Finding a Solo Boat For Buffalo Bob.

[bcelect]

Sold ----Not mine, just posted two hours ago. Bell Star Fire. Kevlar. Could the price be a typo? It wont last at that price.--
Sold in 9 hours.

 

[bcelect]

[No message]

 

[yellowcanoe]

Takes a little practice together her tracking. If I were closer. At that price anyone looking for a small tandem should bite!

 

[Buffalo Bob]

This Starfire is long gone. I am looking for one and called the seller. :He had it sold in 9 hours. I may end up having to order a new one. I want it set up solo.

 

[bcelect]

Does it need to be a Starfire, or will any similar model between 14 and 16 do? Patience usually pays off. Where are you located?
There is a dragonfly located near DC .

 

[Buffalo Bob]

bcelect, Thanks for showing that D.C. listing. Probably a similar canoe would be ok. I would rather avoid paying for a new canoe. Located in southern Maine. Been looking for quite a while. Just got hooked up on this site yesterday. Maybe I should give it a bit more time. I could never find the craigslist listings that you canoetrippingnet members seem to find and post on here. D.C. may be a bit too far to travel..

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Huge difference in feel, stability and performance between a Starfire and a Dragonfly.

 

[bcelect]

How about a Mad River Malecite? Located in MA. Price may be a bit on the high side, but Mad River made some solid boats in the day.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

What exactly is the difference in feel, stability and performance between the two canoes?

 

[Buffalo Bob]

bcelect, Thanks so much for showing the Mad River Malecite, but it is too heavy.. Looking for something light in range of 27 to 37 lbs. roughly. Have an inventory of lightweight canoes and have become spoiled with easy portaging.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

What exactly is the difference in feel, stability and performance between the two canoes?

The Dragonfly is one of the tippiest solo canoes ever made. It's 5"-6" narrower at the waterline, rails and maximum beam than the Starfire, which is much more stable. The Starfire is easier to turn and can be paddled solo or tandem. The Dragonfly is much faster.

The Dragonfly was designed around 1982 specifically for the elite whitewater racer Harold Deal, who used it in whitewater combined class races -- that is, in both the slalom and downriver competitions. Harold later used it as a tripping canoe and garnered a lot of attention for it with his articles and photography. Almost no one can paddle as well as Harold. The Dragonfly now has a small cult following.

The Starfire became the top tandem hull for freestyle canoeing along with its near-clone in wood/dacron from LoonWorks.

Everyone has their own preferences. As a solo canoe, the Dragonfly to me is too skinny and the Starfire is too wide. If I wanted a very turnable small tandem that could also be easily soloed, the Starfire would be near the top of the list. I don't think it would be very efficient for long distance lake paddling. To me, it's more of a river and turny play boat.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

I am looking for not a tandem but a solo canoe for a turny play boat. If the Starfire is near the top of the list, what would be at the very top? Is the wood/dacron from LoonWorks still manufactured? Do you very often see any used available? I tried out a Proem last month. Made by Pat Moore. It seemed to be a tippy solo canoe. Is Dragonfly similar?

 

[yellowcanoe]

No. Proem fish form. And quite a bit of flare. I only paddled one once
The DragonFly is pretty much a kneeling canoe though one person lowered the seat almost to the floor and likes it for sitting she is almost six feet tall

It's rounder bottomed than Starfire. Starfire fits over six footers well for solo. Or long armed people
LoonWorks is no longer in business the clone of the Starfire was the Duet
The craftsman died.
SRT similar to DF but flatter bottomed

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I am looking for not a tandem but a solo canoe for a turny play boat.

Dave Yost's sized "Fire" series was originally designed for Bell, per Charlie Wilson's specifications, to be turny touring canoes that could excel at freestyle play. There was the 13' Flashfire, 14' Wildfire and 15' Starfire. Each one is symmetrical in water line and rocker line so that they will perform the same way when paddled forwards or backwards. The sheer line of each is asymmetrical, being higher in the bow than the stern.

The boats are all size-ups of the same basic shape. Different size paddlers would fit better in different sizes of the series. As a general rule of thumb, I'd say that paddlers under 150 lbs. should consider the Flashfire, paddlers up to about 220 should consider the Wildfire, and tall paddlers over that should perhaps consider the Starfire as a solo. Nothing fixed about those suggestions. Someone may want the smaller hull simply as a day play boat, while someone else the same size may want a larger hull for more gear carrying capacity.

All three of the Fire series boats are now made by Colden Canoe with superior infusion technology to Bell. In between Bell and Colden, the Flashfire and Wildfire (but I don't think the Starfire) were made by Placid Boatworks with infusion technology. The specs are all on the Colden site.

The best way to try all the Fire and LoonWorks boats, along with several other turny solos, is to attend a Freestyle symposium.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Or the Western PA Solo Canoe event

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Was wondering about a Mad River Independence solo canoe. Anybody have experience with that particular solo canoe?

 

[martin2007]

I owned one (MR Ind.) for about 5 years. I sold it last year after I bought a gently used Swift Osprey which I used more often. I liked day-paddling the Independence, and I tripped with it a couple of times. It was my first dedicated solo canoe as all my other solo paddling was done in tandem canoes and folding kayaks. The Indy has an asymmetrical hull. I believed at the time that it was a fast boat that handled well in wind, but those impressions were probably inevitable as my reference point was soloing in tandems. In fibreglass it weighed about 45 pounds. I paddled it on slow moving creeks and lakes, and didn't hesitate to paddle her standing with an SUP paddle, something I don't do in my Osprey. I believe the price of a used Indy should be considerably lower than the other boats mentioned in this thread.

 

[bcelect]

Here are some specs on the Independence. I imagine that they probably made a kevlar version. The Mad River Independence is the solo version of the famous Malecite, built for paddlers 150 lbs. and over. Mad River Canoe's spec sheet indicates a 6" freeboard load of 700 lbs, but it would be foolish to load it up that much. Here are the rest of the specs:
Length: 15'8"
Gunwale width: 28.5"
4" waterline width: 29"
Bow height: 19"
Center height: 11.75"
Stern height: 17"
Hull configuration: Symmetrical, shallow-V, moderate rocker (2.5" each end)
Material: Fiberglass
Weight: 44 lbs.

 

[martin2007]

bcelect: You're right, I'd forgotten. It's a symmetrical hull.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Wonder how the Mad River Independence compares to the Colden Starfire? I'm very close to releasing an order for a brand new Starfire but wonder if the Mad River Indy would be the same or similar.