C-Forum

Will there ever be another Canoe designer like Frankie Hubbard?
I know, I know there's not much of a market for New open Boat Designs But we can hope...The Canadians seem to be doing a pretty good job.....
Just thinking

We can only emulate and learn... there will only ever be one Frankie Hubbard.

Craigs boat is the closest thing I've seen. let's hope he keeps it up!

Craig, how does the Initial stability of the L'edge compare to that of lets say a SuperFly, whats the width.

I was only in it for a few minutes the inital stability was great.

We can only emulate and learn... there will only ever be one Frankie Hubbard.

Cumnock wrote:

We can only emulate and learn... there will only ever be one Frankie Hubbard.

No doubt... I often wonder what he would have done next.

No doubt... I often wonder what he would have done next.

No kidding...still hard to believe ole Homey is gone...

I picked up his "hey man"

and now I still say it all the time

one early evening me and a bud were hanging out with frankie at thunder rock. he had a black, short boat on his van he said he designed just for doing enders at stageing eddie. also said "if i didn't have to drive, that bottle of jose would be gone" (we were takin shots)
just glad i got to meet and paddle a bit with him in the good ocoee days

This is interesting old topic
Nolan and Frankie I think are in different ways ,
Thinking in terms of men in black,aliens, because they were so far ahead
Of thier time they could not be from this planet.
My favorite boat was, a viper 11, but since I have been around
Paddling a while I loved and still have a piranha 80's circa as well as a viper 12.
That being said, that was then and this is now.
IMHO the new sheriff on the block, without a doubt is Jeremy Laucks.
I am in the process of dialing in one of his designs and at first,within an hour or so
Proclaimed to myself the this little wonder is my new Piranah. No kidding.
After tweeting the outfitting and some critiquing from my son I am starting to think
It may surpass the viper for pure joy on the river.
This is a continuing story, but an unbelievable designer.

Frankie was one of the great innovators for sure. I still love and paddle one of his designs--the Prelude. But fortunately others haved followed in his footsteps and the past 15 years or so have been rich ones for great new designs, particularly from Esquif, Blackfly, and Silverbirch. Bottom line is that whitewater canoeists have a wealth of canoes to choose from. It's been a great time to live and paddle.

Long live the Viper.

F was revolutionary in his ideas for sure. Essentially paved the way to where we are now. With that being said some of the boats that have been designed lately - clearly have new modernized features. Cuts in the rails for tracking and speed, increased tumblehome, camber in the sidewalls for stability, optimized rocker profile.

In many ways - Jeremy could be compared to Frankie with regards to revolutionary ideas - A sub 9" tandem canoe, the first to consider an 11ft PE canoe, and a short canoe like the Ion.

Dennysdad - ever heard of James Dennis @ Silverbirch Canoes? A guy that has designed everything from wave skis and sit on top kayaks to flatwater and whitewater canoes. Truly understands hydrodynamics and how it relates to boat designs. 1 Prototype and gold through each design they have made. You want to be amazed? Hop in a Covert 9.3, the Covert 10.5 solo/tandem, the Rebel 11 or soon enough their new creeker design.

People that love the Viper 11 really ought to check out the Silverbirch Rebel 11 when one comes around - that will give you an idea as to where canoes have gotten to. An 11 ft PE canoe that weighs close to the same as a Viper 11 due to variable thickness of the PE. A 11ft canoe with modernized features and applied theory from what the industry has learned over the least 3 decades, from a designer that listens to what people want and has the knowledge and passion to make it happen. I have thoroughly been impressed with James Dennis and his design skills. Impressed enough to where I am of the firm belief that these canoes NEED to be readily available for paddlers here in North America.

As Mark pointed out - It's a great time to be canoeing!

I thought this thread was about Frankie, not self promoting.

Thats a little harsh kaz. First of all, this was an 8 year old thread that was resurrected and then immediately varied in its direction to more relevant times. Secondly, what i saw from Tom's post was pretty much nothin but props to others, namely Frankie, Jeremy, and James- and to their roles in the current state of advanced canoe design. Is it so bad that a thread about a man who helped propel it there should somehow slip to the forward progression of the sport? Does talk of new boats in comparison to old somehow disparage Frankie? Does saying James and Jeremy are good designers really make for self-promotion?, or perhaps was it just not promotion in the direction that you would prefer to see?