Dagger Encore - Tandem?

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 2:05 pm

anyone ever paddled an encore tandem?
anyone ever considered it?
would it be a sensible idea to try it?
basically a friend and i both paddle c1, we've done a bit of c2 slalom and we have access to a dagger encore and as neither of us are very heavy we figured it may be possible to paddle it tandem
any thoughts would be much appreciated

aleX

the great gonzo · Post by **the great gonzo** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 2:35 pm

I paddled an Encore a long time ago (it was my first solo WW boat).
I am not sure if it would work well as a tandem, I think it is a bit small. IMO, the total weight of the team should be significantly less than 300 lbs for this to work, probably more like 250 lbs.
You could always borrow the boat try to paddle it around a bit on flat water to get a feel for how well it works.

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

yarnellboat · Post by **yarnellboat** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:30 pm

At 13'2" it's spec'd longer than the Blast, so, as long as you're light, why don't you try it out and post some photos!

But I've actually never seen any old 13' solo boats rigged for tandem, maybe there's a reason?

P.

the great gonzo · Post by **the great gonzo** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 4:59 pm

Yarnellboat,

length is nowhere near as important here as is overall design and volume. While the Blast has clearly been designed to be paddled as tandem, the Encore was designed as a pure solo boat. As such the Encore has, despite having the same lengtha as a Blast, significantlyless volume, particularly in the ends.
While I know that some people are using other Dagger solo boats, mainly the Genesis, as tandems, they are lighter paddlers and the genesis is, as a tandem, a fairly wet ride, compared to a Caption or Blast. Since the Encore has less volume than the Genesis, it would be even wetter. Just for comparison, the Caption had a 6" freeboard rating of 850 lbs, the Genesis was 620 lbs and the Encore 550 lbs (the Ocoee is rated at 500 lbs, as per dagger:
http://dagger.com/product.asp?link=CWWdiscontinued )
I do therefore think that the Encore is not really suited as a tandem.

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

yarnellboat · Post by **yarnellboat** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:02 pm

Probably the same issues for the Outrage X and other solos which I've heard people contemplate as a tandems.

I figured there was a reason why we don't see more of this. I haven't seen a tandem Genesis. I was thinking that it or the H2Pro could be options. There are probably some others that might work for lighter paddlers.

P.