Description:
A modified Phoenix Slipper kayak (wider)
User Comment:
The original "Slipper" was a K-1 built by Dan Demaree, then redesigned as a C-1 by Kent Ford. If you saw the kayak and the C-1 next to one another with out being close up you'd think they were the same boat in two different sizes. Yes the C-1 has a different cockpit and is wider and deeper with more volume but the two look much the same. For instance they both have almost completely flat rear decks and similarly shaped front decks, etc. The Slipper is currently made by Phoenix under the moniker "Seewun" The Phoenix apparently had a very short and unremarkable career as a race boat, but it was fairly widely used as a general river runner. The Phoenix Seewun, often called the "Slipper," was marketed around 1970 and can still be ordered from Phoenix in Berea, KY. I bought mine in about 1984, and used it for most paddling until the early 1990s. This particular Phoenix has the Fiberlastic layup, which is almost as heavy as polyethelene, but is just as unbreakable when new, and does not crack with age. The boat is rounder and has a bit less rocker than a Gyramax, and does not handle quite as well. However, it was a big improvement over the Hahn and Sage I had used previously, and I was surprised to find that the Phoenix, when leaned, quickly developed firm final stability. The hull is very Swedeform and cab-forward. In fact, the Phoenix is more cab-forward than my Dagger Zealot. This causes a problem which I did not clearly recognize for years, that the Phoenix runs a bit bow-down, so that the bow tends to catch eddies, and wave trains try to lift the stern and tip the hapless paddler forward onto the deck. If I were to continue using this boat, I would saw the entire cockpit loose and shift it back at least a couple of inches. Shorter, lighter paddlers would be less likely to notice the cab-forward problem. Being quite tubular and having only a limited flattish area on the bottom of the hull, behind the cockpit, the Phoenix does not ferry as well as its competition the Gyramax. In citizen slalom racing, the grabby bow could be used to advantage in grabbing eddies, and the boat seemed to know exactly when to quit skidding and settle. The stern was way too fat to slice under, but the flat "landing deck" behind the cockpit could be a nuisance when turning across eddy lines. I have good feelings for the Phoenix, having paddled it on whitewater from coast to coast, but I have no illusions about its design. Any Noah Atlantis from that time period would run rings around the Phoenix. --- Gary DeBacher, Atlanta
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