C-Forum

Hey Fellow C-Boaters!
Starting in 2022 we are going to start building C-1 spray skirts. As many of you know, C-1 skirts have been very hard to come by these days. With the closure of Snap Dragon (who had been providing custom skirts for our C-1's) we found ourselves in a tough spot and have decided to no longer be dependent on anyone for skirts that fit our rims. What good is a C-1 without a skirt?

Our intention is to offer three deck sizes: a large size designed specifically for our Storm Chaser C-1's and Storm Giant C-2 (and other boats), a medium size to fit most modern slalom C-1's, and a small deck size designed specifically for all of the older vintage C-1's that are still out there that have smaller cockpits.

During January we will begin building the larger deck size for many of our recent (very patient) customers who need skirts for their River Elf boats.

We are shooting for early-mid February to begin taking orders for everyone else.

In the meantime, you can help us! We are wanting to catalog deck sizes of various C-1's to help us decide on the medium and small cockpit dimensions for our skirts. This information will also help us to develop a "fit list" so you can choose the most appropriate deck size for your boat. We are hoping to stay away from custom built skirts but have not ruled that out. Since there are a number of kayak skirt manufacturers out there, we also don't intend to provide skirts for conversion kayaks (at least not in the beginning). If you want to contribute to the catalog, send us the following info: make and model of your Cboat, maximum inside length and width of your C-1 cockpit and circumference of the rim. To measure the circumference, use a rope and place it tight under the rim of your boat and pull it around until it reaches the starting point - measure that length. Send your specs and measurements to info@riverelf.com (or post here) and we will compile the list. So, if you need a skirt for your C-1, send us the information so that we can be sure to include your favorite design!

I will update this thread again in February when we are ready to start taking orders. See attached picture for our "proof of concept" skirt - it's not the final finished product but will give you an idea of what to expect. Thanks for your help!

I like the "Rapid Style" of the skirt. I found that style to be much better at keeping water out on those long surfs that bury the bow.

Very excited about this.

Do you have an idea of how much these are going to cost?

Thanks for the comments.

Jim, I'm assuming by "rapid style", you are referring to the extra material extending beyond the bungee? Anything else that you all would like to see?

Right now, we plan to start with a fairly basic skirt to fill the immediate need and then perhaps later on offer a more high end style skirt.

Regarding price, we haven't yet settled on that. We are using the next few weeks to dial in how long it takes for us to make each skirt. So that will be important. This is also going to be on a fairly small scale to begin with so our materials costs will be a little higher than the larger manufacturers who have been doing this for a while and do very large volumes. But, having said that, we still hope to offer these at a reasonable price and give C-boaters a reliable, go-to place to find a skirt whenever you need one.

Reminder to send us your cockpit rim sizes if there is a specific boat you'd like us to consider for our standard deck sizes. Avoiding, one-off, custom skirts in the future will help us keep the cost down. Thanks!

Chris

Jim, I'm assuming by "rapid style", you are referring to the extra material extending beyond the bungee? Anything else that you all would like to see?

I like the bungee on top with the fringe extending as shown. I only have one skirt of that style and it is the driest of those I have. I don't think the fringe has to extend further than you show as its effectiveness is a combination of the bungee and the water pressure pushing the material against the rim and deck.

Thanks for your support of this need for the C-boat community.

Thanks ya'll. We certainly appreciate your support of River Elf over the last several years! We are glad to help out.

We have the large and medium deck sizes defined but I have not yet designed the jigs for the "small" deck size. I am thinking something that would fit older 4m (90's style) slalom boats, late 80's squirt boats (and even before) ... for example: the 92 Fanatic, Dagger Zealot, Acrobat, etc. I once owned these boats years ago, but no longer do. If anyone is interested in a skirt for this style boat, let me know and send me some specs (or a template) if you can. Or, if you have an old skirt that would fit these older designs, let me know. I would be happy to buy it from you.

I believe bush sport was making small deck skirts like this at the time and snap dragon was building a bib style C-1 skirt (some in hypalon) in the 90's as well. I'm thinking something along those lines. If anyone has one of these they don't need let me know. This would give me something to use a model for the small deck size.

We completed the first "finished" skirts last week. I'll post some pics soon of the final product. I think we are still looking good for early Feb to begin offering for sale. Thanks

Here are a few pictures of the finished Large deck size skirt. It was designed specifically for the Storm Chaser C-1 and Storm Giant C-2 but should fit most larger cockpit C-1's. The medium size deck is also complete and we'll post a few pics soon.

Could you post each size's dimensions: circumference, nominal length and width please?

Looking forward to these. Thanks for your efforts.

We are happy to do it - part of our mission at River Elf is to help keep cboating alive and maybe even revive it a bit in the process.

Bob, the final large deck size is complete and somewhat rectangular, roughly 20" W x 23" L and designed to fit cockpits 72-78 inches in circumference. This last week, we decided to tweak the medium deck a bit so these are not final numbers, but it will be mostly circular with a rough diameter of 20-21" and designed to accommodate cockpits between 67-72" circumference. The small deck has not been developed but the idea is to fit 80's and 90's style slalom boats which had smaller cockpits - my best guess is ~63"-67" circumference. We would like to get some help with this as I don't have ready access to these vintage designs. It may be something we wait and do if/as needed.

Looking like the week of Feb 14 to begin offering for sale.

Your production is set up, still, I will mention the following:

My 1987 Extra Bat is approx 22x19.5, circumference, approx 67.

Dagger Atom is approx 27x20.5, circumference approx 76.

My other boats are conversions.

Thanks for that info! It's not too late if anyone else wants to provide some additional cockpit sizes.

We appreciate the feedback we have received so far and as a result we have decided to offer additional deck sizes. I think that we can meet most everyone's needs by having some longer rectangular/oval shaped decks and some circular style decks. We may even offer something that would fit a "triangular" style cockpit where the back is noticeably smaller than the front. I think we are still looking good a release date of February 14.

Thank you all for your help! Much appreciated!

Here's a gem. The Robson Finkenmeister.

68" diameter underneath the rim, cockpit interior: 19.5" wide, 20.5" front to back

From some very early conversations on here, the Atom/Cascade size deck doesn't quite cut it and larger modern Galasport decks might work but they've been sold out forever. The tunnel placement is probably going to differ because the seat and bulkhead get adjusted on this pretty irregularly.

Let me know if that's in the mix. Otherwise, I guess I'll just make my own.

Thanks for the info on the Finkenmeister. I think we will have something that will work. Regarding tube placement, we have established some "standard" tube locations for each deck but we definitely can move the tunnels forward or back from that position without any extra work. My only concern is that if we create a very individualized/customized skirt and it doesn't fit then it becomes something that we would have a hard time re-selling if you were to return it. It may be that we need a few extra measurements, a template, etc to reduce the risk of that happening. Or, we start by trying a standard deck/tube placement first and then get more customized if that doesn't work. So, yeah we are willing to work with everyone to do our best to get their skirt needs sorted out within reason.