C-Forum

I found a Mad river cyclone for sale set up as a solo. Looks and sounds like a fun fast boat. Anyone have experience with one? Worth getting one for some fast fun?

I have the smaller version, the Twister, and I believe PAC does as well. I have not paddled mine extensively but it is fun. The bubble sides took some getting used to for me.

There's a guy near got one, paddled it a bit, same lines as twister but super stable and rides higher for big guys.

If same as a twister - grab it - fun boat! Fast and responsive.

What it is, is the OC2 version of the Twister. Fast? Fast, relative to what?

As an OC1, it would spin well, but would only be fast relative to way shorter boats. I think it would make a reasonable big-water OC1. Here are the specs:

http://www.madrivercanoe.com/content/ma ... focues.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

At slalom races, I have kept my eye on the Cyclone...I thought, for a while, I might want one. What I found was the Mill Brook Prowler was a lot faster on slalom courses. The Prowler is also a 15' boat, but is only 28" wide. The only Cyclone I've picked up was super heavy. I suspect even the Mad River ABS Howler is faster on a slalom course than the glass Cyclone.

I am quite sure, in a straight line, the solo Cyclone would be slower than the Prowler or Howler.

An aside: the Cyclone was the start for the design of Mill Brook's (designed by Bob Connolly) 13' Big Boy. The Big Boy was designed specifically to get Bob down the Grand. He says it was great boat for that purpose.

Roy

I believe Bob Connolly said that his Grand Canyon special, the Big Boy, was based partly on the Cyclone.

I have one of the few Big Boys in existence. It's about 28" wide at the waterline, and pretty fast, but not slalom fast. A huge, deep boat that easily runs dry.

Roy wrote:What it is, is the OC2 version of the Twister. Fast? Fast, relative to what?

As an OC1, it would spin well, but would only be fast relative to way shorter boats. I think it would make a reasonable big-water OC1. Here are the specs:

http://www.madrivercanoe.com/content/ma ... focues.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

At slalom races, I have kept my eye on the Cyclone...I thought, for a while, I might want one. What I found was the Mill Brook Prowler was a lot faster on slalom courses. The Prowler is also a 15' boat, but is only 28" wide. The only Cyclone I've picked up was super heavy. I suspect even the Mad River ABS Howler is faster on a slalom course than the glass Cyclone.

I am quite sure, in a straight line, the solo Cyclone would be slower than the Prowler or Howler.

An aside: the Cyclone was the start for the design of Mill Brook's (designed by Bob Connolly) 13' Big Boy. The Big Boy was designed specifically to get Bob down the Grand. He says it was great boat for that purpose.

Roy

I have not paddled a Cyclone but as the specs show it is a much bigger boat than the Twister, although with a similar hull cross-sectional shape. I have seen them outfitted as both OC-1s and OC-2s. With nearly 4 inches more beam at the waterline I suspect it would be slower than the Twister, at least as an OC-1 despite the additional length. I am sure you are right about the Cyclone being slower than the Prowler and I suspect you might be right about it being slower than the Howler.

I am surprised you found the Cyclone be heavy unless the boat in question had been modified or had heavy outfitting in it. The 1994 catalog gives a weight of 33 lbs for the Cyclone and 29 lbs for the Twister in the Kevlar/Airex foam construction. Judging from the original Twister I have (prior to my modifying it) I would say that is pretty much correct. Prior to 1994 MRC used Spectra cloth instead of Kevlar and the boat was a bit lighter still. The boats have a foam core in the bottom of the hull, foam side wall ribs, lightweight aluminum thwarts epoxied to side ribs of the hull, and relatively light wood gunwales. If used for general whitewater river running, they are prone to develop cracks at the stress riser created by the side edge of the bottom foam core.