Splash guard for Viper??

[MarkT]

Anyone figured out a way I can divert the water that comes over my bow and into my Viper 11 when running a rapid? I'm 6'5" and 225...before adding the gear I carry, so a bit heavy for this boat to start with I guess. I know I can quarter into the waves and avoid some...but I was thinking more of a "V" of foam glued to the front deck or something.

Any ideas that have worked for you?

Thanks,
MarkT

[Einar]

If your gunnels are vinyl....

I recently saw a neat trick in Portland. A Viper 11 owner had glued a vinyl fabric to his gunnels using vinyl bond, covering the top over the airbags. The soft material allowed for the hull "working". The material edges were a little frayed but it didn't bother me.
(Thanks for reminding me, I think I might try that myself)
I think that it was "Murrays" boat?


Nothing personal but at 225 lbs I bet the V11 runs wet, I'm 205 lbs and have to play a strong defensive game to keep it dry.

I own two V11 hulls, one royalex and one kevlar. The glass boat definitely runs drier, not completely sure why, probably because of it's overall weight and liveliness, quick side to side snap to work the flare, and it seems to rise up the wave face quicker. Dunno, just has less water in it at the bottom of the drop.
It was custom built to 33 lbs, with bare anodized black aluminum gunnels and thwarts incl in the weight. No seat/bags/rigging. Definitely not a L'Edge!

Not knocking the L'Edge, it looks like fun, but just a plug for the lost art of paddling glass playboats.
I'm wearing my boat out but.... I'm sure having a lot of fun doing it.
Anyways, nothing lasts for ever, except the memories of having fun.

[yarnellboat]

I wish I were wearing out a boat, not a bad problem to have E!

I'm about your weight Mark, but sadly nowhere near your height! I also found the Viper 11 too wet: from an Outrage I considered a Viper 12, Ocoee or L'Edge. Ended up with an Ocoee, which paddles drier than the 11, but rolls really swamped.

Anyway, I put a bigger deck onto an Outrage. I had some leftover ABS sheet from a bottom repair and so I just tacked it on as a big deck plate. The sheet was quite thin, easy to warm up and just cut with a knife. I just used pop rivets and put it onto my vinyl gunwales. To help it shed water I glued a foam form to a forward thwart so that the plate would be peaked, and onto that I glued a little foam wave-dam-deflecto-thing.

I couldn't find any decent pictures of my bow, but with that description you may see a bit of it in these photos, and if not, it's a beautiful class III-IV canyon to look at anyway. In the first pic of my boat sliding down to the put-in, if you look into my bow you should be able to get a long-distance idea of the foam on the thwart to raise the splash guard:

https://picasaweb.google.com/vanc.yarne ... meenCanyon#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'll post better photos if I find any.

So, whether you use a thin plastic sheet or a tough "tarp" of some kind (maybe a use for old air bags?), it's not that big a deal. I wonder if the Portland had a peak or any other way for it toshed water from the cockpit?

It seem like a pretty logic and low-risk thing to do, so others must have stories/suggestions too...

Good luck, Pat.

[yarnellboat]

Here's a pic of something similar, and a few may reocognize the Bollermans:

http://rfort.smugmug.com/Other/2012-Tam ... &k=KgDf5jM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pat.

[MarkT]

Great photos...especially of the canyon. By the looks of things I think my "V" of foam on the front deck might be the best I can do.

Pat, you mentioned other boats you considered when you had an Outrage. Did you not consider the Outrage X? I've thought about one, but don't know anyone who has one to try. At 13' I'd lose a lot of playfulness.

Thanks much for responding.

MarkT

[Paddle Power]

Didn't Nolan Whitesell put a little rubber deflector on the bow deck of his canoes, similar concept to the image that Pat posted.

[pblanc]

Didn't Nolan Whitesell put a little rubber deflector on the bow deck of his canoes, similar concept to the image that Pat posted.

Yes

[yarnellboat]

To me, the Outrage was plenty dry enough for a big guy and is a pretty fast hull, it's got lots of volume, especially the versions with a flared bow, so I didn't really see what the extra foot of hull adds for an Outrage X, other than making it less playful (or having more space if you're interested in an X for tripping). Not a fan of the Outrage X.

When I wanted to try a different hull than the Outrage, the Ocoee was the way I went, also considered the Viper 12, L'Edge and would be interested to try a Hellman Otter. That's still pretty much the line-up for heavy guys, with most of course going for the newer, plastic L'Edge.

I'm not sure what other boats would be recommended as dry enough for heavy guys?

Why would the deflecto-dam be all you can do? Stapling on an extended deck of some kind seems easy enough, if you find a good material; rivets are easy, thwarts are easy, foam is easy.

Pat.

[MarkT]

All good suggestions, Pat. I may play with your ideas.

Thanks much.

Mark

[Bob P]

Another thing you might consider is extending the front deck plate well past (~1") the hull sides to deflect the water before it gets to the top of the deck.

[MarkT]

That sounds like a great idea. Block it before it comes over!

Thanks.

[Bob P]

My original Cobra (slalom boat) design was very wet until I added this roughly 1.25" wide flare. Now I rarely get water over the front.