nighthawk cygnus canoe

Can anyone tell me if, when Nighthawk’s 16’ Cygnus canoe is leaned over to the gunwale from the solo position, will the stems come out of the water as with a Prospector? Thanks.

It helps us make up plausible answers
if you provide photos of the boat, or links to websites where it is pictured.



I’ve never heard of a Cygnus Nighthawk, and I doubt that I could answer your question just from seeing photos. But there certainly are canoes where one can predict, just from looking at them, that the ends will lift if the boat is heeled to the gunwale.

here is the mfr website

– Last Updated: Jun-03-13 5:55 PM EST –

http://www.nighthawkcanoes.com/cygnus-16-details.html

"Slight rocker" is vague.. sometimes you have to want to heel such canoes to the rail to get the stems to unstick.

For sure its no Prospector.

probably
The specs are pretty close to a Novacraft Pal which heels just fine. Looking at the photos of the Cygnus and considering that it has a max width of 33" and minimal tumblehome, it should heel just fine, and if you heel it far enough, the stems should free up. However, the only way to know for sure is to either try one yourself or get someone else to try it out. Another alternative would be e-mailing the company and asking them.


Most tandem hulls
will pull stems when paddled solo unloaded. It isn’t only freeing the stems that make the boat turn easily…it’s also that you shorten the waterline and change the footprint shape…I would bet it will spin just fine.

my personal rant
is that photos are hard to make judgments by. I’m not ranting at anyone but fer chrissakes I would like to see cross sections from the manufacturer.



Not just in this case but in any case. Rocker, max beam,waterline beam, waterline length are fine but incomplete measurements.

I’d want a bit more “swell” on the sides
to give me the feeling that the stems would come free for a reasonable degree of heel. I would not want to have to heel it to the gunwale to get the stems free.



It appears kind of similar to our Bluewater Chippewa in that it has little rocker but a pretty good shallow arch bottom. Both the Nighthawk and our Bluewater have rather straight-up-and-down sides. I wouldn’t even think of turning the Bluewater by heeling. It has a lot of initial stability and resists heeling. The Nighthawk may do so, also. But while our Bluewater has almost no rocker through the middle 10 feet of the hull, the ends lift a good deal, and the boat turns easily unless fully loaded.



Maybe the OP wants to enter some freestyle? He might want to look for a Starfire instead.

At 33 inches beam
The Cygnus is only suitable for a FreeStyling gorilla.

Cross strokes are out for the rest of us. But I still dunno if it gives good Canadian Style response which the rest of us shorter armed paddlers would be more interested in.

Nighthawk Cygnus
Thanks guys. Helpful answers, all. Now, if I can just find someone who knows how to handle a Prospector solo and has also paddled a Cygnus solo.

Whooom are you calling a gorilla?
In my youth, I was known as a gibbon and a swinger.