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Float tanks have always been necessary and problematical. Sawyer and Mad River used to use foam, but WeNoNah's weight advantage by not eventually became to compelling, so almost all builders use the lightest option now: air. When Bell transitioned from glued-in, shaped foam chunks we started...

Minor problems in that scenario. Sitting with a single blade she'll definitely need the narrower boat but that's pretty high to sit. The extra width of one of the larger solo trippers to increase stability would not be a problem with a double blade but might be quite an issue with a single...

We still do not know whether the smaller paddler intends to sit low, ~ 2" off bottom with a double paddle, sit ~6" off bottom with a single blade bent or kneel ~9" off bottom with a single straight blade.

There are two reasons better builders laminate wooden paddles. The first is to minimize warping. The second is to minimize small imperfections in wood from becoming a stress riser and breaking the paddle. Tom MacKenzie encouraged Craig Quimby to use four piece construction on a simpler, less...

The best ever straight blade paddles were Craig Quimby's and Pat Moore's, both NLS. Their successor is Cricket paddles, similar, very good, sticks at about half the price. Check out their web site. At a price point, I like Gray Owl's Fleetwood. All have lots of wood pieces glued together...

Davis Yost designed several small solo trippers; the Curtis Vagabond 14.75' in ~ '82, the Swift Loon 14.5' ~'92, the Placid RapidFire 15' in 2005 and the Swift Keewaydin 14' in 2014. All are 27.5-28" wide max beam and are tumblehomed. The Kestrel is splashed from a modified Vagabond. Loon and...

Miserable day here on Lower Saranac, 15F/-10C, the snow driving up the lake horizontally and the propane burner without a valve. Going forward in a straight line without correction is one of the keys to efficiency; less effort wasted in turning the boat back online, and correction lowers...

This from Kim, known here as yellow canoe; " I was diagnosed with cancer last week and was looking forward to giving some hints in the FreeStyle thread that had technical issues and was erased. I want to make one of my goals to get back to tripping in a canoe and FreeStyle will come first to...

REJECTING the noun FreeStyle seems a little over the top, more so from someone who was not part of the discussion when it counted twenty five years ago. "The Group", Mike Galt, Frank Hosford, Lou Glaros, Doug Sphar, Ed and Debbie DeBerrys, Eric Schooly, Nancy Greene, Mary Lou Green, Dana...

I’ve been thinking about the forum’s recent FreeStyle decisions. Canoeing can be a skill intensive outdoor sport. Attention to paddle physics, paddler bio-mechanics and the boats actions in the water can extend distance covered or shorten the time commitment, and more importantly for...

Beam thickness in lamination strength Strength and resistance to flex in composites is a function of the resin and reinforcing material used and panel thickness. Composite reinforcements are available in an array of mechanical properties including tensile strength, resistance to being pulled...

Innegra is new stuff, and it probably won't have a 50 year run like Kevlar has had. Weight saving and strength increases will be incremental. We're hoping for a pound or two less weight, and some increased durability. Swift's tech package, composite thwarts, handles and end caps, may same a...

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There isn't a forum for paddlecraft construction, excepting Wood/Canvas, so I guess general discussion is our daisy for new developments in boat building! Innegra Overview Innegra is a high density polypropylene; an aromatic polyethylene. It has very low specific weight and low tensile...

After some additional thought, front bar roughly at longitudinal center for a symmetrical hull, an inch aft for Swede form. Depends a lot on the paddlers physiogomy; how far the paddlers CG is from his spine. Bigger guys guys need the seat further aft. To perfect placement, make flat, outward...

Interesting exercise to convert a sit and switch designed and trimmed hull to a kneeler, especially with the same mfg making a kneeling lake tripper, NorthWind Solo. The Magic kneeling seat will need to index aft a few inches for trim, the normal being a sitting seat with front edge at...

My ante's in, and thanks to Robin for the great site. Probably better we support Robin now rather than wish we had later.

What dose? Oh, two glasses of a good Zinfandel every evening will cure many ills!

The first year of production we outfitted Magic with an intermediate seat that worked both ways. The stock dropped seat can be improved by switching to Ed's contoured cane bucket, a Conk's custom or Swifts's standard laminated seat. Ed's has a pronounced center hump and is cut away for betted...

While we want to be able to lower seats and move them forward for sitting; raise, cant, and shove them aft for kneeling, adjustability of seat height and cant as well as fore to aft trim in the same hull is a designer's bugaboo. Sliders are easy as GRE, Placid, Savage River, Sawyer, Swift...