I'd like to start by thanking Jacques Chaase and the entire Esquif family for allowing me the opportunity to design this canoe and for having faith in me and my whacky ideas.
When Frankie Hubbard passed away in 2003 the whitewater open boating community lost a great canoe designer. In my mind Frankie was not only the most innovative designer pushing the sport to new places but he was also able to bring fresh exciting designs to the marketplace and somehow managed to convince manufacturers to take chances on his designs with new materials that canoes had not previously been offered in... and to take chances on canoes that didn't fit the traditional open canoe mold. To many of us those boats not only changed the way we paddled but it also allowed us to change where we could paddle and what we could do in an open canoe. Frankies designs like the "Edge", the "Ocoee", the "Skeeter" and his entire "Fly" lineup are what inspired the concept of this canoe in the first place. This boat is as much as anything a tribute to Frankie Hubbard and his canoes.
The concept of this boat for me started shortly after Frankie passed away. The list of people that were involved from the start and that I bounced my ideas and concepts off is very long. I can't begin to thank them enough for taking my calls, emails and having so many bench sessions with me. I decided I wanted to design a canoe that would have traditional lines but would also take advantage of all the innovations, design attributes and advantages we've all enjoyed while paddling a "Frankie" boat. I wanted a canoe that would immediately feel familiar to those that paddled his "Edge/Ocoee/Viper" designs and to those that have enjoyed the "Super/Spanish/CU-Fly" lineup. Even you the online community here at Cboats.net was also part of this design process long ago. I asked... you answered... and I listened. In 2006 Jacques and I sat down and talked about it, he could see my vision and asked for some sketches and plans. In March of 2007 I flew up to Quebec and we got to work on our new "Frankie" styled canoe... the "L'edge"
Yesterday was the first time a few of my friends and I were able to test and analyze the prototype that I had waited so very long to paddle. The primary stabilty, secondary stability, and hull speed are everything I hoped they would be and quite possibly more. The boat paddles extremely dry, it rolls effortlessly and comes back up to the surface without much water in it's bottom at all. The "edge" doesn't engage until you want it to and it disengages with the push of your knee and hip. The edge will literally drive the boat if you'd like and for those accustomed to paddling a canoe with a hard edge I think you are going to love it. It transitions from it's primary stability to it's edge then on to it's secondary stability with fluidity and confidence there and back. All in all... I'm a truly happy camper.
The boats specs won't be finalized until Jacques's crew at the Esquif factory are able to bring their rotomolding machine that was recently purchased online and we start popping them out of the mold. Expect the boat to be around nine feet long and twenty-eightish inches wide. It will be offered with the molded deckplates as seen or "open" with full gunnels for the traditionalist.
Enjoy these pictures and stay tuned for more information from this thread in the future.
http://picasaweb.google.com/deckerpicas ... 1140484482
Direct link to photo's without the "slideshow"
http://picasaweb.google.com/deckerpicasa/LEdgeDebut#
Edit 6-18-09 Video of the first day on the water with the prototype.
http://vimeo.com/5213136
Edit 8-16-09 Quick and dirty GoPro stern cam run.
http://vimeo.com/6124740
Edit 11-17-09 Video of prototype running some drops in Mexico
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvMtwJxqBFE
Update 3-1-10 Pre-Production Images
http://www.vimeo.com/9773483
Update 3-1-10 Pre-Production Images
http://www.vimeo.com/10049468
Update 7-17-10 Production Boats finally hit the H20
http://www.cboats.net/cforum/viewtopic.php?t=7962625
Update 8-24-10 Production L'edge takes on the Green for the first time.
http://canoemovie.amongstit.com/tag/ledge/
Craig
