C-Forum

While I am sure this has been posted and debated for many years, I am going to pose the question once again. I am looking at geting an a new boat OC1 and don't have much experience with them. Any thoughts on which would be a good boat to start and grow in?

I paddle III-IV in my kayak and in Canoe as well, tandem and have paddle class III in a Pocket Canyon. I don't mind swimming, I have an Aquaman T-Shirt. I am not sure if I will creek in it, but surfing isn't out of the question...

Any thoughts? I was thinking the Zephyr or Zoom...haven't really looked into other boats, but would be open to any.


Thanks
BC

how heavy are you? in general, i'd recommend the blackfly option- great boat. surfs pretty well too. or a l'edge if you are looking for something more stable for a larger person. as to the zoom, there's a reason we call it the wooZ. you will spend a lot of time upside down. the zephyr is light, but not really high performance- it's a beginner's, or big water, boat. it doesn't surf that well, and can't creek at all.
BTW- i almost guarantee you will fall in love with creeking at some level once you try it. just sayin'.
good luck!
oh, btw- the best advice is to TRY OUT a few different boats and find out what works best for you.

In many ways, PE boats are the way to go. Choices include: Option, Prelude, Phiend, L'edge. They slide off rocks better, last longer, and yes, are better for creeking in case you get into that. Which one of these boats is best depends on your weight and also your preference for acceleration versus stability. The L'edge, for instance, is great in the stability department, but not so hot in acceleration. The Prelude is great in acceleration (and an excellent surf machine), but some find it twitchy. That's also the knock on the Zoom, but it all depends on things like weight and your balance. If twitchy boats are no problem for you, the Zoom (even though it's ABS) and Prelude make great boats. I personally prefer them--the twitchiness translates into excellent responsiveness and performance for me. If I was hucking falls all day, the L'edge might appeal to me more. But the truth is, I spend a lot of time surfing waves and the Prelude is amazing for that.

I am 5'9" and 185lbs.

I know I should try a few boats, but I just don't have the opportunity...I am pretty much going to have to order it and hope for the best...

I know that initially I will like the stability, but in the end will want something with better performance...if only I could find one that would do both.

I have read good things about L'edge...haven't heard of Blackfly before...

I know, creeking is an addiction, I creek on the darkside (kayak) and at some point will probably want to do it in an open boat, but one more boat after this one isn't grounds for divorce is it?

at that weight, go for the option
http://blackflycanoes.com/option.php
great boat, surfs well too. Jeremy (the maker) will probably chime in soon.

I'm a little shorter but about the same weight as you and the L'Edge works great for me for creeking. Some will complain about the weight, but its really not that much heavier than other creek boats currently on the market. The L'Edge does surf very well too, and if you like to tinker you can reduce the width of the thwarts and make it more responsive in trade for some reduced initial stability. I like mine this way. I love the Zoom, and if river running in deeper water was 'my thing' I'd still have mine as it was a hot rod and surfed great too. My Spark fills those duties these days.

milkman wrote:. The Prelude is great in acceleration (and an excellent surf machine), but some find it twitchy. That's also the knock on the Zoom, but it all depends on things like weight and your balance. If twitchy boats are no problem for you, the Zoom (even though it's ABS) and Prelude make great boats. I personally prefer them--the twitchiness translates into responsiveness

went from esquif nitro to prelude at 5'8" 145lbs took a few swims in the process but never looked back the speed and responsiveness makes all the difference...... surfs well as stated before......slightly older boats are still in the running the L'edge and option cant be better at everything.....can they?

live close enough if it was warmer id offer a test drive of the prelude.....(pool sessions?)
PM if you have any interest

try try try then buy

Patrick

would you go buy a car, truck, or van based on the trusted response from a unknown website friend?

would you buy drugs, from a crack whore addict?

would you really like to know?


try-try-try before you buy-buy-buy

go to every paddling event you can find, look for a paddling club, and go to the most popular river you can find, look for local other local paddlers, and check out demo days

you are about to be deluged with best intentions, if past trends remain true

If you re new you might not enjoy the prelude.

The "try-before-you-buy" idea is great but it's difficult to do if you don't already have a boat. If you re new, you probably wouldn't have much to compare the boat to anyway. You can always sell a boat if you don't like it.

Don't discount the L'Edge as being slow, unresponsive, and only for big guys. I'm 140 lbs, 5'10" and absolutely love mine. Want more speed and a little more responsiveness? Pull in the thwarts as Smurf said. Mine was a decked version and I chopped the entire top off, threw on a set of gunwales, and pulled it in about 1". More responsive, a little more acceleration, but secondary stability is still great. It's also 11lbs lighter than it was when it was decked - it now tips the scales at 58 lbs...very close to what an Option weighs.

But yes - try try try before you buy buy buy!

If you're not sure about creeking, but you do want to surf, why not an Ion by Blackfly? It's more playful than either the L'Edge or the Option and leaves open the option to do some creeking down the road.

If you can, I would tell anyone buying a new boat to try the L'Edge, Option, and Ion (as well as the Phiend once that starts rolling) because the new PE boats are miles ahead of some of the old designs.

beardedcanadian wrote: I know I should try a few boats, but I just don't have the opportunity...I am pretty much going to have to order it and hope for the best...

LIES!!!

You are close to Jeremy (Blackfly - http://www.blackflycanoes.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), who has demo boats. You are also close to Zoar Outdoor, which offers demos/rentals. I don't believe Zoar has gotten any L'Edges, but if you get out there, I'm confident you can find an opportunity to jump in one.

Shep

I haven't paddled the ion but I can't see it being a good all-round boat. I bet it's a blast to paddle on a wave or on a steep creek but any sort of flat water would be hellish.

While the l'edge isn't fast, it glides better than the taureau or the spanish fly and it surfs and spins pretty well. One thing I do notice about the L'edge is that it paddles more like a canoe that some of the other short boats I ve paddled. The taureau and sfly paddled a little bit like a C1 but I find the L'edge feels a little more like my Ocoee. It could be the chines, it could be the glide.. who knows

I m looking foreword to the canoe movie so we can see what Matt and Dooley have been up to in their L'edges.

It should be mentioned that the the boats we re comparing are all pretty excellent... no one's saying that one boat is great and another boat sucks..

BC,

I live in NJ but I could meet you somewhere. you are about my size and you'd fit in my Option and Ledge bulkhead. I'd be happy to let you swap out during the day to get a feel for both. I could meet you at white haven, Pa and run a conservative class 2+ run like the Lehigh or an easy 4 like the brodhead if we get lucky with a little flow.....there is even a chance that we could get our hands on a prelude or ion if we get locals to come. At 7pm there is a rolling session about 45 minutes away and you could roll them a load getting the real feel for each without ice cream headache. You could trek home at 9pm or do a boater crash out for the night and get hooked into boating k1/OC1 sunday.

I'm open to driving to places north in the catskills too like the Moodna (ny), croton(ny) but other than that I'm not sure of good easier tryout rivers north.