I need to demo some Millbrook boats.
Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:23 pm
I am 72 and it is getting too difficult for me to lift my ABS boat onto my Sprinter van, or even to carry it very far up from a take-out, so I am going to have John Kazimierczyk build me a new boat (it helps that I don't do anything above Class III any longer, so there is less chance I would break a composite boat).
My problem is that Kazimierczyk does not keep a fleet of demo boats, so I do not know which of his many designs to order.
Is there anyone in North Carolina, northern Georgia, northern South Carolina, eastern Tennesee, or southern Virginia who has a Millbrook boat I could paddle for an hour or so?
PS, a wise soul has suggested that I narrow the search somewhat, so: I currently paddle a Bell Prodigy X; it is fast, stable, highly maneuverable, and I love it... except when it comes time to carry up from the river and put it on top of my van. I also own an Esquif l'Edge, which I hate, because I just cannot make it perform like a long boat: it is slow, and I cannot hold a ferry angle against strong current. So I don't think I would like a 10-foot Millbrook, though I'd like to try a 20/20 in moving water.
But I really don't want a 4-meter boat as so many of Kaz's boats are. I road-trip all over the country, so I don't want to give up my Sprinter, but due to the inadequacies of the Sprinter's factory rack rails, an asymmetrically-rockered 4-meter boat will only work on my van if I load the more rockered end to the rear and let it it will hang down and block the back door (even the Prodigy does this to some extent).
Ideally I'd like a 12-foot boat, and Millbrook makes a Rival and an Outrage, but I have never paddled an outrage and it is a long time since I paddled a Rival. I would like to try out Kaz's 11-foot boats; the Rayge and (I think) the Shacho. Stability is important to me, but for maintaining control in whitewater, for me, speed is much more important.
So, I think, what I really need to demo are the Rival, Outrage, Rayge, Shacho, and 20/20.
My problem is that Kazimierczyk does not keep a fleet of demo boats, so I do not know which of his many designs to order.
Is there anyone in North Carolina, northern Georgia, northern South Carolina, eastern Tennesee, or southern Virginia who has a Millbrook boat I could paddle for an hour or so?
PS, a wise soul has suggested that I narrow the search somewhat, so: I currently paddle a Bell Prodigy X; it is fast, stable, highly maneuverable, and I love it... except when it comes time to carry up from the river and put it on top of my van. I also own an Esquif l'Edge, which I hate, because I just cannot make it perform like a long boat: it is slow, and I cannot hold a ferry angle against strong current. So I don't think I would like a 10-foot Millbrook, though I'd like to try a 20/20 in moving water.
But I really don't want a 4-meter boat as so many of Kaz's boats are. I road-trip all over the country, so I don't want to give up my Sprinter, but due to the inadequacies of the Sprinter's factory rack rails, an asymmetrically-rockered 4-meter boat will only work on my van if I load the more rockered end to the rear and let it it will hang down and block the back door (even the Prodigy does this to some extent).
Ideally I'd like a 12-foot boat, and Millbrook makes a Rival and an Outrage, but I have never paddled an outrage and it is a long time since I paddled a Rival. I would like to try out Kaz's 11-foot boats; the Rayge and (I think) the Shacho. Stability is important to me, but for maintaining control in whitewater, for me, speed is much more important.
So, I think, what I really need to demo are the Rival, Outrage, Rayge, Shacho, and 20/20.