what some good solo canoe models for recreation class racing? wenonah advantage, etc. i know there are class rules, etc. and i definitely don't want to get into the open classes. thanks. and btw, isn't john edwards on this site. man, blazing fast.
sundowner
My brother raced a 44# 18 ft 6in kevlar wenonah sundowner. Excellent for camping also. Fastest boat allowed in stock class at 90 miler and there were a ton of them. When you get nailed by big wave, Get down on your knees to lower center of grav and have knee control. Racing is fun. Listen to organizers about what they reccomend.
looking for a solo
shouldn’t pointed that out better.
rec class is tricky
Up here they really don’t have a defined rec class for solos. So little interest that rec boats get grouped into stock class at the races and are competitive with the boats on the stock list. Years ago there were two separate classes, broken by length.
At some local races they create a rec class, usually under 16’ and over a given width and weight, but it varies with the race.
For the stock class the fastest hulls are the Advantage, Encounter, Grasse River Classic and Classic XL, Savage River Otegan, and Sawyer DY special and Shock Wave. In the 90 miler last year the fastest C-1 Stock paddlers were in Grasse River Classics, in spite of the false claims made by the Placid Boatworks people about their Spitfire.
And if MacAdoo’s brother paddled an 18’6" Sundowner solo, i missed it twice. Could not get an 18"6" boat in C-1 stock class, max length is 17’,and i have never seen an 18’6" Sundowner. A Minnesota II or Odyssey, but not a Sundowner.
the Wenonah Voyager is too long to fit C-1 stock class and get put in the comp cruiser class.
Bill
That is why I didn’t post sooner
No matter where you race, no two of them have the same rules for rec canoes, as well as rec kayaks and I have been to several where the race director will even put them in a class the morning of the race.
Some go by weight and others go by length.
Most rec canoe races around this neck of the woods have to be 17 feet and under, and over 50 pounds.
Cheers,
JackL
Rec racers
Lee County FL sponsors a series of canoe/kayak races and defines the rec races as the shorter ones (usually 4 miles) and the competitive races as the longer ones (10-12 miles.)
The competitive class has strict and well defined standards, but in the rec class you can paddle anything you bring. To encourage more paddlers to come out, the race director breaks the rec class into as many categories as she can based on both boat size and paddlers.
This just confirms the earlier post - rules for rec classes vary drastically from place to place and race to race.
nice, larry
i live in fort myers, a few miles north of the estero river. you paddle around here?
i’m not sure how strict it is in fl
i live in fort myers and have thought about paddling the florida circuit for a year in an advantage or something and seeing if i like it. who knows, maybe one day i’d like to switch to one of those crazy looking diamond hulls. but for now i’m just looking for a fast solo that i can get a good work-out in and be relatively competitive in the not-so-competitive classes.
leaning toward wenonah advantage
lots of them around for a good price. heard nothing but good things about the boat. i’ll look out for a used on in florida. thanks for the input.