Frankie

[milkman]

Great encapsulation, Tom, of the contributions of Frankie and those that have come after. I can't agree more with you on both the significant innovations and contributions of Jeremy and James Dennis. They've been huge as can be witnessed on rivers all over the world. Craig and the Esquif team were also big with their introduction of the L'edge. So many great boats, so little time to paddle (and money to buy them all).

[FullGnarlzOC]

Yeah yeah Kaz. You should be mentioned here too... anyone who dedicates their life to getting out canoes for people to paddle has my respect. Certainly not an efficient way to earn a living, so its can only be fueled by love of sport. It's why we're all still posting on cboats.

[insolence]

Since Frankie seems to be a very appreciated person, as his designs seem to enjoy a good reputation - why did so many people laugh at me for wanting to race the Green in a Prelude (which I did 3 years ago, and as did Eric Deguil before me)? Before the Extasy, it was one of the most nimble and fast PE boats out there.

Physics and mechanics don't change, only our knowledge of them does. A great boat will always be a great boat imho

[Sir Adam]

Insolence brings up a great point here, but after participating in this forum or it's predecessor for 20 years now (yikes!), I have an observation:

At times there is more emphasis on the "latest and greatest" being a more stable platform to paddle from, and allow folks to push their limits (more difficult water) by being more comfortable in a predictable boat.

At other times, the "latest and greatest" is a boat that is "higher performance" (typically faster, more maneuverable, but less primary stability), but is also inherently therefore more difficult to paddle.

Which one of the two has the "hot boats" that folks are lusting after seems to swing back and forth.

Blackly's designs are a great example of the former (a stable platform allowing folks to push their limits).

The Prelude, as well as some of Frankie's other designs, are a good example of the latter....

[insolence]

Sir Adam, thank you for sharing this observation!

Obviously I don't have your experience, so hull shapes undergoing a sort of "fashion" wasn't something I had observed yet by comparative lack of time spent in this sport. That's an interesting point!