C1 & C2 Boating

[poetry_heckler]

I moved up to New York several years ago after grad school in Chicago. I had grown up in North Georgia running the Chattooga, LRC, Overflow, the North Chick, Ocoee, and Tellico pretty regularly. I've been off the water for more than a dozen years and now that I'm in the Hudson Valley, It's dawned on me that I have to get paddling again or I'm going to go crazy.

I was running everything in a Viper 11 but left that behind. I've got an Esquif l'Edge Lite and a 1988 New Wave Descender that I haven't gotten wet yet. Getting the last few things buttoned up with gear and outfitting.

I'll have stories to tell soon, but I need some folks to run with. If anyone wants to watch someone paddle a 32 year-old boat for the first time, drop me a line. I know there's no room for pride on the river, and I don't mind making people laugh. Let's roll!

I guess my new home run is Moodna Creek. It's maybe a 15 minute drive to the put-in from here.

[mkoeppe]

My husband and I also own Kevlar Atom C1s, so now there are 2 more in the wild! We had Class V boats build them new for us last fall and laid them up to our liking. For 20 years we slalom raced and river ran in Zealot C1s. The Atom was designed off the Zealot and we can tell. I've been out in my Atom a few times and really like how it handles - very similar to my old Zealot - but shorter, wider and softer chines. So more stable than the Zealot but still has the speed and feel of a slalom boat. A really fun boat at 25 lbs outfitted. My Atom is solidly built and will hold up for a long time. Class V built our Atoms for under $1200 each, so very reasonably priced. Victor at Class V met us half way for boat delivery so that was pretty simple too.

[Kelly-Rand]

MK,
That's a great price for a New C1. I'm sure having two built at once helped. If Class V could sustain production near this price level I don't see why the Atom could not see a resurgence in the C1 market. It really has a nice looking profile that the two tone deck/hull highlights. It's not a play boat, but it will front and side surf with ease. One thing I did have concern was how well it would pivot given a little bit more buoyancy, but yes, it still does a nice stern pivot. The buoyancy has contributed to a little less pearling in front surfing which was one of my hopes. I just don't get out enough on WW these days.

[Kelly-Rand]

P_H,

If you're not too far from NW Massachusetts the Deerfield river near Charlemont MA has regular weekly releaseses. There are two sections, the Monroe (Dryway) section is class III-IV and the Fife Brook section is class II with a class III option at the take out.

Fife link
https://www.safewaters.com/facility/22

Monroe link
http://www.h2oline.com/default.aspx?pg=si&op=255122

[mkoeppe]

Jim KR,
The price Victor gave us at Class V was good for one or more boats. Victor had recently gotten a great price on Kevlar and passed the savings onto us. Nice to see that. The normal price was $1295 and he charged us $1158. So, yes he has great prices on his composite Atoms. He also has some other older C1 molds as well including an Acrobat Squirt C1.
http://www.classfiveboats.com/c-1-s.html

[Kelly-Rand]

well including an Acrobat Squirt C1

I could never fit my heels under the deck of a Bat boat. The Viper C1 is the closest and I think that hull was taken from a cudamax. The Viper has been raved about on this forum well back 14 years ago and at one armada I think six of us came with one to run the North Branch of the Potomac. I paddle it a lot on flat water but don't have the stamina to push it in longer runs. The Atom really fills that niche for the everyday river runner as long as you are under 180 #s. That limitation applies to most of the slalom derived river runners from the 80's. Again the Viper is the exception as it actually responds better when you can push your weight into a stern squirt or pirouette. So there's the Blackwater and Magnet, two boats I know little about that might fill the bill for heavier paddlers. Oh, and the Storm Chaser which I know is a good performer, its initial cost is much higher but the layup is built to last and take a beating.



I think the next subject I want to tackle is how to teach someone how to use the paddle.