Robson Finkenmeister

Bruce Farrenkopf · Post by **Bruce Farrenkopf** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 4:56 am

Thanks Martin and Markus for a valuable review. This boat is sounding better. At 155lbs I'm a little concerned about the 'bobbing like a cork' description, but am encouraged by the way the boat reportedly handled on the Rissbachklamm with the two lighter boaters. I'm going to try and locate a distributor in Northern California.

Oregonmatt: Be sure to give us a review when you get your boat. Can't wait. Can you give me the name of that distributor in your area?

Yahoo! A potentially good C1 creeker is available!! I'm stoked.

Bruce Farrenkopf

oregonmatt · Post by **oregonmatt** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 5:20 pm

Sure - the dealer is:

Next Adventure
426 SE Grand Ave
Portland, OR 97214
Phone: (888) 462-3942

chuciknaill · Post by **chuciknaill** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 2:12 am

I have a Dagger GTX, 8'3" 76 volume converted to C -1. What advantages do you think that the Finkenmeiser offers over the Dagger design if anything.

Bruce Farrenkopf · Post by **Bruce Farrenkopf** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 5:52 pm

Hello Chuciknaill,
It will be difficult to find someone with experience in the two boats you need to have compared to answer the question specifically.
I'll take a chance and try to answer the question from a general perspective.
A major difference will probably relate to the effective center of gravity - that is, how low and wide in the boat can the paddler position himself. The Finkenmeister very likely will allow you to extend your knees wider and lower. This translates to improved control and stability.
SYOTR,
Bruce Farrenkopf

Don Williams · Post by **Don Williams** » Sun Oct 12, 2003 10:02 pm

Does anyone know if the Robson reps are bringing a Finkenmeister to Moosefest? Last year they were there with a few of their boats (Twintip, CU Fly, etc) but no Finkenmeister. I'll be at the Moose and would be really interested to see it "in the plastic."

Robson Finkenmeister · Tue Oct 14, 2003 2:11 am

This is one of those times I wish I was back East.

Don, please let us know if you find out anything about the boats performance and availability!
Thanks,
Bruce

Don Williams · Post by **Don Williams** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 3:07 pm

I'm afraid the Robson reps didn't show at Moosefest, this year there were very few vendors. There were some folks from a boating shop in the southeast (forget the name) who carry Robson. They said they had expected Robson to be there but no show.

Once again they said they could order a Finkenmeister but didn't want to have something in the shop they couldn't be sure of selling. They had a cu-fly with them so I do wonder which they would be more likely to sell.

I'm planning on running Fall River in western Mass. this weekend http://www.americanwhitewater.org/rivers/id/3061/ that creek always makes my Cascade feel really long. Perhaps that will give me the incentive to stop being cheap and just order blind.

Bruce Farrenkopf · Post by **Bruce Farrenkopf** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 2:43 am

Hello Don,
I'm trying to work something out with Robson in Germany. I'll try to keep you guys posted.
SYOTR,
Bruce Farrenkopf

oregonmatt · Post by **oregonmatt** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 4:27 pm

Bruce - please count me in if you are able to work out a deal with Robson. The shop I was going through here has been trying for a month to contact the US Robson distributor Extreme Gear and the Robson rep (Brian Elliot - I think he posted a message in this thread or a related one), with no luck. I've also been trying to contact him by phone and email, also without success. Furthermore, Extreme Gear's website (www.extremekayaks.com) has been down for a month. Thus, I'm not putting too much hope into getting a boat through them at this time.

I've told my shop that I'm going to cancel my order if they can't find a way to order the boat by the end of this week. If you are able to arrange a direct purchase through them, please let me know.

Matt Hall

Don Williams · Post by **Don Williams** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 11:38 pm

Hi Bruce,

Thanks, I'm looking forward to hearing what you find out.

Don

Bruce Farrenkopf · Post by **Bruce Farrenkopf** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 3:07 am

We are going to have to be patient. I got an email yesterday from Robson of Germany (Robert) and they indicated that they have ended their business relationship with extremegear, and are looking for another way to do business here. I called Next Adventures in Oregon and they stated they are going to look into the possibility of becoming the new distributor. That will take some time.
I also asked Robson in Germany how much it would cost to drop- ship a boat to my home. I think that is going to be a bit expensive.
Let see how it shakes out in the next few weeks.
I think it will be worth the wait to get a well-designed Creek/River- Running C1.
What we need are some additional impartial reviews on the boat from our European C1 comrades. We would be grateful for more input on the Finkenmeister's performance as a Creeker.

SYOTR,
Bruce Farrenkopf

abird · Post by **abird** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 3:45 am

hey don,
maybe ill see you on fall creek tomorrow? cascade, eh? ill be in a yellow micro c-1.
alden

Don Williams · Post by **Don Williams** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:04 pm

Hi abird,

Sorry to miss you; Sunday I was doing the regular New Boston section of the Farmington with Jim Michaud, he was taking his grandson down in an old Hydra C-2. They had a nice day, no flips, pins or swims.

I ran Fall Creek Saturday, had an ok run except for a broach on the rocks on the left below the "cleavers. I hadn't scouted thouroughly enough since the last time I ran it (a couple of years ago) and didn't drive right enough.

How were your runs Sunday? You had much warmer weather than we did.

Don

the great gonzo · Post by **the great gonzo** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 12:16 am

I just got a brand new Finkenmeister today

, delivered by Robert 'Robson' Sommer himself.
Story is kinda funny, over the last few weeks I tried to contact Extreme Gear about the boat, but never got any response. So I decided to yesterday morning to contact Robson directly and fired of an e-mail asking a few questions. I didnt' really expect an answer right away, but late afternoon I get an e-mail from Robert where he said that he would be in Toronto today and if I wanted one, he would bring it over. Well id didn't take me overly long to call him back and say yes

.
So this afternoon I met Robert at the Airport in Toronto and took delivery of it. he mentioned that he initially intended to ship the boat from Toronto to a dealer in Oregon (probably for you, oregonmatt), but that the shipping company quoted him something like $350 for shipping and so the dealer declined. He told me that he is here in Ontario because of business issues with Extreme Gear, as far as I understood they are terminating the business relationship.
So far I have not paddled it yet, just unwrapped it and sat in it. Had to cut back the foam hip pads to fit. so far I like them, they seem to work much better than the hip grabbers on my Atom. The cockpit is roomy, but a little shorter than what I am used to from the Atom, it is slightly shorter and wider, but the skirt I have for my Atom seems to fit really well, so I am ready to paddle it this weekend on the Kipawa river in western Quebec, which is a big water class IV run, I'll post my thought and findings about it early next week.

martin

oregonmatt · Post by **oregonmatt** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 7:17 am

Martin - your message was a huge bummer for me! That boat was on its way to me. I called the kayak shop here in Portland today (my birthday....), and they told me that it was in Canada and that they were trying to work out the shipping b/c the quote they got was a little expensive. I bet they'll be surprised to hear that it's no longer available.... Hope you enjoy it - I'll just have to keep trying to get my hands on one.

Matt

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