C-Forum

Hi Folks,
I have paddled one season of ww in a river/play kayak, and quickly figured out that other than some surfing I am not a play person. I am considering both larger river runner kayaks or open boat. I also have a couple of small boys (one 3 years and one 4 months). Would it make sense to get a boat like a vertige X and set it up for solo, and in a couple of years switch to tandem to take a boyo along with me? Do they solo well? Are they just too big to have fun? Or would I be better off to start with a solo, and get a second boat? Of the esquif boats, would the Zephyr, vertige or Detonator be appropriate? Any too squirrely for a beginner?

Thanks

Mike

So of those three boats you listed, I have only paddled the Detonator. My thoughts on it were that it carves really well, and surfs well, but that's about it. It's slow, and unless you have a good open boat forward stroke to make it move, it could be hard to get used to.

I saw a boat in an outfitters once that had a three way outfitting system, so it could be paddled solo or tandem. It was either the Vertige, or Vertige X, I'm not sure which. But maybe that's not what you're looking for, because it didn't look like it would be that fun to paddle solo, especially if you're talking about not using it tandem for a few years.

I'd shoot for a solo boat, and then in a couple years, see what has come out in the way of tandem boats.

I have heard of the Esquif Blast being paddled solo by a large person, even though it's primary use is tandem. I suppose you could paddle something like that for a couple years, then tear up and re glue all the outfitting, but that would be a real pain come the time.

Definitely check out the Zephyr! Looking at the pictures I've seen, and it's specs, it seems as though it would be a boat that wouldn't be too hard to learn on, but wouldn't be outgrown quickly either.



Nate

I really like my Vertige-X and I have it set up as a solo boat. It's excellent in everything except creeks. It paddles a lot like the Caption except that it doesn't have as much rocker as the Caption so it doesn't spin as quick. It has a flat bottom so it surfs well. In fact, I found that it surfs every bit as well if not better than the Caption. The chines are a little softer than the Caption so it's more forgiving.

You stated that you were going to use it more for river running and were not interested in playing or maybe even running steep creeks. For rivers running the Vertige-X is a very good boat. Being a big boat it doesn't accelerate as fast as the little boats but it's very stable in the big nasty rivers. Unless you have the money I would say to go ahead and outfit it as a solo boat and add a couple of seats later on.


Jim

The Vertige and Blast you may also want to add to the list- the vertige is faster- personally, I'm too short for a Vertige x or Probe 14 to paddle with a kid (who is too young to help) so I got a Blast- which I could manueveur- anyway my son doesnt like tandem boating so he is paddling solo k1 now.

you can use daisy chains to make your saddle movable for tandem or solo-

If you set up a boat for both solo and tandem paddling, keep in mind that your kids weigh a lot less than you now, but will be growing like weeds. You would be well advised to explore moveable/adjustable outfitting options in order to keep the boat in some semblance of balance throughout these changes.

That being said, OC-2 is a great platform for introducing the youngins to WW.

John

[img]http://lh4.google.com/image/scott.broam ... 06.174.jpg[/img]

That last pic looks awesome- just what I would like to do.

Is that an ME? Love that boat if it is. One of the best looking WW boats made.

Mr.DeadLegs wrote:Is that an ME? Love that boat if it is. One of the best looking WW boats made.

Yep It's a classic - nice curves - a little wet, but a sweet, fast ride ...

I have a tandem outfitted X that the wife and I paddle some and I love it as a tandem boat.
The X can be ordered from the factory with three position outfiting and it works quite well.

Of course, mr dead legs talking up the ME again. When will he ever stop? I guess when his MEs delaminate

The Vertige is a great boat and has good initial stability. Also, it's long enough to fit a small child inside (as opposed to gear of some nature), but I'm not really sure how it would work out.

Vertige X is a hunk of a boat, but very stable and very roomy.

Since your sons are very young, you will have enough time to buy and sell several boats. I would go solo for now just because you have a lot of time until they would be boating.

With that in mind, go for the Zephyr if you can, or if you have a tighter budget, go with the vertige. The detonator is a great boat, but is pretty squirrely (it makes the 2 miles of flat water on section 4 tremendously more painful). Also, the Dagger/Bell Ocoee is excellent for every application.

Cory that hurts. Just wait when your little detonator detonates I will gladly give you both a lift in the ME to the take out.

Quite an armada today. 11 Cboats on the amicalola. 10 open one closed.

See you saturday hopefully

Trey

I have an Outrage X that I've outfitted tandem and it's great. The Outrage X is a large solo boat but is roomy enough for tandem.

I would never wish delamination on ANYBODY, for the most part.

But I definitely am impressed by the ME, 14" of rocker and all. It would be awesome to oc-2 an ME.

Nice crowd on the amicalola today, i agree.

But anyways, there are many boats that would work for your situation. All I can say is that you should go with as long a boat as you can handle. The boats you see mentioned here are pretty much the ones you'd be interested in.