C-Forum

Are now up!
http://www.cboats.net/gallery/index.php ... Cquirt2008

Be sure to check out past Armadas..as well as Swiss ones, too!

As for the Cquirt...here are my thoughts:
-A great time was had by all. It was GREAT having so many Cquirt-specific designs on hand.
-Jim Snyder was a gentleman as always, and very helpful with hints and ideas. I greatly appreciate him joining us
-I hearty Thank You to Jim Gross for the loan of his woodie (and I can't think of a better name for it). Beautiful boat (more below).
-A BIG THANK YOU to Immersion Research, PS Composites, SkirtWorks, and PAC (who did a most of the organization)

As for the boats:
-Mentor - Unfortunately the cockpit appeared to be 1" or so too far back for all but me. I had 3 nice chest-ish deep mysteries, including one that actually felt "controled", which was very cool. I'm still pleasantly surprised by how stable it is in current (esp. compared to the Maven or Oxygen), though it is more twitchy than the boats with a more rounded hull (CeemWeaver, Acrobat, Woodie). I do still want to get it on a wave, though, as that hull is made to surf:) . I was also VERY happy with how it can ride OVER, as well as under, eddy lines. That little design idea worked out as well, or better, than i had hoped ("flaired" hull going up to the seam...the opposite of the Groove, for instance)

-CeemWeaver - Jim S. did a GREAT job with this boat. Larger folks have a great, VERY comfortable platform. One of these days I'll have one made for someone my size. Due to the weight difference of the chop (cut for someone 25lbs heavier than I) it was more of a surface boat...sort of. Due to the limited amount of rocker it really is a park and sink machine...and likely the best in existence for that, due to it's stability, silkiness, not to mention comfort. The "dog ears" I'm still not sure on...I'll have to paddle one the right size and find out:)

-Woodie - Jim G. is a great craftsman, that's for sure! Personally I like my knees spread a bit more, but there was plenty of room in the cockpit area. The wooden rim is a nice touch:) I do agree with PS that a bit of sanding would make a museum-quality piece of artwork, so to speak, but it is certainly functional as-is! Like the CeemWeaver I was just to light for it, but it was fun to paddle around in, and admire your skills.

I'd say the best mysteries of the day go to Huge and MikeW, with an honorary one to PAC (though his squirt was blown...details, details... ).

The BEST part of the whole event was Cing folks truely trying to help one another achieve their goals and be supportive...a far cry from what we see in a lot of eddylines on our local rivers. I think that is what makes C-folks a bit different (though there are exceptions ).

If you didn't get a Cquirt or Armada shirt (both came out REALLY WELL!), you can order either (and the awesome Calendar) at the CBoats Store - link in upper right, or:

http://www.cafepress.com/cboatstore/5472415

Something strange goign on - I can see this post here, but online it appears blank...except from my home computer. We'll see if this extra text helps...

The post looks blank to me, anybody else read it? If I reply to it and quote it, I can see it but when I post it is blank!

Looks blank to me too....
Mick

Post fixed - through experimentation, I figured out that if the URL tags are included around the link to the Cafepress store, the post is blank. Kenneth?!

Pics are great! Thanks, Adam and Kenneth, for taking them. C-ing all the boaters jumping from boat-to-boat and swimming them back to shore ( ) was entertaining to no end! I'm not much of a "downtimer", but had a blast in Martin's, "Gonzo's", orange/black tiger-striped Acrobat. I felt really tuned in to the volume, cut, and Martin's outfitting. Thank you, Martin! The only downsides were not boating with Big Al on Friday and not getting on the Savage when it was at a choice level. Lot's of good stories from the weekend, though:

• Paul and daughter, Renee
  "C"-ing who was going to take home the "coveted" Most Swims award
  Feeling bad for David M and his knee surgery as we're cruising down the NBP
  Trying out Jim's (Kelly-Rand) newly acquired low-cut slalom c-2
  Convincing Huge he almost started a fight last year, and he wasn't even around at the time!
  The reaction from pizza establishments everytime we come walking in, en-masse.
  Hangin' out with the "Princess"
  Leading (I'll use that word loosely here) Brendan down the Lower Yough Loop at 4.82 feet
  Demonstrating to Brendan effective methods of landing in sticky holes and how to extract oneself from same hole
  Showing Brendan where ALL the holes are at Railroad rapid by nailing them all
  Chris's endless bar, and genie, jokes
  And just hanging out with everyone over the weekend, c-ing familiar faces and meeting new attendees

Thank you soooo much for your gratious coments. The pics are great. You and your new boat look great together . Looked like Mike and Gonzo has the best trys with the seamweaver and woodie. Fun was had by all. Cute seein pacs daughter carressin dads shoulders in the open boat. And lastly i have to admit guilty pleasure in seeing my woodie being used by some many for their pleasure. hehehe JIM

Great pics. Adam you and your boat looked great together. Gonzo and mike seemed to do the best in the seamweaver and ma woodie. Gosh that seam weaver is trik. Every one seemed to have a blast and i have to admit guilty pleasure that so many enjoyed partakeing in ma woodie. hehe Thanks for the gratuitous pics and all the compliments Adam. JIM

Well, I finally got around to write up my impressions from the weekend:

Absolutely fantastic !!

Thanks once again to SirAdam and PAC for organizing this event. I will definitely try to get more Canadians down next year!

The Cquirt Championship of the Known Universe(s) was great, starting out with a visit to PS composited, which is always a great start, and then Jim Snyder's shop, before heading out to the Cheat Narrows. After playing ther a bit in my tiger-striped Acrobat (thanks Huge for the pointers, I got once almost chest deep !). I was embarassed however when KNeal hopped into my Acrobat, paddling it decidedly better than I ever have... : ... way to go Kneal !!

I tried out the new Cquirts. I did not get into the Mentor, as I had already tried it at Palmer Rapids and thus wanted to get others a chance to try it.

I first got into Jim Gross 'Woody' Actually my first thought was "there is NO WAY i am going to fit into this boat with my 36" inseam". That I fit was really surprising, and I was even more comfortable than in my Acrobat. Jim, that inlay work is absolutely gorgeous! It was bvery stable and balanced, and I could thhrow the ends down fairly easily, despite the fact that I was definitely too light for the boat. Real fun boat to paddle ! Thanks Jim G for letting us all have a go at it!

Paddling the 'Ceemweaver' was an extroordinary experience, I got several rides that were almost chest deep tigthaway, and the boat felt do stable, it was unreal. Cartwheels were so effortless and smooth once I had them going , I could do most of the work just with weight shifts. VERY stable on end, it felt like I could stay there almost forever. I am hooked... ...

Saturday had an interesting start with the tornado warning and all, but was great once it got underway. The low for me was right at the putin, when I flipped while flopping around in the hole and simultaneously dropped my paddle... I swam... ... . After that things went smoothly and I had a great time on the river.
Fox pizza and hanging out at the campground and catching up with everyone was, as always, great.

Sunday we had a slow start, nobody was in a real hurry to get going, and when we got to ASCI to have a look at the course, nobody seemed to overly eager to paddle. We had a long drive ahead of us, as we did a little detour through Williamsport PA where PrincessLeah picked up her first open boat, a Prelude. And when she called her boyfriend once we were across the border, she told him that she wanted to buy his old "X" and convert it into a C1... I think she's hooked on single blading... ...!

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

Update - I re-uploaded the images at a larger size, so they are a bit clearer now. I also have full res. versions (10mp camera), but I'm not going to upload those...the load time will be increased enough as it is!

Also - my original post was blank due to a missing "/". Interesting in that it appeared fine in the preview, but didn't post. I fixed it while SBroam was also looking in to it:)

What a great day. Three awesome new designs. Adam, Jim S, & Jim G. each of you have outdone yourselves.

If Huge was as short as I am he'd have gone head under.

How cool was it to sit in the eddy & look down at Jimi? Maybe one day I'll find the "down button"

Great photos too!

I'll have to settle for casual observer at the C-Squirt Championship of the KU. The only squirt boat I could fit was the Ceemweaver, must be my big toes, and even in that I envisioned trouble getting out. I had fun watching the rest of you and sharing the beautiful day on the Narrows.
Gonzo, you Canadians need to buy some paddle socks instead of those lugged paddle boots when you come here, none of the drops are too big to portage hear, and if you dump the water is warm and refreshing. I did like the Sith, though I might have liked a lower cut.

Neal, thanks for joining me in testing out the Magma. I should have spent some more time with you and surfed the wave. I did enjoy the mini 'Atom' armada. In all my prior trips on the NB in a decked boat it has been in the Viper.

It was fun to watch Seth surf Robins Nest, or was he stuck in the hole. I couldn't tell as I was down stream.

Sunday I joined friend Walter and we paddled the Tippy top Savage a wilderness run with a number of ledge drops and a gorge that was un-runnable by us.

Monday, Walt and I took the Magma C2 down the Casselman at a 1000cfs a good level for getting acquainted with a new boat. The rocks are covered and the eddies were plentiful. It is a much more responsive than the larger C2 I have. The Magma is 13'-5" long and can fit in smaller eddies and we did. It surfs great.

till the next armada
Jim

As the honorary Cquirt Champion (I'm not sure I can accept the title if I didn't get my head wet!) I would like to thank our organizers, hosts and to Jim Snyder who helps make all this possible.
I had a great time and I'm not sure the water could have been better. It was great to see all of the usual suspects and to meet some new ones too. It will be fun to see everyone take advantage of the flurry of evolution in Cquirt designs that have come about in the last year or so. I felt that I was not able to take advantage of many of the new boats features myself, but I think that with the new boats out there people will find the skills to make the new generation of boats true roaming machines. I am excited to keep trying and improving my skills so that next year we can really throw down.

huge

More pix have been loaded! Enjoy!