Yes, I do have a 15-8 Cruiser. I bought it while waiting for Joe to take a year to complete my PB Shadow that my wife ordered as a surprise gift, since I had spoken of it for years to compliment my more stable Gen1 RapidFire. I finally did get the Shadow, with a custom higher than standard highest seat mounted. Joe Moore (from other customer’s bad experiences) did try to convince me not to go that seat route, but did it anyway for me. Except for Hornbecks, I paddle all of my canoes, solo or otherwise, single blade exclusively, which I prefer to do sitting in a higher than stock highest seat. As Joe warned, the extra height makes the Shadow quite tippy, which is fine with me with its quick paced maneuverability and speed. Unless I try to raise the weight of a SLR camera and lens above chest high while sitting still in a moderate wind, making it is quite tippy. but I am still ok with it for its standard flat water use while moving performance and training benefits.
Enter the Cruiser, being much more stable and roomier with a nearly flat bottom by appearance, surprisingly so when compared to the Shadow view. I first saw it at an outfitter’s demo with Bill Swift and Charlie Wilson’s advice for me to try. Bill also installed a higher than stock seat mount for me. My Cruiser does not produce anything like the same kind of tippiness as the Shadow wiith high seat. It also has an integrated racer style seat and foot rest adjustment configuration. The Cruiser is rock solid and fast, and quite maneuverable with my bent carbon paddling technique. I also enjoy recreational paddling with a straight wood ottertail blade paddling in it. I can use my own carry yoke, with screw knob into gunwale mounts that Bill installed for me. It is, IMO, very good and able to handle lots of tripping gear and nearly (but not quite) as fast as the Shadow. When I paddle to an Adirondack lean-to-Rescue work site in the Cruiser, I can carry my share of heavy work gear tools and supplies, as well my own camping gear easily and stabily Bill Swift actually personally delivered it to my home in northern NY at no delivery charge as he was making his delivery rounds hauling a gigantic huge long trailer full of canoes to NE region outfitters. I am not nervous hefting my heavy camera to eye level and expect the cruiser will be my new drone launch and landing platform this summer, if I dare, while I map the aquatic vegetation growth on my camp association lake.
At nearly the same time, a racer friend asked me to try out his new SR Blackwater, which I had been eyeing as part of the triplet of my desirable new solo canoes. He had trouble keeping it from drifting to one side, regardless of how he, an experienced capable paddler, handled it with single blade, and wanted my opinion. But it did not act that way for me paddling in it. It paddled straight and true for me and I loved it.
So, I had to have one. I ordered the same custom high racing style integrated seat with moving foot rest, I asked Ben Diller to install special gunwale blocks for my yoke clamps to grip. Even with virtually no rocker whatsoever, the BW responds well to heeling to make sharp turning maneuvers, even 180 degree buoy turns. The BW fits between the shadow and the Cruiser in stable paddling performance, and its speed fairly matches the Cruiser, if not the Shadow. While the Cruiser is my tripping standard with gear, the Blackwater is my go-to race workout training solo canoe. The Shadow remains as the most fun and showy on fairly calm surface water.
swiftcanoe.com
