| Browse categories below If you'd like to add a Conversion Boat, you must log in to the forum | |
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 |
| Boat Type: | C1 |
|
Boat Length: | 9 |
| Manufacturer: | |
|
Boat Width: | 23" |
| Designer: | Adam Pearsall |
|
Boat Volume: | various |
| Year: | 2006 |
|
Boat Weight: | various |
| Material: | Composite |
|
Boat Category: | Rec |
| Primary Use: | Squirt boating |
|
Cockpit Size: | custom |
| Secondary Use: | River running |
|
Depth: | |
| Search for this Boat of the Week (might not have results) |
Description:
Purpose-built squirt boat, a cross between the user-friendliness of an Acrobat and the low volume of an Oxygen. You may need to be a "maven" to paddle one!
User Comment:
The Maven was designed over a period of 5 years. Numerous images display the different stages of building. I could not have completed the design and fabritcation of my own boat with out the support of those on the Cforum, both folks who wanted to see a new boat, and especially those that had built their own in the past. If you're contemplating desiging your own boat I would highly recommend doing so, but realize it will take longer and cost more, and be a lot more work than you anticipate. And if you can't stand sanding for hours on end, don't even think about it....
Manufacturer Comment:
The Maven started out as a project to cut down a slalom boat (a Maverick), and make a squirt boat. Initial this sounded like a good idea…in the end, for a true squirt boat for "lighter" (under 185 lbs) it's not a good idea. There's still too much volume in the boat width-wise. The Maven Prototype I consisted of filling the boat with water to approximate my weight, using a sharpie to mark the water line, and cutting the boat. DO NOT use an angle grinder...the fumes are terrible, and you'll go through a cuttind disk in no time (and, I'll say it here for ALL of these steps-ALWAYS wear a respirator, and when need be eye and hand protection). There are blades for jig-saws and saws-alls to cut composites there work fairly well. The deck was then trimmed to fit the new hull, and it was taped together. It became VERY obvious that there was still too much volume. So, I laid up a new deck for the boat on an old sliding glass door, and the seamed it together. The Maven II was born. Still too much volume though, so I cut the boat in half the other way and removed a bit more material than i had meant too (working alone in less than ideal conditions. Wouldn't do that again either). After a bit of widening, I decided it needed a bit of volume around the paddler-so you felt part of the boat rather than strapped to a surfboard (a la grim wafer style). So, AdkSara and I made the "turret" out of expanding cell foam, then covering it with saran-wrap to use bondo and fiberglass (resin disolves expanding cell foam...). When it was done, a rim fashioned, it was tested in the Hudson on a flatwater stretch....and was a blast! So, I brought it to a local boat builder who had offered to help me through the next steps... It took a long time (3.5 years...), but the results were worth it. In turning the boat into a plug to pull a mold off of it was sanded, filled, sanded, filled, and about 5 gallons of polyfair (boatbuilding putty) went into it. The hull became much more refined, the bow deck develped structural curves like a Viper, and the turrent become almost symmetrical.... Gel-coat was sprayed, THEN the sanding began...until the plug was a highly polished shiny rather heavy object.... Then many, many coats of wax were applied to the plug, and a mold was pulled off of it. The mold was trimmed a bit, and waxed 14 times with TR108, and the first Maven was built, a light-grey 'demo boat' with a gelcoat and light layup (in case it stuck to the mold so I wasn't out a lot of $). This was pool-tested (thanks again Larry!), and my Maven was build, cut 1/2" ouf of the hull for my weight. It's a fun boat, though not for the faint of heart:).
| |
|
