C-Forum

It looks like it would make a nice river runner/big water/light creeker. I'm thinking of doing one if I can get my hands on one fairly cheaply. If you have any expeience with this hull please post your experiences. I'm leaning towards the 255 as I'm a farily heavy guy.
Thanks,
Jeff

I'm doing one now. It had a Dagger ped in it and was allready a C1 when I bought it but I'm ripping it out and doing a fence-rail-ish outfitting on it. You're welcome to check it out when I'm done.

I paddled Bernie's H255 on some fairly flat water and it was big for me (I'm 5'8" 180ish). But I followed him down some good water in both the H3-245 (he sold it that night at Gauley Fest) and the H3-255 (I think he has that for sale) and he could make them both look sweet. From my experience when I get the $ I'll be looking for a H3-245. The 255, although big, had the feel I was looking for. I also paddled a Micro (thanks Joey) and will most likely pick one up first based on price.
I also think Eric G. has a H2-###? for sale. Check out the for sale area or email either for their in put.
Bernie and Eric are both from Ohio but paddle mostly WV. Hope this helps.

let me too know how the conversion goes. those H3s look like they would be sweet -- they are so wide. I can't wait to experiment with my next creek boat -- wide as possible, with as low a seat as possible! (i sound like a climber talking about how tight his shoes need to be . . . )
Alden

I've owned an H2 245 for about a year, and its great. Forgiving, but also fairly high performance...

i'm in the process of converting an h3 255. i can take photos as i put the conversion together & send them to sir adam if he wants to post them. my design will have some modifications from randy's original design, but his basic concept is hard to beat.

i have a hard time finding yaks to convert due to thigh size. most rims dig into my thighs & i can't get my knees more than 6" apart (probably good boats to keep my teenage daughters in . the h3 is higher in the front, so my knees can partially slide up under the rim a bit & i get my knees out to the sides pretty well.

i'm about halfway through the conversion. i'll be taking my time getting it done over the next 2-3 weeks due to cash flow, plus i want to get it done right the first time. let me know if anyone wants more info as i work on it.

trevor

tgb

I'd definately like to get some more info from you on your outfitting, since I'm doing the same boat I can email you some pics of what I'm doing. Drop me an email.

I finally took a heat gun to the rim of my Redline's cockpit. Even though I have slim legs, my thighs were being constricted by the rim. It turned out to be easy and quite effective. I gained over an inch in width on each side, with no apparent ill effect on the boat.

randy,
i would be curious to hear about your method for widening the cockpit on your redline. john maxwell had emailed me some info on it in the past, & i never got around to trying it out. i would be interested to see how your techniques compare.
thanks,
trevor

Cone Bone,
I'm also courious about widing the cockpit. I didn't realize that it could be done. At 6'5" I can use all the room I can get.

Thanks

I paddled the h2 for a couple of years and liked it a lot. Its' weakness was too little volume for the bigger drops and it would go deep. The h3 is definitely the next generation in size and performance. Initial stability is very good, it has the volume to stay on the surface, and when you do submerge it will resurface on line.
I will have a h3 255 for $700 available after Russell Fork season is over ( 11/1 ).

bernie, I`m 175 lbs, would you recommend a h3 245 or 255? For decent volume drops (bottom moose for example), other creeking.

Regarding the use of a heat gun to expand a cockpit, I have only done this once, so take this for what it's worth.

I simply marked the edge of the cockpit on my Redline in the areas that were hitting my thighs. I knew that I wanted to move the edge of the cockpit up and away from my legs in these areas. So, I messed around with various pieces of wood until I found a way to pry against other parts of the boat and put upward and outward pressure on the cockpit edge in the correct place. A 2' piece 2 x 4 jammed into the chine area of the boat worked pretty well, if I remember correctly.

Once I had the pry method figured out, I simply took a heat gun to the area. It turns out that the heat gun that I have is more than capable of melting the plastic, so the goal is to keep the gun moving and to avoid overheating. You need to heat a larger area than you want to move, working the gun in slow circles over the entire area. When the plastic is too hot to touch, it will start to become pliable. As soon as it can be moved, put the pry method in place and start prying. If the plastic does not move easily, heat a little more and try again.

The first side kinked a little. The hard edge of the 2 x 4 dug into the plastic. Also, the plastic was a little too hot and soft. No big deal on a beat-up boat, but I would have been bummed if the boat was new. The kink has no effect on the performance of the boat and cockpit rim. I massaged the area with more heat and softer pry efforts, and it turned out ok. The second side was better, because I knew more about what I was trying to do.

I ended up gaining 2-3" in cockpit width next to my thighs. The boat is on loan to a paddling buddy who took it to the coast, so no pictures are currently available.

For what it's worth...
I paddled my Huck on the Russell Fork all weekend and had an absolute blast. First of all, the Russell Fork is far and away the coolest river I have paddled in a while. It is so much fun I didn't get to sleep till about 4 or 5 in the morning because I was just thinking about going paddling the next day. Well, maybe that's a lie but the party was fun... Anyways, I seriously recommend the Huck as a C1. It is stable, relativly quick, and has good volume. I am only about 150lbs, perhaps on the small side for it, and it paddles really well. Plus, you can do really cool things with using the backband in the outfitting. Just something to give consideration too, since you can now pick them up for much cheaper than an H3. I'm not trying to discount the Pyranha boats, I know they're good, but the Huck is worth checking out.
Will
ps...Alden, if you havn't paddled the Russell Fork yet you should try to get down here and paddle it sometime. I think you'd like it a lot, and it kind of has a northeastern feel for some reason.

hey will, what happened to going to school! i am so jealous though, all the pics i have seen of that river make me drool! did they have a race/rodeo this year?
Alden