C-Forum

caption paddlers going to demo Blast this weekend. With unique chines in Blast are there any suggestions for optimizing performance while paddling this boat? I've heard that on edge is best way to get any speed out of this boat. Figured that Nitro and Detonator owners would have some feedback on this one, doesn't sound like many folks have tried the Blast.

thanks

We have been paddling the Blast for a little over a year now. It is the most fun I have ever had tandem (and we have had lots of fun in boats like the Caption and M.E.)! To get the most from the Blast, you need to paddle it aggressively.
Tilting the boat slightly toward the stern paddlers side cuts down on the amount of correction needed to go straight, thus making it a little faster. Too much tilt and you will be carving a turn. But this is where the Blast is SO MUCH FUN!! Because it is so stable on edge, you can tilt it right to the gunnels and hold it there. With good power, angle and tilt (and a great partner), you will find that you can catch eddies that were not possible in a Caption. The hull needs to be tilted for eddy turns or it will skid across the water until one of the chines catches and you trip over it.
Another thing the Blast is great for, is surfing. It's shortness, combined with the flare at the bow allow you to surf bigger, steeper waves. And with it's incredible carving ability, you can rip up a wave!
I hope the boat you demo has good outfitting. If you are loose, you will not be able to take full advantage of the chines. I cannot say enough about the Esquif factory outfitting. Unless you really want to do it yourself, go with theirs. I doubt that anyone can do a better job.
LEW

Hey thanks for the feed back on the Blast. Yes, the boat we will try was factory outfitted. So it sounds like if going for an eddie with speed it can still be approached with some carve, but compared to caption the heeling if very limited or the chines will engage and the boat will start to turn rather than just dig in on a straight line (I guess that is a question). Was wondering also if you miss the speed of a boat like a caption in attainments or slicing over quickly to a gate or eddy?

thanks

I bought my Blast site-unpaddled and love it. The boat feels very stable and forgiving. In holes or trashy waves where a Caption would decide it would much rather flip over, the Blast just settles down on a rail. It can be a bit squirrely on flatwater, the edges can dig in and the boat carves on its own, then you're not really buying the boat for flatwater...

I'm still trying to figure out boat trim. I have the saddles as close together as possible. It seems thatthe boat likes to be slightly lighter in the bow and to have the more powerfuil paddler in the stern.

I agree with Lew's comments about paddling the boat aggressively. I find you have to think a lont more about boat tilt with the Blast than with a Caption but that it responds very well to subtle pressure. Just weighting or-deweighting your knees seems to be all that is needed to engage or disengage the rails.

Have fun this weekend!

Martyn

The more you "heel" the boat , the tighter the turn will be. What makes it so fun, is that you can make turns into incredibly tight spaces. We have surprised many kayakers by snapping into small eddies that canoes usually can't make. They look up and see this big red boat coming at them. They are expecting to get run over, but the boat just spins cleanly in next to them.
The big difference between the Blast and typical "displacement" hulls is that you must keep track of the very sharp chines or risk getting caught just like a decked boat. The boat is pretty forgiving, but it took us a little time to really get the hang of it.
The Blast may be a bit slower than some other tandems. Once you get it moving though, the power of the carve is easy to maintain. Since our combined weight is only about 270 lbs, the Caption was a pig compared to the Blast. We have not run gates in the Blast, but when we have failed to make a move on the river, it was not because of a slow boat. In fact, our first real swim with the Blast was at Rooster Tail on the Lower Moose this spring. Because we were going too fast, we came in so high in the eddy, that we hit the rock wall at the top REALLY hard. My partner was ejected by the impact!

Hey Lew,

I agree with what you are saying about the Blast having a "decked boat" feel. Have you tried offside tilt on your eddy turns to really stun and amaze kayakers? I do it all the time in my Prelude but have yet to try it in a tandem. I think ti would be a pretty cool move.

Martyn

Martyn,
I'm not sure what you mean by offside tilt for eddy turns. We use an "outside tilt" sometimes when surfing or to change direction during a ferry. I'm sure when Lil'D sees this, we'll be trying it for eddies too.
By the way, our boat is also very slightly trimmed to the stern. It seems to work quite well as is. We do have more power in the stern, but when she is really throwing everything she's got into her strokes at the bow, the boat is at it's best!

I have used a wedge tandem and solo while mid stream quick turns, doing flatwater freestyle--that is with heel in opposite direction of turn. Wedge kicks around super fast and midstream leaves gunnel downstream. Into and eddy wouldn't that drop your gunnel for a sure flip? Have been trying the wedge in the bow tandem going into an eddy but trying to heel to standard side into an eddy. That still kicks the boat around so fast and tends to throw my wife in the stern almost into the water.

so if you have a better explanation on that it would be interesting.

So how did the demo go? Don't know where you were paddling. We did see a couple in a Blast at the Dryway put-in, on Sunday. By the time we got in the water though, they were gone. We did'nt see them again, so we did not get a chance to talk to them.
L

Hey Lew and Dana,

I wonder if the wedge, offside tilt and outside tilt are all the same thing. I'm not sure that flipping is mandatory on an offside tilt into an eddy turn. This is pretty well conjecture, but if you come across and eddy line with the hull flat and the bow deweighted, you should skid across the current differential and kicking in the offside edge "should" kick you around. (or it may dump you unceremoniously into the eddy) I was playing around with this in an Aftershock on the weekend, and the flat hull seems to be pretty conducive to this kind of move. It didn't work as well in a Prelude but I expect it would be a good Blast / Nitro /Detonator move. Its the kind of move that would almost certainly kill all your forward speed but it might get an OC2 into an OC1 sized eddy.

Anyway, just kind of curious as to whether anyone's tried this.

Martyn

Didn't get a chance this weekend to demo Blast, hopefull this week. On the wedge tandem. Practicing this move tandem this weekend, it's super quick turn and has to be supported by stern paddler readying a brace or correction when used into an eddly because it is so fast, tends to drop gunnel to downflow direction of eddy. With impending shoulder surgery I'm using a wedge a lot in the bow do avoid crosses whenever possible.

Similar tandem turn mid river referred to as a post as well--but it has been kindof dissed because it kills your speed so much. In this turn, the gunnel to offside of turn direction is heeled--in coordination with bow paddler using a wedge--or cross bow (true posting turn over raised gunnel).

We are in Colorado so you won't be seeing us in a red blast down your favorite eastern rivers. Thanks for the feedback.

dana

I think the wedge, as talked about above, is more commonly called a pry in Canada. In the west (B.C.) it is taught almost to the exclusion of a cross bow draw. A cross bow pry is not taught, so eddies taken on the bow paddlers paddle side use a draw stoke. An outside tilt will quicken the turn at the risk of a swim. When the eddy is on the bow paddlers off side the bow paddler uses the bow pry, sometimes called bow jam. The paddle is Jamed between the canoe side and the upsteam flowing eddy current! WOW what a cool FAST turn As I was often paddling bow, an unspoken game was to catch the stern paddler napping and have the boat wipp around so fast you piched the stern paddler into the eddy while you stayed in the bow .

CU ina C1
(or a tandem)