Pete,
Too bad you aren't going down near Wendy to give it a try. I do think you would like it.
When referring to they feel very similar, they do paddle very similar but I mostly meant that if I were blindfolded and climbed into either boat, I would have to guess which one I was in because the on the water feel is so similar.
If you like the Ocoee and Vipers I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the Blink if it's at all like my boat...which it should be even better!
The Blink paddles like the lite L'Edge with the features you missed. One aspect that I am exploring is that it pops into eddies, but does require more speed leaving them than the lite L'Edge, Octane 85.
I would agree with Wendy on it requiring a bit more speed leaving eddies than the Lite L'Edge and Octane 85. By the way,thanks Mike for a great design. Bert
Having spent a season in the cut Option I can say that I miss the edges in my Stinkeye (Blink). They are similar in many respects but my slightly enlarged Stinkeye is significantly edgier and boofs better than the Option for me. I paddled Gumpy's new Octane 85 on some class II and really liked it, the edges made me feel more at home than I do in the Option. My Stinkeye also has much better primary stability with maybe slightly less secondary stability than my cut Option, hard to compare them in this respect but that is my best assessment. I still feel that if I could get a plastic Stinkeye it would be my ideal boat, I find that I hit too may rocks and do too many runs with mandatory "Rock Boofs" to be dealing with a composite boat for the majority of my boating, guess I'm just lazy.
Pete, feel free to call me if you want to discuss differencess.
Thanks for the impressions, all. If the Blink paddles somewhat like a L'Edge with a bit more emphasis on the "edge" part, I think it will be a very successful boat.
No pics taken today.
I took the Blink out on FB9 today at 2200 and rising, now 2600 cfs. What a joy to paddle, and very dry. I took the fun lines which were not dry and only emptied my boat 3 times. Each time there was only a couple of inches of water. The Blink paddles very much like a lite L'Edge at this cfs except since the boat is so light I have to be more attentive to the bow in swirly water. The wave trains were a blast as were the small ledges that I boofed and stayed dry. The water diverts off the front (bow) like the Ion which is wonderful in wave holes. The boat was predictable in wave holes and the heavy current around Pillow rapid. I did take a hit in the stern going thru the ledges section when I was more downstream than usual. When I eddied out to scout the last drop the stern was totally fine. At the take out I emptied the boat then swung those measly 25 pounds over my head. See I swing both ways- pump and no pump. lol
Nice to see glass boats get some love. As class I find that they are fast to accelerate, dryer than a royalex hull (Viper 11 Royalex compared to Kevlar 11, apples to apples), and can have wicked chines that takes a paddle style to use but are fun when you get there. Glass is way stronger than current paddler memory knows.
Glass has a real sound when you hit rocks, spooky till you get used to it. I take my hull in every second year for a professionally done repair, cost is $100-150. The bow never has a problem, the stern takes some Hole Exit abrasion, so I threw on a skid plate as a sacrifice. The onside, low brace, chine does abrade down to glass fibre, not as bad as it sounds, and the hull will slice down to the glass but these same slices would be the death warrant of a royalex boat. All this is a very easy fix in glass for the $
A clean kevlar glass layup without gel coat saves 8+ lbs in weight, my choice, but a gel coat will hide the wear and tear, giving a nice looking hull over time, not my choice.
I have no bias: I've paddled Cat rafts, plastic OC, royalex OC, kayak, and glass OC, using the right hull for the best ride. But after babying my glass hull for a couple of years I have been driving my Kevlar Viper 11 OC thru 3+,4 rock runs and having a lot of fun.
Viper 11 on Staircase, Payette, ID, a split second before the bow hits the rock dead on, visible to camera. The kevlar hull came to a dead stop, no damage.
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Last edited by Einar on Thu Jan 23, 2014 1:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
Paddling is easy, organizing shuttles is hard.
Not misplacing all your crap in somebody else's car seems to be even harder
I cut a elongated D shaped piece of 1/2" thick ash. I actually flared it out a bit like the greek letter omega. Then bolted that under the gunnel, flat side against the hull. I used 2 small screws that I countersunk, with stop nuts for each "D" Then I bolted the thwarts to the "D" bracket with a larger screw/finishing washer/stop nut. I could probably done it with a metal angle bracket but I was a bit concerned about any sharp edges if it came loose
We had a slightly warmer day so went out paddling to celebrate a birthday. I had a blast playing at the Nantahala Falls boofing over the upper hole then punching thru the meat of the lower one. The boat makes it so much fun and easy just like my Lite L'Edge.
