C-Forum

Curious what people think of the Space Cadet as a conversion. It's my current playboat, and the only one I've ever spent much time in so I'd like an idea of how it compares to others. I find it unbearably slow, pretty unstable (with a 5.5" saddle) and hard to manage in squirelly water. Having said that I have no major issues getting down class 3 runs in it and it's pretty fantastic once you're on a wave (If you can catch it!).

What I would like is something faster and hopefully a little more stable. I'm not much of a playboater just want something that will get me down the river without too much frustration, that surfs well (ocean and river) and will flat spin nicely.

If the general consensus is that the Space Cadet is a decent boat I'll just keep working at it, otherwise suggestions welcome. I was thinking something like a LL Freeride or Wavesport Fuse.

Shaggy Designs boats look awesome of course but I can't fork out that kind of cash so conversions only.

I had the larger version of the space cadet, the Airhead and I hated it. Mostly because I could never catch a wave because of the painfully slow hull speed and the outfitting was terrible. I recently read a Rapid magazine back issue and read a review of the space cadet. The main complaint they had with it was the hull speed, and that is with it setup as a kayak.

I have a Score now because I read it was similarish to the Shaggy Sith, I have only had it on the river once and it was tonnes of fun! It has a much faster hull speed and won't punish you too hard for laying in a stern correction every once in a while. Someday I'll try something a little more modern, but for now its a great boat.

Hopefully someone else chimes in for you as my opinion on C1 should be taken with a grain of salt. Just starting out in decked canoes but find the Score much more confidence inspiring than the Airhead.

Tonnes of flat spins in here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnzg1Ojvzvc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GSG, don't know what your weight is, but if you want a conversion that is reasonably close in performance to a Shaggy Sith, then you should, mayne talk to you fellow VI resident Pierre LaPadelle and see if his Delirious is still available. I had one and I found it , due to it's width, to be stable, have resonable speed, to be a good surfer and to spin quite well. I found it great on class 3 tuns, as long as they are not tooo creeky, where I dislikedthe low volume ends a bit. But for what you are lookin at, it might fit the bill.

TGG!

I have a Perception Amp for sale:
http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/spo/4903339728.html

It worked fairly well for river running, although at 180-ish lbs (before gear) I ultimately felt like I was too heavy for it.

You're welcome to try it out if you're in this area again.

Hey Gonzo,

I'm 165. I've been talking with Rick (Pierre) and will be trying both the Delerious and the Big Ez he has for sale and will likely purchase one of them. The Delerious looks like it'll be a better ocean surfer but the Ez looks like it might be better for the tiny hole waves we get on our rivers. Curious to see which will be the friendlier river runner.

buster,

I'll hopefully be back to Portland before the seasons over, though I'll likely have picked up a boat by then. I'll shoot you a message when I do, it'd be great to paddle with you. Really hoping to get on the EFL.

Gwyn and Martin at Shaggy Designs started out as slalom paddlers, in the development of the Sith they stuck with a wider platform closer to slalom C1 principles than kayak playboat principles. From what I remember paddling with Gwyn in 2004 (wow, time flies) his Sith was wider and a little longer than my Session+ with a bit more volume, although that particular one was cut high volume specifically for the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately because he uses carbon fibre knee channels bonded to fit him, I wasn't able to fit in his boat and have a go

I have been thinking about converting my Session+ (probably will, I have gone back to preferring the Glide for kayak playboating!), but I reckon for converting an old Inazone 240 might be a good idea - as a kayak it was too wide for most people allegedly in the weight range for it!

BUT - it could be that the width thing is in my head, plenty of people get on with all sorts of kayak conversions? The only C1s I've paddled have been slalom boats, and I'm rubbish in them!