling stations—seats, kneeling thwarts, saddles or pedestals—with thigh straps or other thigh machines. Thereby, your knees and legs are tightly locked into position and you can't move them laterally, as for example putting both knees into one chine for heeled turns. Yet, heeling to the gunwale ("nailing the rail") is de rigueur for executing snappy turns in whitewater. You heel by pushing down with one knee, but mainly by pulling up with the opposite knee against the thigh strap or machine.

In flatwater canoes there are no thigh straps or machines locking your legs and knees. You are free to shift weight left or right, change leg positions, move forward off the seat (to pitch the bow down), and to put both knees into the same chine to heel the hull. To get even more heeling leverage, you can even move one knee on top of the gunwale. This allows you to crack-the-stern-turn not only by an aggressive heel, but also with a simultaneous down pitch of the bow.

@Marc Ornstein is the master of these techniques. I've seen him take on challenges of boats that "can't be heeled" and spin them like a top with rail nails.

From the links provided by Marc in his post above, here's a video of him heeling with both knees in the same chine to execute an axle turn. He enhances the turn by a bow pitch, simply by shifting his weight slightly forward by lifting off the seat.

And here are pictures from Marc's links of two paddlers enhancing turns by simultaneously pitching the bow down and heeling the hull by putting one knee on the gunwale while moving the opposite knee over to the chine. Notice the "crack" in the stern between the water and stem. This maneuver both increases the rocker with the heel and shortens the water line with the bow down pitch, thereby enabling a super snappy and prolonged turn by combining two geometric hull alterations via learned paddling skills.

 

[lowangle al]

Thanks Glenn and Marc. I have watched Marcs videos and have read his articles and understand the physics going on. I was just wondering if I was missing something when it comes to leaning a boat to the rails. I think of it more in terms of secondary stability and how it affects how much I can lean and how that lean affects my turns.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Thanks Glenn and Marc. I have watched Marcs videos and have read his articles and understand the physics going on. I was just wondering if I was missing something when it comes to leaning a boat to the rails. I think of it more in terms of secondary stability and how it affects how much I can lean and how that lean affects my turns.

Al, your solo preference of paddling long tandem canoes from the stern seat is pretty unusual, and you are the expert in that style. I'm never sure that standard advice for centrally seated paddlers, or even bow-backward tandem seated paddlers, applies to you. Obviously, you are not turning the canoe by lifting, cracking and sliding the stern. You are pivoting the bow. It interesting to read how you apply "canoe physics" to your positional preference.

I'd guess I could heel a wide tandem from the stern seat a bit easier if I shifted my butt weight against one rail and moved my off knee a bit closer to that rail. In fact, maybe I'd paddle a bit weight shifted to the side and slightly heeled much of the time if I expected to turn a lot, as on a twisty stream.

 

[Marc Ornstein]

One point on secondary, sometimes called final stability.
Some very hard chined boats and some continuously flared boats can get very squirrely at some point in the heel and flip suddenly with only the slightest additional heel. Hulls with roundish bottoms and soft chines can generally be heeled past the rail, without flipping. Of course, if you don't back off quickly, you'll sink, but you can do so without coming out of the boat (until of course you float out).
All this makes for a fun exercise in boat control, especially on a hot day. There is no need to panic when you "bury the rail. When you feel that trickle of water causing your feet or knees to get wet, simply back off a bit. When we still had freestyle competitions, it was necessary to "heel to the rail" for maximum score. I used the wet foot/knee indicator routinely. There was no penalty for that.

 

[lowangle al]

Thanks for that Marc. I think the OP would want a boat that is stable when leaned to the rail and not squirrely. What boats do you solo guys recommend for him.

 

[Marc Ornstein]

Thanks for that Marc. I think the OP would want a boat that is stable when leaned to the rail and not squirrely. What boats do you solo guys recommend for him.

Obviously, I am partial to the Savage River boats, June Bug, Illusion and Harmony, depending upon the size of the paddler. The Fire series, Flashfire, Wildfire and Starfire are quite popular and are all available on the used market. I believe that Swift offers both the Flashfire and Wildfire by request, though, I've heard, they are not on his website. If appropriately sized for the paddler, Lady Bugs are great. Originally made by Curtis, I think, though I'm not certain, that Hemlock is offering them again. With some persistent searching, used ones can be found.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Thanks for that Marc. I think the OP would want a boat that is stable when leaned to the rail and not squirrely. What boats do you solo guys recommend for him.

I have no interests in promoting any designer's or manufacturer's canoes. I can, however, relate what I have experienced and witnessed over 45 years of observing, and occasionally participating in, sport canoeing and freestyle canoeing—which are the quiet water boat control disciplines where heeling to the gunwale is practiced and taught.

Of course, what is now called freestyle can be done in almost any solo canoe, and many students use many different canoes. But here's my observation of the solo canoes that have been most popular, historically, among serious practioners of sport canoeing and then freestyle.

As @stevet related above, in the mid-80s and early 90s it was Mike Galt's flared canoes such as the Egret, which could be paddled solo or tandem. In the early 90s Charlie Wilson spec'ed and Dave Yost designed the Fire series for Bell, which had freestyle heel to the gunwale ability as a specifically designed feature. The Flashfire was for small folks, the Wildfire for mid-size folks, and the Starfire for tandem or a big solo. The Fire boats were subsequenly made by Placid, Colden and now Swift. They are still popular among freestylers, and I recall Cliff Jacobson using a Wildfire on some of his Canadian wilderness trips.

Sometime in the 90s, Tom MacKenzie, a freestyle ITE and one of the founders of the WCHA, began making wood/Dacron sisters of the Fire series. The Nakoma, Aria and Duet were sisters of the Flashfire, Wildfire and Starfire. Tom made them specifically with freestyle in mind and they, along with the Fire series, seemed to predominate among freestyle paddlers until Tom passed away in 2015.

About that time, @Marc Ornstein, who had been winning freestyle championships in his own canoe designs, began designing canoes for Savage River, which has a long history of manufacturing very light racing canoes. The June Bug is sort of the analog of the Flashfire/Nakoma and the Illusion is sort of the analog of the Wildfire/Aria. These Savage River canoes have become quite coveted by serious freestylers because they were designed specifically for freestyle maneuvers including heeling predictably to the rail.

I have both a Bell Wildfire and a Savage River Illusion. They are both great boats, but at 81 I wanted a maneuverable canoe even lighter than my 35 lb. Wildfire, and my Illusion with a wood thwart, wood outwale strips, and Conk's lightest weight 10" seat weighs 21.8 lbs. Savage River can make a 16 lb. Illusion with their lightest layup, all carbon thwarts, no gunwales, and a 8" Conk seat or a carbon seat. I like the look of the wood trim, and wanted a layup that can ram over logs and beaver dams in the Pine Barrens and Adirondack streams.

It is easy to rail both the Wildfire and Illusion. The Illusion may be more solid in that respect because it is not a shouldered canoe. The Illusion turns a bit better than the Wildfire, so I like it a bit better on twisty streams like the Pine Barrens. But is a bit less capacious, so the Wildfire might be a better overnight tripping canoe for a larger person with a lot of gear. The Illusion is a bit faster and more acceleratable because it is a bit narrower than the Wildfire.

In sum, my experience is that the premiere "nail to the rail" solo canoes among freestylers, historically, have been the Mike Galt flared Lotus canoes, the Fire series, the MacKenzie wood/Dacron canoes, and now the Savage River June Bug and Illusion. Only the Fire boats and Savage Rivers are in current production, but Swift doesn't push or even advertise their Fire canoes nor can Swift match the light weight of Savage River's race-formulated technology.