C-Forum

Hi all!
My friend want to buy OC2 ( he and his wife has more than 15 years experience in touring canoe). So he choose or Esquif Vertige X or Mad River Caption.
My be some one can help to choose.
Second question is about Esquif Vertige X . What does it mean "fully outfitted"? Is it with or without air bags?(Esquif didnt answer to mail)

Caption is more nimble than VertigeX. VertigeX should carry more weight easier than Caption.

Fully outfitted = everything except airbags. You will need to glue down the kneepads (included) and fashion some ankle blocks (not included).

Thank a lot Jim

hey beereddy (I like the name),

I like the Vertige X quite a bit. It is a great. forgiving tandem. Really easy to paddle. Not as much performance as the Blast but awesome boat.

Caption is a nice boat too. Might be able to find one cheap. The Vertige X is more forgiving.

Cheers, Jan

How about the Blast !

Best WW OC2 out there ! I've heard people say it was tippy...not in my book, may be not the fastest boat but extremely stable(initial and secondary), dry, and turns on a dime ! Does everything I want in any size WW.

Don't know how I went without one before !

If your friends' 15 years of tripping experience actually means they have good paddle strokes and boat control (I have known people with that much flatwater time who learn very quickly that they aren't really 'experienced' once they get in a WW boat), then the Blast might be the way to go, especially if they are wanting to play. They also need to weigh 350 or less as a team for the Blast.

beereddy wrote:Hi all!
My friend want to buy OC2 ( he and his wife has more than 15 years experience in touring canoe). So he choose or Esquif Vertige X or Mad River Caption.
My be some one can help to choose.
Second question is about Esquif Vertige X . What does it mean "fully outfitted"? Is it with or without air bags?(Esquif didnt answer to mail)

Hello Beereddy.

Somehow I thought the Caption was made by Dagger, not Mad River, as the next generation of the Caper. Either way, my limited experience with the Dagger Caption showed it handling better than the Caper as OC-2 with the exception of shipping in major water over the tumblehome when surfing.

I own a Caper.

The Esquif Blast is something of an oxymoron -- it's a tandem creek boat. I / we own one of those too. It's a handful but big fun. It's slow and wet with a combined weight of maybe 320 pounds in bigger water but on a creek it pretty much eliminates the need for cross-bow strokes when catching an eddy. I think of it as a high performance aggressive boat with a price -- not for the casual team.

We test paddled a Vertige on the Nantahala, thinking it was the smaller one, not sure. Generally liked it, I think, sorry, not much help there.

They all seem to spin okay provided the feature is big enough. Well, maybe except for my aluminum Grumman. I haven't tried it in that one yet. Maybe someday at Swimmers on the Lower Yough.

Takers?

Ken Dubel

bambam wrote: Well, maybe except for my aluminum Grumman. I haven't tried it in that one yet. Maybe someday at Swimmers on the Lower Yough.

Takers?

Sure thing, Ken . . . as long as you bring the beer, and we find a way to secure the cooler.

Hey Beereddy,

Kanuschule Versam has a Vertige X test boat. If you're thinking of visiting this year's C-Armada, you'd be there anyway.
Would be a possibility if not too late in the year...
Also the Importer has a test boat but this is in south west Germany and probably too far from you.

I'd prefer the Vertige...the caption is not my favourite design to paddle...

Florian
bushpaddler

The Caption was originally a Dagger canoe. Under Watermark ownership, Dagger's canoes were fadding away and they had discontinued the Caption. Then Confluence bought Watermark and have since brought back the Caption (same mold) and put the Mad River name on the side.

Hardish chines, carves well. Perhaps a little unforgiving in pushy water for the less confident ww paddler.

openboater