Weight Limits for Shorter Boats

[fleckbass]

At 210 lbs, what shorter boats will still perform well? Ocoee, Outrage, L'edge, Option, Detonator, Nitro, Viper 11, Maxim, Spanish Fly, Prelude? What are the suggested weight limits for these boats? How much can one weigh for the boat to perform as designed and be acceptably dry?

[sbroam]

I range between 210 and 220 and at various times I have paddled and found to handle acceptably :

Ocoee - (it doesn't really seem that short any more...) - plenty dry, the owner outweighed me by a bit and he loved it
L'Edge - very dry
Viper 11 - I'd like to try this one again
Spanish Fly - wet(ish), but acceptably so and a lot of fun
Nitro, Detonator - long ago, don't remember much but they worked fine

[Craig Smerda]

The bigger boys seem to be liking the L'edge thusfar... I think there's someone around the 250lb mark that's paddling one and claims it is still very dry.




700lb Gorilla... he's still on the fence for some reason?






I think one thing we really did right was to throw the old adage that most OC'ers are 5'-8" tall and 150lbs right out the window.

Stability One of the most important goals in the design was to have great "overall" stability. Some canoes have great primary but poor secondary stability while other canoes lack initial stability but have good secondary stability. I've never understood why canoes used in whitewater shouldn't have great "overall" stability. There have been a few boats over the years in my opinion that had good overall stability and once again using my benchmark this boat had to be just as stable as it is in both aspects. Here is what we delivered. The primary stability is solid and the boat feels completely planted. As you lean or heel the boat on to its side the great stability doesn't disappear and one can take it extremely far over onto the side before it will go over completely. There is a very slight sensation of transition while moving from the bottom of the hull to the side but it is never abrupt or sharp but rather very smooth and natural. Great overall stability translates into paddlers being able to focus on paddling forward or to being able to concentrate on moving the boat where they want to go rather than bracing or correcting the boat just to keep it upright. When surfing a wave, playing in a hole, riding down a slide or landing from a vertical drop there is nothing better than knowing you aren't going to be concerning yourself with keeping the boat upright and instead you are able to focus on the moves you are going to make next. This boat has overall stability in spades. Not once while testing and evaluating the boat did I feel that there was a weak spot or even a chink in its armor regarding "overall" stability.

http://www.cboats.net/cforum/viewtopic.php?t=7962625

If you are spending less time bracing and dumping the boat out and more time actually paddling it... is it really slower in the big picture?

Stable, dry... and fun... what more could be asked for besides it weighing 10lbs and costing $350?

Here's a short video review from Rapid Magazine...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i1pqVCstkM

Shamless plug... OVER!!!

[2opnboat1]

Alex seems to weigh in at about 220 and he loves the maxim

[Wendy]

As a short overweight woman who's weight ranges from 190-215 WW dressed out the Ocoee, Spanish FLy, Viper 12, L'Edge are great options. The SF is wet but fun at most weights. The Viper 11 I quickly sold because it did not boo easily like an OCoee so I found it to totally fill up at ledges. Boofing at an angle with it is the trick. The SF with a pump is wonderful. The L'Edge however is outstanding with/without a pump.
Paddling class III-IV or II-III

[TonyB]

at 235 lbs class III, IV paddler, here's my thoughts


Ocoee: Hit your lines right a nice technical longer boat (bit wet) but just enough twitch to perform
Outrage: wanna get back in it and try out, tried it to early in skill set.
L'edge an awesome creeker, with enough play for me, gonna really push it on the creeks this year. Built for the big guys.
Option looks like a faster, less big boy ledge.
Detonator creaker version of Nitro with the royelex handicap.
Nitro made for big guys in big water. A little too lumersome for creeking but has a nice autopilot feature as long as it dont get pinned.
Maxim,spanish fly, prelude. will paddle any up to class III but Im prob a little heavy for them officailly.

Ive been trying to find the right boat for my size for the past couple of years and recently have come up with this:
In order for a boat to accomidate acertain weight, performance or dispacement must be sacrificed. Boats like the Nitro, Viper12, and outrage X will ride a big guy drier but will not magically hit the micro eddies like a maxim, zoom, Occoe or detonator. But dam if those cross river ferries are sweet.
the prelude was alittle drier than expected but just couldnt get used to that twitch.
The Ledge didnt sacrifice performance to ride dry, it added weight.
and I'd say its the only boat that seams to have been designed for a larger person, and not a tripping version of another or a wet tandem made solo.

[ncdavid]

The Pyranha Prelude WILL NOT support the weight of an 18-wheeler. At least not at interstate speeds. Trust me.

[Lappie]

I'm at around 230lbs but going down...yea right!! So I have an OutrageX and it is a grat boat, fast, dry but long...too long...

I also played with an Ocoee and realy like it, seem tobe fairly dry and quick, more playfull than the OutrageX. I've paddle the vipper 12 and 11 but not anought to realy compare, but Yukon as both and find the viper 11 realy wet( we are about the same weight) and love is vipper 12.

I found the Zephyr prety good in terms of dryness and speed, but not my go to boat.

And one last one that we don't hear a lot about is the Hellman Otter, short, dry, light and prety good all around boat... I would love to get into one again to give it a good work out.

[yarnellboat]

At around 220, I've been in an Outrage, which is fine, but it's getting beat up and I'm ready for a change.

Nitro is the same class as Outrage (not that they're similar boats, but same general class to me). And I really don't like how the double chines wear in the Nitro & Det.

Find the Viper 11 too wet (but should paddle it more). Find the Prelude too slow and unstable (same for many other small boats, though some demos have been affected by me not fitting the outfitting/bulkhead).

The boats I'd consider (I've put a decision off for a bit since I'm not paddling much right now and there's lots going on with boat designs) are, in order of preference at the moment:

Hellman Otter
L'Edge
Ocoee
Viper 12

I've got pretty good use out of Royalex boats on low-water class III+, but I think the rounder hull of Outrage helps, sharp chines in Royalex don't seem to last too long.

Pat.

[Todhunter]

The Pyranha Prelude WILL NOT support the weight of an 18-wheeler. At least not at interstate speeds. Trust me.

I was there. I seen it.

[ncdavid]

You'll see the boat again at ALF.....

[djutzi]

I'm also around 210lbs.

obviously the caveat for all of the boats you've asked about is that you'll have a wetter ride than somebody 40 lbs lighter...but thats life.

also, no matter what the crowd may say, you might paddle any of these and disagree completely.

Ocoee - my primary boat; no problem.
Outrage - have paddled it and was fine. Mad River suggests the OutrageX for your weight range...but its awfully long.
L'edge - no problem...very dry and very stable.
Option - no idea
Detonator - no problem...fairly dry and decent stability
Nitro - a bigger Detonator.
Viper 11 - no idea
Maxim - no idea
Spanish Fly - haven't paddled one but seen a bigger guy doing great in it
Prelude - conventional wisdom says you're too heavy for a Prelude, but you'll never know until you try...

[fleckbass]

Never Heard of the Hellman Otter. Checked out their website. Boat looks quite interesting. Can anyone hear comment on paddling it?

[yarnellboat]

If you use the search function I think there are some threads on it, but not a lot of info, the Hellmans are relatively uncommon, even out here where they're made, but those who paddle them seem to love them and swear they're very durable.

Pat.

[fleckbass]

Looks like a cool boat. Maybe they should start demoing them.