Condor
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Re: Condor
A couple of prototypes were made for the team to abuse and Jeremy can make changes. They were around 11-6, and super fast. They weren't much heavy the then the octane 91, but were made thin and about the width of the 85. Looked along the same edge design.
Proud Yankee
Re: Condor
If you go to the FB GDI page you will see video of the Condor, or the Blackfly page.
Re: Condor
Why 11 feet? Is it for extra hull speed for races? Is it gonna be outfitted tandem? Is it to replace all of the "longboats", now that there is no Royalex? Inquiring minds want to know. -M- 
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RodeoClown
- BlackFly Canoes
- Posts: 631
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:54 pm
- Location: New Hampton, NH
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Re: Condor
I've got a half a dozen witty answers for "what's it for?" when people ask about the Condor. My favorite is "It's for when you hear banjos."
But seriously... The simplest way to sum up the purpose of the boat is "Easy to paddle fast."
What does that mean?
Well, it has to be user friendly, forgiving, nimble, dry, AND fast. It's probably not the fastest 11' boat out there, but it does have plenty of get up and go. It accelerates out of drops really well.
Why?
Well, as you pointed out, with Royalex disappearing, there's a gap for a "long" plastic boat, so I figured I'd fill it. While I've been pretty interested in racing lately, I don't think of it primarily as a "race boat." It's going to be a really good boat for that, but I think of it more as a "speed cruising" boat for hard whitewater. That could be racing (It might even make a passable slalom boat), or doing long self-support trips (I really want to do an all-canoe Grand Canyon self support trip), or just doing long stretches of river. On the other hand, I've also found that so far, it's just a really good, nimble, responsive boat that moves around the river really well, and jumping back in a short boat after paddling the Condor for a while felt weird, so I've been enjoying paddling it on just about everything.
It's still very much a work in progress, and with the busy season for production starting up, and other factors, I'm not sure how much work I'm going to get done on it in the next few months. At this point, I don't anticipate it going into production this year.
But seriously... The simplest way to sum up the purpose of the boat is "Easy to paddle fast."
What does that mean?
Well, it has to be user friendly, forgiving, nimble, dry, AND fast. It's probably not the fastest 11' boat out there, but it does have plenty of get up and go. It accelerates out of drops really well.
Why?
Well, as you pointed out, with Royalex disappearing, there's a gap for a "long" plastic boat, so I figured I'd fill it. While I've been pretty interested in racing lately, I don't think of it primarily as a "race boat." It's going to be a really good boat for that, but I think of it more as a "speed cruising" boat for hard whitewater. That could be racing (It might even make a passable slalom boat), or doing long self-support trips (I really want to do an all-canoe Grand Canyon self support trip), or just doing long stretches of river. On the other hand, I've also found that so far, it's just a really good, nimble, responsive boat that moves around the river really well, and jumping back in a short boat after paddling the Condor for a while felt weird, so I've been enjoying paddling it on just about everything.
It's still very much a work in progress, and with the busy season for production starting up, and other factors, I'm not sure how much work I'm going to get done on it in the next few months. At this point, I don't anticipate it going into production this year.
Re: Condor
Jeremy - Thanks so much for the info! Maybe call it "The Banjo" ?-M-
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