C1 Playboating massacre!

[griffen_williams]

I am at the same weight and paddled a Pyranha 4Twenty M/L the dimensions are almost the same except for the weight and 2 extra gallons of volume for the 4Twenty. I thought it was plenty wide to be a stable boat. One that that may help is lowering your saddle a bit. As you move from a bigish OC to a small playboat you wont be able to maintain the same stability with the same saddle height as in the OC. What are you at currently? I was at 6 inches.

[TNbound]

Any C1 is going to scare and discourage you right off the bat. They are all going seem tippy and squirrelly and slow compared to your massive open boat. Just learn to paddle it. I thought I was going to die the first time I paddle my Z conversion on class II, but eventually I got better it became fun.

Also, from watching your video your boat trim/weight in the boat seems fine. What you need to do is paddle more aggressively instead of waiting for the "glide" of a long boat to carry you across eddylines and such. Always have an active blade in the water and use your edges. If you just sit back and try to drift through rapids in a playboat, it is going to spank you every time.

[Smurfwarrior]

I'd suggest upsizing your C1 playboat size. In a C1 we're sitting higher and need the extra stability of a slightly bigger/wider boat. Here are the C1 playboats I have (or have had), and notes about each. I'm 5'7" 190# with a 7" saddle for comparison.

Monstar- Felt huge, super stable, I used it to creek in. Wider than my knee width.
Superstar- This is the correct size for me, I playboat and river run in it.
Eskimo Xeno- Felt too narrow, was fast but was a front surf only kinda boat for me
Dagger Super Ego- slicey, moderately stable, fast but hard to keep nose from pearling
Titan Genises III (Large)- very comfy, stable, ok speed on flatwater, super fast on wave, short and easy to throw around
Dagger Kingpin 6.2- like sitting on an ice cube, on a sheet of ice, drinking gin with lots of ice.. good roll practice

Hope this helps.

[leclercraven]

Thanks for all the input guys I appreciate it. All I was looking for originally is a smaller boat that would allow me to surf certain waves that are either too big or too small for my 11 foot Raven...to be a bit more compatible with my kayaking partner. I've come to realize that I really don't like small playboats, K1 or C1. I don't mind a challenge, but I don't have enough time or patience for this. Kudos for other guys over 40 picking up that sport though!! I think I'll stick with my original plan and either get a L'Edge, Spanish Fly or a C1 creeker for play boating.

My C1 playboat is now for sale and will be posted here on CBoats and other websites tomorrow.

Liquid logic V56 C1, Aquabound paddle, Brand new skirt : asking 300$, located in Ottawa, Ontario

[Pierre LaPaddelle]

. . . guys over 40 picking up that sport. . .

Hey! I represent that remark!

(Course being retired gives us the time to pursue these little sidelines, and it's amazing how many old K hulls you can pick up when you cash your pension cheque. . .)

[VTBoater]

I've been having a lot of fun in my new Blackfly Ion; might be something to consider. It's short, with a playboat hull, and very stable. It catches any wave my kayak friends can catch and is really fun to paddle downriver.

[Bob Wiggins]

ION!!!!!! Perfect boat for what you're looking for.

[sbroam]

...
Dagger Kingpin 6.2- like sitting on an ice cube, on a sheet of ice, drinking gin with lots of ice.. good roll practice
...

Ha ha ha - a long time open boater friend of mine (a far better boater than me) hopped in my Whiplash C-1 one day for only about 5 minutes - "Man, this thing is like sitting on an ice cube!" Loved that boat, heck of a surfer / squirter, but sure had to roll it a lot... I bought it at the NOC sale one year and put in at the "sidewalk" for my test drive - I rolled 5 before I got the falls.

[we'll c]

I've been C1ing for a couple of years. I started with a Pyranha Burn - loved it and still do. I then went both smaller and larger for different needs of running more challenging rivers and dedicated playing / easy rivers. There is a role for many boats in my quiver. I generally want enough boat for the water difficulty and my abilities at the time. The better you get the more you do with less boat. I've frequently seen people get very frustrated by moving to too small a boat (i.e 11' Cascade to 6' Vision 56).

I do love C1 for the small, sporty feel of it, and it has improved my paddling significantly. Off-side strokes are improving out of necessity (in small C1s) and I am now comfortable in a ~7' C1 that I would have really struggled in a year ago in a larger boat. It's a long learning curve, but a rewarding one.

Cheers,

Bob

[markzak]

It took me awhile to get comfortable with my C1 playboat (LL space cadet). Give it time and don't give up. I have learned to use every little bit of current or a wave to get around on the river relying less on my paddle strokes and more on my river reading skills. Its really fun when you get the hang of it and will be a worthwhile boat to have.

[Yukon]

Hi I have a Jackson Monstar- it is a lot of fun in our local hole . I need to tweak the outfitting- mainly the back band, it keeps falling down on me and then I am no longer secure.

I also just got a cufly and it is amazing fun in our hole.

I am 6ft- 210 probably 225 with all my gear on which includes a drysuit. Surfs amazing and so stable most stable boat ive been in a hole with.

Both have NO glide and you hve to work aggressive to make the boat respond- it is a steep learning curve.

Our hole is super easy to get on just paddle foward and you are there. I was recently in Ontario on the Ottawa and Gatineau- I used the cufly on the Ottawa one day and the rides I got were awesome but I worked hard to get them and was pretty frustrated trying to cross the big boily eddy lines down there that always seemed to be on my off side. Im a righty.

The short boats are way different paddling than a normal solo canoe and takes time to get used to it.

Try to find something smaller than the Bonnet Rouge to build up and get used to the boat. That was one thing I did not find a lot of out East, smaller holes to build up on

Keep at it and keep rolling

[leclercraven]

Try to find something smaller than the Bonnet Rouge to build up and get used to the boat. That was one thing I did not find a lot of out East, smaller holes to build up on

Unfortunately, we don't have many "small" waves or holes around here that I can practice on. Anyway, I'm not totally abandoning C1 boating, I'm considering a Jackson Super Hero for a convert. The boat is wide and fairly short for a creeker, 7'6". I won't be able to do anything super fancy with it in terms of playboating but that's ok for me right now. I need to progress slowly.