Supermax weight range

[Guest]

The "flash" in the bottom picture is just that: flash from the automatic camera lighting. Because of the flash presence, it is not possible to detect if there is delamination underneath that part of the hull.

As "The Purple Unicorn Lady" says, it is hard to tell much about the condition of a laminate from looking at snapshots. Read that sentence again. You really have to examine the laminate directly with your eyes and your hands to learn much about its true condition. Conclusions such as I have drawn earlier about the condition are not much more than an educated guess, and further onsite examination would be required before such conclusions can be relied upon as fact by anyone, especially someone about to make a buying decision.

Pictures will reveal only major patches or catastrophic damage, but not much more. This boat does not appear to have either! Snapshots taken at night in artificial light, using flash equipment, and with obvious reflections of the surrounding equipment, clothing, people and interior furnishings visible on the boat itself, are not good enough to analyze the laminate's condition except in the broadest manner.

With Seda boats, which typically had heavy resin layers on the outside of the hull and deck (clear resin to make the boat appear "shiny," or heavily pigmented resin to make the color opaque), it takes an experienced eye (and hand) with direct contact to accurately detect damage to the interior layers of the laminate.

After saying all that, here is what I see FROM THE PHOTOS ALONE:

To the left of the camera flash in the bottom photo of the hull is evidence of the "resin starving" that was typical of Seda boats. Note the lighter, more visible patterning of the cloth weave underneath the shiny resin coating on the outside of the boat. That indicates the first or second layer of cloth was not properly saturated with resin during construction, despite the thick coating of resin that was applied to the inside of the mold before the cloth layers were "laid in"! Lousy workmanship is the best that can be said about such construction methods. Resin starved areas of the deck laminate are also evident along the left seam line just aft of the bow, near the "Kevlar 49" label, and to a lesser extent, near the curves of the black "S".

When a hull flexes (say, when hitting a rock) the outer layer of the laminate may be merely scratched or abraded. It may even be undamaged. However, if the interior layers are resin-starved, they will detach or separate from the adjacent layers of cloth. This will show as a round or elliptical area of that is lighter in color (or more white-ish) than the surrounding area further from the point of impact. The area where the layers have separated is said to have "delaminated." Such areas have been weakened by the impact, and will eventually crack and leak with further flexing.

A good example of an (admittedly very small) area of delamination on this boat can be seen on the deck in the top picture. The lighter colored area (about the size of a silver dollar) near (to the picture left) the bow graploop (about at the mid-point of the loop's length) is delaminated. Another example is on the left side of the deck near the seam line, about in the middle of the cockpit. That delaminated area may also be cracked. My guess is that a resin repair has been used there, but it is too hard to see for sure.

Finally, in the middle picture, note the lighter colored areas of the hull near the black seam tape (picture and boat right) and the round, lighter areas about a foot or two in front of the cardboard on picture left. The first appears to be resin starved laminate, and the latter is probably delamination.

The pictured Supermax is, considering how old it is, in good shape. The problem is that it is old. Unlike wine, composite boats do not improve with age. The construction is just layers of cloth glued together to form the laminate. Glue gets weaker with age due to chemistry and UV degradation. Of course, the energy of repeated impacts will "age" a laminate in a hurry. So, even though this boat has not seen a lot of river use, it is far from "as good as new."

Frankly, I hope Marshall buys this Supermax, and brings it to the Spring Armada so everyone can paddle it. It is by far the nicest Supermax I have seen since 1982 or so.

[sbroam]

As for the price, be aware that you can find newer boats in similar condition fairly cheaply. However... it is a matter of being in the right place at the right time and may involve waiting quite a while - especially if you are a larger paddler looking for a suitable boat. I'd offer $100-150, especially if you will need a new skirt.

As for me, I'm off to the river where I'll be paddling *my* bargain basement slalom boat

[unicorn]

Don't know what JRS did with his molds I guess you would have to ask him.

All of my boats were black JRS boats. Including the C-2's (except the paramax, which was "local" -- ie, like #2 from the mold.) I still have 3 C-2s, none legal now, but I always refused to sell them as "sweetie boats". (No longer a big issue, I guess -- nobody takes girls out riding in a slalom C-2 any more.) In fact, I became permanently estranged from an occasional paddling companion when he wanted to buy a C-2 & I said "No, --because I know exactly what you are going to use it for...").

Sadly I sold my 'cuda --perhaps the only cuda to make 2 C-1W trips down the Grand running everything -- one of them in '83-- and I sold it to a guy ;-( never should have done that, it was a sweet riverrunner. But my favorite memory was chatting at the Yock with an OC-1 & saying hey, I might like to try one of those some day. He looked at my cuda & said "Well, THAT'S a REAL boat -- and EVERYBODY KNOWS IT!

Gotta love it...