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.
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Clipper prospector 14 debate
- Thread starter dutchlennart
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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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We REALLY need an eye-roll emoji option on the "like" bar.
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?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:
www.facebook.com
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).
Now it looks like I'll be lucky if it's still there in June. He just dropped the price to $1400. I don't even have a way to get it right now, since my truck is in the shop for some major work. If anyone else is thinking about this one, you probably better get after it.
I just saw the price drop and came right here as well
. Wish I knew someone passing through Montana on the way to the Midwest, dang it!I live in Bozeman, so I can pick it up for someone and store it until they can pick it up. I'll be driving to Bellingham WA in May if you want to meet off I-90.
Biggest issue for me right now is how much I'm going to have to pay when my truck is all done. 
Worry about the truck later....you have a boat to buy and time is of the essence.
That ship has sailed. Hopefully with someone who'll tell us about it.
Well shucks. It was heck of a deal, someone made out pretty good there.
Well, the Clipper descriptions of these boats stated above from the phone calls is definitely accurate. The P14 is very, very maneuverable, much more so than the Caribou S. It also visibly has much more rocker, despite being listed as less in the specs. Also of note is the width. The website lists the max width of the CS as 31.5”, along with the beam (@gunwale) as 27”, but only lists a single “beam” spec on the P14 as 29”. I can now confirm that is the gunwale beam, and the max beam is 31.25”, almost the same as the CS. However, it is much less stable than the CS initially. Both have great secondary and can be leaned way over without issue, but the primary stability difference is quite evident based on the photo of the bottom shapes below.
Clipper also advertises the CS as their “largest volume solo”. If that’s true it’s not by much. Despite being a foot shorter, the P14 is a lot fuller and more blunt in the ends, and just eyeballing it I’m surprised it’s not actually higher volume so I’m guessing it’s pretty close. The depth feels cavernous, much like the Nova Craft Supernova. The bottom shape actually reminds me of the Supernova a lot, and I was worried it would be too tippy just looking at it given it is narrower. However it felt great both sitting and kneeling to me, although I may adjust the seat cant to be a little more angled for kneeling (the Supernova feels fine to me as well, but I know some folks feel it’s tippy). I only paddled the P14 on class I, but I can definitely see that it has whitewater chops. Also like the Supernova, it feels more stable the bigger the waves, and it requires a constant correction stroke to go straight. I’m certain it will be a ton of fun in real whitewater, and although it’s not a playboat like a Caption, it certainly leans closer to WW playboat than something like the SRT or Dragonfly 15 (being they are also whitewater capable trippers). It has much better glide than a royalex WW playboat, but not compared to a tripper. Probably less than Supernova (the Caribou S on the other hand has glide for days). I haven’t paddled one, but I would like to compare it to a Pocket Canyon as I think it might behave fairly similarly. Time will tell on the durability of the Duraflex layup, but it feels as beefy as IXP, and quite stiff. I was also afraid the P14 might be too small for me, as 14 ft boats usually are, but given the max width of 31.25” and the depth, it was more than adequate. I’m quite sure it could be loaded down much, much more with no issues.
Tried to keep this to the P14 as much as possible but I’ll add that the Caribou S impressed me a lot as well. Incredibly stable, but didn’t resist leaning until about 2” from the rail, decent enough speed but not “fast”, great glide and tracking. It didn’t have nearly the maneuverability of the P14, but it also was surprising how maneuverable it still was given the length and tracking. It did everything I asked of it slaloming around downed trees from recent flooding, and although it took more effort to turn it never felt “sticky” like so many asymmetrically rockered boats do. Very different boats but both great in their own right.
Clipper also advertises the CS as their “largest volume solo”. If that’s true it’s not by much. Despite being a foot shorter, the P14 is a lot fuller and more blunt in the ends, and just eyeballing it I’m surprised it’s not actually higher volume so I’m guessing it’s pretty close. The depth feels cavernous, much like the Nova Craft Supernova. The bottom shape actually reminds me of the Supernova a lot, and I was worried it would be too tippy just looking at it given it is narrower. However it felt great both sitting and kneeling to me, although I may adjust the seat cant to be a little more angled for kneeling (the Supernova feels fine to me as well, but I know some folks feel it’s tippy). I only paddled the P14 on class I, but I can definitely see that it has whitewater chops. Also like the Supernova, it feels more stable the bigger the waves, and it requires a constant correction stroke to go straight. I’m certain it will be a ton of fun in real whitewater, and although it’s not a playboat like a Caption, it certainly leans closer to WW playboat than something like the SRT or Dragonfly 15 (being they are also whitewater capable trippers). It has much better glide than a royalex WW playboat, but not compared to a tripper. Probably less than Supernova (the Caribou S on the other hand has glide for days). I haven’t paddled one, but I would like to compare it to a Pocket Canyon as I think it might behave fairly similarly. Time will tell on the durability of the Duraflex layup, but it feels as beefy as IXP, and quite stiff. I was also afraid the P14 might be too small for me, as 14 ft boats usually are, but given the max width of 31.25” and the depth, it was more than adequate. I’m quite sure it could be loaded down much, much more with no issues.
Tried to keep this to the P14 as much as possible but I’ll add that the Caribou S impressed me a lot as well. Incredibly stable, but didn’t resist leaning until about 2” from the rail, decent enough speed but not “fast”, great glide and tracking. It didn’t have nearly the maneuverability of the P14, but it also was surprising how maneuverable it still was given the length and tracking. It did everything I asked of it slaloming around downed trees from recent flooding, and although it took more effort to turn it never felt “sticky” like so many asymmetrically rockered boats do. Very different boats but both great in their own right.
