Question for Blackfly Option Owners

[yarnellboat]

Thanks Rick, now would you just mind putting on some weight and also getting an Octane? You'd be my perfect guinea pig if you'd just get a little fatter please!

My Ocoee still feels fun and relatively new to me, primarily because I paddle so infrequently, but when I have the opportunity to join a run with the better, more aggressive boaters around here now, I don't want to feel like an old school liability (more than I have to). So, if designs have changed that much as far as stability, dryness and confidence, then yeah, I guess should keep up with the Jones and take a serious look at L'Edges, Options and Octanes (either that or get those hotshots to go back and paddle Ocoees, which might be interesting, but seems unlikely!).

Pat.

[Pierre LaPaddelle]

. . . designs have changed that much as far as stability, dryness and confidence, then yeah, I guess should keep up with the Jones and take a serious look at L'Edges, Options and Octanes . . .

I'm chubby enough, thank you.

I'd say 'yes' to stability, dryness, and confidence, in either the Option or the L'Edge.

Dunno if you watched Vasyl's POV footage of his Burnt Bridge swim (posted on P'Net), but note that Doug, who possibly out-weighs you, bounced in his L'Edge over the drop/hole that ate Vasyl, then happily bobbed his way unscathed through Burnt Bridge. https://vimeo.com/152117450" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Similar experience through House Rock on the Nanaimo -- three swimmers: (Viper-11, Bulldog, and creeker-kayak); two upright: (L'Edge and L'Edge)

C'mon over for a day, and if Doug can't paddle with us, maybe he'll let you take his boat for a run.

Rick

[canoeman61]

Hi

I like the 91 because it is like the best of a long boat and short boat in one package. It is incredibly stable and dry, yet rolls quite easily if you do manage to get knocked over, which is not easy to do!
As I mention in the article, I was using an Outrage as my boat of choice on harder (class IV+) so I like something that is very predictable. The 91 is not fast like a long boat, but it is every bit as dry and easier to turn when you engage the edges.

I also have an 85. Recently had a conversation with Jeremy about why the Option was so much more popular than the 85, and he basically said it is because there are a lot more Options out there and people see their friends paddling them. The 85 has some differences from the Option that I like that I would be happy to discuss with you.

How far are you from Wilson Creek? I may head down there this weekend if it is not lower than 3 inches below zero.

Good luck.

Canoeman61,
I'd read your article before and had planned on contacting you via BT or GDI but since you posted here, I'll ask.
Why the Octane over the Option, especially at your weight? As for me, I've never paddled a planing hull canoe. I paddled OC's for 20 years and then switched to butt boat in '07 due to some knee issues. As far as them, I switch back and forth from planing to semi planing to displacement and seem to enjoy all three. Thinking old school, the displacement hulls would be more like what I remember, but the planing would be more like what I'm paddling now, only with a higher CG. Am I right? I'd appreciate input from you or anyone else on this. Thanks
Also, I'm less than two hours east of Asheville, NC, so if you know of anywhere to actually demo, I'd appreciate hearing about that also.

[waterbound]

Thanks. I'm about an hour from Wilson, but I doubt if it's going to be -3. But I'd like to talk to you about the boats sometime. Like I said, it's been well over 10 years since I was in an OC. While I've really enjoyed butt boating, I'd really like to see if my knees would take it. They may not, but I'd like to give it a try.

[arhdc]

As someone that drifts between 215 lbs and 250 lbs, here are my thoughts. I paddled an option for several years and the design is viable for big guys, even at 245lbs it's useable, but very wet and lacking much of the performance that it has with more patete operators. I found myself running a lot of bad lines because I could not keep the boat dry enough in longer/larger rapids, even with aggressive paddling to prevent taking on water. Recently I made the switch to an Octane 91 and the differences are astounding. The 91 is sooo much dryer, waves break off of the bow and send spray into the heavens.

Does it feel like cheating? Yes, yes it does, absolutely it does feel like cheating. I've found that the best way to deal with the guilt is to run stupid lines. I do think that it is more on par to what skinny people experience when paddling Options but it still feels like cheating.

Downsides of the Octane 91 are that it is a big volume boat and it takes a lot to push it around at times, especially when full of water. The edges are not terrible but you do need to mind them or they will make you pay. The boat is nimble enough, especially if you are big enough to engage the edges and strong enough to drive it, but lacks the lighter touch of an Option and shifting weight forward and back does little compared to my Option. I enjoy the Octane a lot and love to freedom to run harder/wetter lines without eating something that came out of the north end of a south facing camel. For big boy paddlers it's the only boat that currently puts you in par with smaller (lighter) boaters in terms of dryness and stability and if you feel too guilty for not swimming, you can always do a bootie beer in penace.

Just my $0.02, I fought this change for a long time and having made it I don't regret it.

[yarnellboat]

Thanks for the comments on the Octane, sounds like where I'm coming from: I just don't know if I could respect myself in the morning. And when I lean, I'd like my boat to notice.

On the other hand, if everyone else is cheating, why would I choose to suck?

P.

[canoeman61]

Laughing Out Loud! I guess I was really cheating in a 12-foot Outrage, but I still love that boat too, and I wish I still had my heavy L'Edge, which I preferred to the Lite one!

As someone that drifts between 215 lbs and 250 lbs, here are my thoughts. I paddled an option for several years and the design is viable for big guys, even at 245lbs it's useable, but very wet and lacking much of the performance that it has with more patete operators. I found myself running a lot of bad lines because I could not keep the boat dry enough in longer/larger rapids, even with aggressive paddling to prevent taking on water. Recently I made the switch to an Octane 91 and the differences are astounding. The 91 is sooo much dryer, waves break off of the bow and send spray into the heavens.

Does it feel like cheating? Yes, yes it does, absolutely it does feel like cheating. I've found that the best way to deal with the guilt is to run stupid lines. I do think that it is more on par to what skinny people experience when paddling Options but it still feels like cheating.

Downsides of the Octane 91 are that it is a big volume boat and it takes a lot to push it around at times, especially when full of water. The edges are not terrible but you do need to mind them or they will make you pay. The boat is nimble enough, especially if you are big enough to engage the edges and strong enough to drive it, but lacks the lighter touch of an Option and shifting weight forward and back does little compared to my Option. I enjoy the Octane a lot and love to freedom to run harder/wetter lines without eating something that came out of the north end of a south facing camel. For big boy paddlers it's the only boat that currently puts you in par with smaller (lighter) boaters in terms of dryness and stability and if you feel too guilty for not swimming, you can always do a bootie beer in penace.

Just my $0.02, I fought this change for a long time and having made it I don't regret it.

[magicmike]

If the '91is wrong......I don't want to be right!

[canoeman61]

Canoeman61,
I'd read your article before and had planned on contacting you via BT or GDI but since you posted here, I'll ask.
Why the Octane over the Option, especially at your weight? As for me, I've never paddled a planing hull canoe. I paddled OC's for 20 years and then switched to butt boat in '07 due to some knee issues. As far as them, I switch back and forth from planing to semi planing to displacement and seem to enjoy all three. Thinking old school, the displacement hulls would be more like what I remember, but the planing would be more like what I'm paddling now, only with a higher CG. Am I right? I'd appreciate input from you or anyone else on this. Thanks
Also, I'm less than two hours east of Asheville, NC, so if you know of anywhere to actually demo, I'd appreciate hearing about that also.

Pardon me for being so late getting back with you. I am no on here much. In answer to your request ion why the Octane ver the Option, I prefer the flatter bottom and hard chines on the Octanes, which make them both more stable and more like a L'Edge. Also I like the ugliness…err, the drop-down stern that gives the boat a longer water line. The Option has a very different bottom. The big Octane is like a security blanket for running rapids that I find harder, Class IV+. Come to think of it the little one is too. They are both crazy fun boats. Send me a PM and you are welcome to try either on the French Broad sometime.
.