Clipper Canoes Freedom solo?

Hi everybody,



I’ve been laying out for a couple of years with small kids, shoulder injuries, and general middle aged malaise.



Now I’m getting back into it and it’s time to replace the old USCA C-1 with something a little more seaworthy. I tried a Voyager and didn’t like it. I’m looking hard at the Advantage and the Clipper Freedom. The Freedom is an inch longer, an inch narrower (good) and an inch lower (really good) than the Advantage. However, I haven’t been able to find any reviews about this boat. Any body out there ever paddled one?



PS-Its been so long I had to recreate my profile. I used to be Wayne Williams.



WW

Freedom
Hi,

I had a Voyager and liked it. Two major drawbacks for training and cruising without much luggage was the depth of the hull. It was very hard to handle in wind. I have also had an Advantage previous to the Voyager, it was better for cruising and training, but not as good in really large waves and with a lot of luggage. Of the two I prefer the Advatage for general use, and would not have made the switch knowing what I know today. I have today an Advantage of the old racing type, similar to the Freedom. This one is almost as good as the newer one with luggage and I like the fact that it not as deep for cruising and training. More tricky in waves. If I wanted a new C1 to replace a USCA cruiser and did not have the old racing Advantage I would buy a Freedom from Clipper or the Grasse Riverboats stock racing C1.

Paul

So are you saying
the Clipper Freedom is more like the old racing version of the Advantage? Sounds exactly like what I’m looking for.

how does it
fit in the stock classes if it is narrower then the Advantage? Hate to show up in New york for the Clinton and be knocked up to the Comp class…

I’ll just…
borrow Steve’s C-1 while he paddles the uber-kayak.



:wink:

What happened to
Your J-Boat wayne?



Btw I checked the specs for the Freedom and you would need to make sure there was dirt on the hull to bring it up to the 14.375% specs for J-boats!

According to the spec sheet it is 14.305 at the 4 inch line. Hold a heat lamp on it before it is jigged and it would swell that much.

Charlie

Freedom
The Freedom is a Jensen design as far as I know, and it was made to fit the old USCA rules, and for a C1 they are not changed. Ask the people at Clipper.

Paul

Yup
The Freedom is a Jensen design. It wa soriginally marketed as the Clipper F1 and it was designed as a marathon racer and should still meet all C1 specs.

When they reintroduced it last year, they aimed it at the fitness paddling market and renamed it the Freedom. It is a nice canoe and has pretty good stability when compared to a modern C1 racer.



Cheers…Joe O’

(Formerly worked at Clipper)

Actually…
I sold the “citizen class” racer to buy a whitewater boat. I’ve still got the C-1 but its old and tired and slow - and it leaks a little too. It’s earned an easy retirement. I probably put over 2500 miles under the keel and it was a 10 year old boat when I bought it.



Since I’m not competing aggressively right now I want to replace it with something a little more seaworthy. Spring of last year I took an early season swim that caused me to rethink some of my methods. A farmer john and updated drytop will be part of the package as well.