C-Forum

This morning Guillaume and Marcel drove up my street with 28 brand new Esquif boats. Six of the Zephyrs are at my house now. The rest, including a bunch of Zephyrs, were headed to NOC and then on to Georgia (MOE, perhaps?). They had already been to ARC in Richmond. The Zephyr looks sweet. They found a glue that works (some 3M product). The ones at my house have bulkhead outfitting. Bill Reap (Liquid Mojo) is selling them. Can't wait to get one wet.

No whitewater test yet. Just took a boat out to the lake on a windy day and played in some boat wakes. Very dry, quicker than I expected, pretty responsive. Felt very stable even with a gunwale dipped under water. I didn't want to take it any further over than that for two reasons---1. it was cold and 2. I'm a chicken. It'll take some shaving of the saddle and adding some bits of foam here and there before I'm ready to put it on the river, but I think I'll like this boat. I bought one and a c-boater from Va (squeekyknee) picked one up last night.

Jacque said the final production model was going to be 36# or so rather than the 32 on the web site. How does the weight feel. Do you know what it is? What OC1 do you paddle currently to compare the Zephyr to?
Thanks.

I sold my Millbrook Defiant to afford the Zephyr. My primary boat for the past two years, though, has been a Mohawk Viper 12. I haven't weighed the Zephyr. Mine is outfitted bulkhead style instead of the lighter pedestal. It is certainly heavier than the Defiant and lighter than the Viper. No surprises there. I'd guess that it is right at 40lbs (boat, outfitting, one air bag). At first paddle, I'd say it is slower than the Viper 12, turns easier, tracks as well, and is as stable. It looks like it is going to be very dry. I'm eager to try it on some real water and find out. It is very pretty.

I bought the Defiant and sold my Nitro to buy my Zephyr. I may just have to go paddle it in the snow tomorrow.
I got 35lbs on my scale just now with bulkhead and no bags in.Sooooo much lighter than my Nitro.
It's supposed to do some kind or mess down here so I've got it sittin in my living room messin with the outfitting.
Hopefully have a report for yall Sat. night
I only got a couple hrs of ZZZZZs at a reststop last night on the way back.And I'm not goin to sleep until this baby is ready to paddle.

A Zephyr may be in my future- Keep up the reporting.

Please show me some photos , please, please, please !

I think you guys need to bring a couple down to the Saluda - it's been running good :

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/sc/nwis/uv?dd ... o=02168504

Here's the preliminary,mind you I just ran the Upper James(II+).
The bulkhead is pretty solid,it seems to be the same as the Taureau.I added 1/4" foam to the bottom and sides of the hull to make it easier to attach and modify later.I'm 6'2" and had to cut about 1" out of the back of the saddle to get in.I have thin thighs and still had to take a bit out of the bulkhead to fit.
I wrapped the foam all the way up to the gunnel,and the added 1/2" strips to pack it out to the edge of the gunnel.I may eventually add more foam to keep more water out.The maybe some hip pads as well.I haven't been able to weigh the boat again since I put the bags and pump in.It feels about as heavy with the pump(10lbs.)as the Nitro did without.
As for performance?Definatley different than the Nitro .
The initial stability is more defined,and quicker edge to edge without the twitchyness I've felt in the Zoom.
Faster than the Detonator.The bow has a bit of the flatness of the planing hull but sharpens up more like the Spark or an Ocoee(easier to keep straight in a wave)
Loading the bow or stern doesn't affect the profile at the waterline.It surfs great so far(on smaller waves).Side surfs pretty solid.The sharper ends and shorter waterline make 360's easier than my Nitro.It seems to roll Ok.I didn't plan on trying today,but an offside surf brought it about.It just felt a little weird .Certainly not as quick to roll as the Nitro.of course I did have on like every piece of cold weather gear I own.Kinda restrictive.
Anyhoo,I can say that It feels solid,quick,very responsive,and yes it is light(unless you over outfit it like myself)
It surfed pretty dry,front,back,and side,(except once).
This coming weekend will be pool sessions and maybe a lower James run with it.
Also,I've brought back to life what looks to be a beat up old CudaMax.The end were gone,whole ft. broke off both.I reshaped them with Balsa and started to glass them back along with countless other repairs.Hopefully I will have it outfitted and get it in the pool as well.
Here's some pics of the Zephyr http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/scalex/al ... /my_photos
More info Asap,
Shawn

Can I get a slightly closer close up of the material?

I thought I gave you a super closeup when bumped into you in that hole earlier?

nice photos, its cool to see the boat so um... close up. no it proved a question of mine which was if there was any weave to the material or if it was aesthetics, and i guess its aesthetics. looks very playful, and semi-assymetrical, how wide is the bottom?
looks like a blast, not the boat, the sensation.
cheers
-isaac

Actually the weave pattern you see is fabric woven into the plastic.I sanded the inside of the hull with 320 grit sandpaper to knock down a few spots before putting the bags in.
And for the record,Esquif needs to post closeup pics of the TwinTex material and a little more about it.
The material is fairly thin overall,about as thin as royalite but supposedly alot tougher.We'll see considering how hard I can be on boats.

Thanks for the pictures.

Does the bulkhead stay in it`s place ? The form is looking strange - is it glued to the hull ?

By the way - the material is definately the same as the Armerlite of the Robson Homes

Greetings Frank

[img]http://www.singletrailz.de/Bilder/Padde ... _kante.jpg[/img]

So Squeaky, did you glue your pump mount in also? What kinda glue did you use to glue your foam to the hull? did you sand it down first? And most importantly, do you think it will stick? Bests, jack