as a thirty year old design, is obsolescent in every way imaginable.
Gad Zooks
Dat wats me ex-wife always said 'bout me…
Fat Elmo
The world according to g2d
Well now you’ve gone and stepped on literally thousands of peoples toes by telling them they have the wrong boat.
but I’m glad you got that little thing resolved in your own mind.
Job well done!
or… resolved that:
– Last Updated: Aug-12-06 2:19 AM EST –
The design of the basic, do-everything, general-purpose canoe hasn't changed much since the beginning of time, has no reason to, and never will.
Nothing that simple can become obsolete (except to those canoeists who acquire a fleet of specialized hulls).
P.
Spit it out g2d - name some ways
– Last Updated: Aug-11-06 7:16 PM EST –
Exactly what about it makes you think it (and hundreds of basic hulls like it) is fading away?
What would you change (that's not already being done)? What do see replacing it, and how is it significantly different?
P.
i’m sad to hear that …
one of my boats is indeed a 30 year old kevlar Mad River Explorer with ash trim. i loved this boat when i first bought it, i love it today and will love it for the next bunch of years. it’s a solid design that has served me well in the northwest territories, quebec, throughout ontario and generally, everywhere i paddle her. she’s no speedster but she handles moderate rivers, lakes, windy passages and rough water. since she’s got aa symetrical design, i can turn her around, sit in the front seat and paddle her solo with a bit of weight in the ‘bow’. what more could i ask of her.
Hell and we didn’t even know
That we weren’t having any fun! That’s the sad part.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b315/Indy425/LookMaNoHands.jpg
I’m with G2D Here 
Canoe folk with any self respect ought to get their obsolete and, frankly, quite embarassing RX and Kevlar Explorers on the market ASAP.
I’d sell 'em cheap too, particularly if you live within close driving distance of Central Texas. Thanks.
Ditch the V-bottom. That is the
single, quickest way to improve the Explorer. It is very easy to design a shallow arch hull with MORE initial stability, just as much secondary stability, better bottom rigidity, and less wetted area. Just take my Mad River Guide and properly scale it up to have the same carrying capacity as the Explorer. The Guide has just a gentle suggestion of V in the hull. A far better boat than my old, very V-bottomed MR Compatriot, though the hulls are otherwise similar.
I think the OT Tripper is a better lake boat than the Explorer, and a better boat in WW, solo or tandem.
party pooper
Don’t worry, Confluence will fix it.
decent answer
– Last Updated: Aug-12-06 2:23 AM EST –
But then you'd just complain about the oil canning.
Explorers, Trippers, Prospectors, Discos, and on and on... In the big picture all these all-round canoes are just too similar to suggest that one's becoming obsolete. They're just simple canoes, and good ones at that.
We can't forget that performance isn't the only consideration. Price is a factor too. If it weren't, I wish all the crappy faux canoes would become obsolete. If you're going to pick on a popular boat, why not start with Colemans?
P.
having fun ?
the two people in that obsolete MR Explorer (well, one person and a couple of feet) seem to be having fun. if you aren’t, you are hiding the fact well. 
Tripper and Explorer are not alike
at all. Solo them in whitewater and you will detect marked differences immediately.
Who peed in your…
…Sugar Smacks?
Grumpy old fart.
Going to help me convert a K1 to C1 this winter?
I could help, but who is going to be
the “end user”? I can’t believe your knees would withstand “pain boating.”
It’s me. I won’t run anything manky…
…with it.
Just the local Little Miami and Mad Rivers.
Maybe I’ll give that guy on the lake today a
second chance!
So, what kayak will you convert?
Not your Rockit, I hope. It would not be a good c1. You need a kayak with firm initial stability, and good, non-treacherous, secondary stability. It should be relatively fast. (Except for the Prijon Athlete, none of today’s plastic WW boats is truly fast.)
I should be getting Russ’s old school…
…glass boat soon.
A Jetti(?). Something like that.
Heck, maybe I’ll convert my Barracuda. (Just teasing!)
Do hydrodynamics…
Change? A good design 3 decades old is still a good design, isn’t it?
As a diver, I’ve seen Scuba Pro Jet fins for at least 30 years, and, yes, they still sell for a very good reason.
Water won’t change it’s behavior, nor will wind or rock.
Some of what’s new is a step forward, some of it is just to have something new.
T
It was never that good a design.
The explorer succeeded in a sea of mediocrity. V-hull designs are inferior. They do NOT offer optimum primary stability, they do NOT offer optimum secondary stability, they have too damn much wetted area, and they resist turning. Find me either a downriver or a slalom design that has a V-bottom.
Thank you for allowing me to decisively destroy the myth of the Explorer.