@string said:
Old boats contain old paddlers.
That is a joke, sort of.
@rival51 said:
@string said:
Old boats contain old paddlers.I don’t know about that. My 24 yr old daughter paddles either a Pirouette S or a Mad River Howler.
Two very cool boats. I like her taste. But if the Pirouette S fits her, I would think that the Howler would be quite large for her to solo.
@pblanc said:
@rival51 said:
@string said:
Old boats contain old paddlers.I don’t know about that. My 24 yr old daughter paddles either a Pirouette S or a Mad River Howler.
Two very cool boats. I like her taste. But if the Pirouette S fits her, I would think that the Howler would be quite large for her to solo.
She is running it tandem with her boyfriend. Today’s report - they bit off a bit more than expected on the Nolichucky. A bit beat up but still happy. Apparently, the swims weren’t on the big drops - it was running on the low & rocky side.
Brother-in-law & I bought the Howler back in the 90’s when we found that the MR Explorer we were running was a bit over matched on the Big South Fork. We tandemed the Lower Yough a couple of times but he dialed down his paddling about then. I ran it solo for a while unit I received permission from the Finance Committee to bring the Rival home. I think that the two of us were too heavy for the Howler (north of 400 lb combined I guess). It’s been run off & on over the years. JT & I have passed it down to the next generation - his son is a good WW paddler - used to guide out of Ohiopyle & solos an OCA on Class 4 these days.
I dug up a picture of running lesser wesser in a clueless fashion:
@sing said:
@DryFlyTrout said:
Thank you for all the responses so far. I know some of you took a while to think about what you wrote and I appreciate that greatly!
I think if I’m really honest with myself, getting down river is going to be more important than playing. At my age, fitness level, and condition after plowing through 30 feet of guardrail sideways I’ll never be doing super technical playboat tricks. Being able to surf and maybe spin would be great here and there as I make my way downstream.I agree that a higher volume, river runner is probably the best choice for you. Later on, you may consider other designs.
There is room for other more “playful” designs. I have a slicey/dicely Daggar ultrafuge that I keep in Maine because it is perfect to take to a playhole section of the Androscoggin River/Errol on a hot day to cool off by doing stupid play tricks and capsizing in the current edges. I have used that boat to “run” long sections of class II/III rivers in group paddles. These aren’t “races”, but rather an easy paddle down the river and stopping and playing at all the interesting feature sections of a ww river.
The “safety” of a a design is really a function of the individual paddler and his/her skill level. I know paddlers of Merrimack Valley (ww) Paddlers who routinely run (play) class III/IV rivers in their low volume, slicey/dicely boats. They would have not go with any other boat because they are more interested in “playing” rather than “running” a river.
sing
owner of two older (playful) slicey/dicey ww boats and a relatively newer (more mundane) river runner model - Riot Booster.
A booster 50 is what I was loaned. I still haven’t really had it out yet other than a few minutes in flat water. All I can say about so far is that it fits me very nicely. I’m spending some time this week with an instructor to work on rolls. I spent some time with an instructor on the river learning about catching eddies, peeling out, and ferrying in an inflatable kayak (an aire tomcat solo If anyone really cares hah). I’m psyched to learn to roll and in the river in a real kayak.
I wish to repost my question about differences in performance of the original WS Tsunami 125 design and the** 2018** with its updated hull design. If anyone has paddled both, please post your observations.