C-Forum

Hello,
I have been wanting a good river running boat which will also be good for surfing and stern squirting which will noticeably out perform my current Dagger Atom. I'm 6'3", 205lb.
The more I read the forums the more choices I see I have. I definitely want to look into glass also.
Here's the problem, I recently bought a Dagger RPM Max thinking this could be the answer, pulled out all the K-1 stuff and put in my Dagger C-1 insert and jumped in. To my shock, even on a 6" high seat, my thighs were smashed into the rim of the cockpit. Now I'm having second thoughts about my decision. Before I heat and raise the cockpit(and lower the resale value if I have to convert it back), I was wanting to here from any C boaters who have paddled this rig C-1 or have heard any comments from any who have.
I also have a buddy wanting to possibly trade his Dagger GTX which is another option. It does have more cockpit height.
Or, sell it and go with a completely different boat like a WaveSport Z.
I am somewhat committed to Dagger since when in a altered state of mind went into a tattoo shop and had the Dagger logo put on the back of my neck. What was I thinking? 0h well, too late for that now.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
Larry Dillon

The RPM actually makes a decent CBoat, so I'll assume the RPM Max will as well. The Z will be a bit slower than the Atom-are you looking for speed or playability? If you're looking for a good river-runner check out the Honcho-I haven't paddled it, but I hear it makes a great C1 and a lousy Kayak .

Being of similar size although not as tall, I had the same problem with a Dagger Centrifuge. The Dagger cockpit was big enough but in order to be trimmed decently I needed to be crammed as far forward as possible which caused the cockpit combing to dig into my legs. I've had better luck so far with Wave Sport boats.

A friend of mine had an RPM C-1 (not a Max) that he liked, but he was shorter and lighter (I'm guessing 5'8" and 150#?, I'm 5'11" and ~210#). I tried it *once* - it was so skittish for me that when I flipped I immediately rolled four times in rapid succession, only on the last roll did I not over-roll. He, on the other hand, could pull off stern squirts to his onside and offside (not switching sides) and was upright most of the time.

I would imagine the RPM Max is more stable? Also, I'm thinking that like other non-destructive platic mods, that if you jack up the rim (Ric Taylor / aka Space Canoe did that to a Medieval, has boo-coo pix of his process) it would snap back to it's original shape with a little coaxing.

Personally, I've had success fitting my thick legs into Perception and WaveSport boats - currently I paddle a Score. I also have a Prijon Rockit that is plenty roomy, I don't know if that is typical of Prijon's play boats.

Seems to me I've heard good things about the GTX, try a search in this forum...

Scott

Dillon;
I very seriously considered getting the Z or the Medieval when I purchased my boat. I felt that the Z was a much better boat for river running and surfing but not nearly as good at playboating as the Medieval, so I went with the latter. My seat is 8 inches plus, so you're right about the cockpit being too small. It takes a couple of hours to set everything up and then you have to jack the rim up about three times over a period of a week to have it settle into its higher position, but my impression is that it would be very simple to heat and pop back into its original form. I've heard very good things about the Dagger Redline as a C-1, sort of an all-around boat.. Your other option is to try and change the “a” in “Dagger” to an “o” and adopt a new nickname: “Dillon the Dogger" doesn't have that bad a ring to it. And the next time you attempt "better living through chemistry", just put a picture of a knife up there instead.
Anyway, Good luck, and let me know if you want to see how I warped my boat upward;
Ric Taylor

Man, this is a great forum, thanks for all the reponse.
-Hey Space Canoe, "Dillon the Dogger" is growing on me, it does have a nice ring to it.
I'm going to go ahead and try the RPM Max. I would like to see all of your pics on raising the cockpit. I've done it one time to a Pyranha Inazone 240 and came out pretty good but the more I can learn the better. My e-mail address is dillonpr@swbell.net. Thanks.
"Dillon the Dogger"

Dillon;
You got it!
Send me your snail mail address and I'll send you a CD. I have so many pictures that I might destroy the Internet if I tried to send them that way! I haven't grouped them into a logical and straightforward treatise on how to do it so I'll send them all off to you and then you can e-mail me back with any questions, how does that sound? Basically you fill garbage bags with boiling water and then lay them around the cockpit rim. This keeps the flexible area warm for longer period of time. You then jack the rim up while the water keeps the flexed area warm for a period of about 20 minutes, and you can refill the bags which makes the "memory" of the new position stay even longer.

see ya

Ric Taylor