Osprey will work fine
"Ultimately for my solo fleet I would want to keep the Magic and the Guide and then use this boat to bridge the gap between them for river trips"
The Osprey hits that niche right on the money. I can’t address its performance in whitewater, but it works just fine paddled sit-and-switch with a bent shaft paddle, or at least it has for me for several hundred miles. The only caveat is that I had to clean up my technique a bit before sit-and-switch in the Osprey worked well.
Seen TommyC1 do that
Bent shaft paddle
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2631562540100137426LTuiDs
Eddying out in class II
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2390277310100137426wdrJHU
Based on what I saw, the Osprey would be just fine.
Bug dope!
Nah!
That stuff is nasty.
I huff 303.
BOB
The Osprey will do it
I just returned from a 4 day 50 mile trip on the Machias river in Maine. TR and pics to follow.
The Machias is class II and III with long stretches of flatwater in between (11 miles of flats between Lower Holmes and Great Falls yesterday). This year ice out was early and the river was about as low as I’d care to run it. I beat the crap out of my Osprey. We ran loaded. We ran unloaded. We portaged.
I portaged less than my partners because I’m lazy, impulsive, and sometimes overconfident. If you are like me you’d best hold out for the Expedition layup. I busted up some gelcoat pretty good but so far I’ve not found any soft spots.
I paddled my best approximation of kneel and switch with my Zav bentshaft on the flats and my best approximation of slalom with my Mitchel in the pitches.
The Osprey is no Marathon boat. Sometimes I only got a stroke or two in before having to switch. Typically I 4 or 5.
The Osprey is no whitewater slalom boat either, especially with a tripping load you better be looking far ahead and have a good route. That blankety blank skegged stern got me in trouble more than once.
But the Osprey is the best hull I’ve paddled for that sort of mixed rapids and flats.
For what it’s worth my partners both paddled royalex Wildfire/Yellowstone solos. They both carried more weight than I did. One of those ran pretty much everything I did and looked pretty good doing it.
Your grails are bigger than my grails.
I can’t believe that I just admitted that in public. I am so ashamed.
I just slipped from grail questor to
boat whore after that definition.
Dang! I shoudn’t paddle any boat!
Selling favors?
– Last Updated: May-08-10 12:08 AM EST –
If you are a boat whore, and you have "too many" canoes...... I will buy your composite Bell Wildfire, and/or your Bell Merlin.........if you will sell it/them to me cheaply, and it/them are in excellent condition.
You "need" "some other" boat!
I "want" a composite Wildfire & Merlin.
The money I pay for your canoe/canoes is all you will get from me.
The canoes I get from you is all I want from you.
If you were Scarlett Johansson; I would most definitly be interested in further discussion.
Obviously you are not!
Therefore, our business is concluded.
Bye!
BOB
Welcome back
Are we finally going to see some pictures of a Wildfire/YS running class III? Looking forward to the trip report.
YS solo…
I had run solid Class III in my YS solo, but it was unloaded and the boat was far from ideal for it…but you could run it without swimming. At the bottom you may be totally swamped though.
I am thinking…and hoping…that the Osprey will be a little better than the YS solo for running such rapids. I think it has a bit more volume and more flare. I found the Osprey more maneuverable too. While its rocker is listed as the same as the YS solo it is measured differently.
Matt
my thoughts exactly 
it’s perfect
Osprey is perfect for your wishes. I was a boat whore for quite a while and now I’m just a slut. I also regret selling my Osprey and would get another in a minute and I’d be happy to live with an Osprey as my only solo canoe. I still love my Merlin II for it’s versatility and efficiency driving upstream against river current…but Osprey is much more playful. I had a Royalex Rendezvous and I’d love to try a kevlar version…no doubt a capable boat and the depth may give more security than Osprey in whitewater.
My limited input
I have a fiberglass, older Osprey that I bought used. The original owner bought it for up to Class II ww, I was told, but then didn’t use it for that. (I am owner #4.) I’ve used it loaded for multi-day trips into the ADKs, and long weekend trips on Kinzua Reservoir. It carries a big load easily. It’s my go-to boat for potential big wave situations (esp. Kinzua, which gets wind-whipped into waves often), because it handles them well, and makes me feel secure. However, I have only paddled it on Class I-I+ moving water. I am sure it would be fine on Class II – in the hands of a better paddler than me. I did put a dent into it that cracked the gel coat, and had it repaired. I would not feel comofortable running anything less than the expedition kevlar lay-up on a rocky river, but that’s just my humble opinion.
I’ve paddled it on lots of flat, slack water, and don’t have any issues with it tracking or being too slow. My hubby Hopsing also likes to steal it from me and paddle it when he wants a shorter boat than his Swift Shearwater (then I resort to my YS or my Wildfire).
I don’t know Matt
I had the same opinion as you expressed regarding the differences between the YS solo and the Osprey. But after paddling the Andro and Upper Ammo with Eric in his YS last spring and the Machias with JBudz in his YS last week I’m far less convinced. Guess I’ll have to paddle one some day.
Great new flavors!..
Don’t knock it(BugDope) Paul…they’ve come out with some great new flavors!..and without the nasty preservatives of the past!!!
…lol
SteveD
Can any true grail quest be complete
… without one of these?
http://www.krugercanoes.com/prod01.htm
Especially with a young, strong paddler to bear the carry weight?
bentshaft with an Osprey???
– Last Updated: May-10-10 11:38 AM EST –
Why on earth would you use a bentshaft(~8deg+) on a boat like an Osprey? Like putting Mud-Grapplers on a Porsche(should they ever fit). Next time in a nimble solo...try going straight, think you'll have a much more enjoyable time.
Uhm… because it works?
Paddling switch with a bent in the Osprey works pretty well for me when I want to make time.
I do mix in J and other control strokes from time to time but the Zav bentshaft (12 deg) works OK for all that.
I go to a heavier whitewater straght shaft when I need extra control or it gets rocky.
because maybe you sit some of the
time and the bent has a better approach angle for the sitting paddler?
The last I saw Tommy did about everything possible in a canoe short of letting it cook dinner.
Bents work great for going upwind… I even use my Zav going upwind kneeling though the angle might be less than optimal
got it…
Okay I am going with the Osprey. Thanks for the comments as you bolstered my confidence in this decision.
Of course the true test will be actually putting it through the paces of what I plan to do with it.
I found a used one on line and am having it shipped by KAS trasnport (they do a great job) so I should have it by the end of the month I hope.
My only minor concern is the layup. The guy said he didn’t think it was the Expedition Kevlar, but rather a lighter layup. However, it has a gel coat finish and I believe that any of the other layups that Swift currently makes with a gel coat are actually HEAVIER than the expedition kevlar or guide fusion or whatever they are call it these days and that any of the lighter layups are skin only and no gel coat.
So we will have to see when it gets here. My concern about the layup is just for durability for the type of paddling I intend to do with it in rocky rivers.
Even still though I would imagine that any of Swifts layups are stout. My expedition kevlar Osprey was pretty impressively stiff and strong. I am really hoping this one actually is an expedition kevlar layup.
Matt