good open boat

[bill]

I have paddled c1 for five years. iI presently paddle a sub 7 and enjoy playing in it and have done up to class 4 for example the taylorville section of the Beaver. A friend lent me an open boat and i went down Sprite Creek in it two weeks ago. It was a big old Dagger boat, but I like it. What OC1 would you recommend? The boat I paddled in seemed to big for my taste, I think it was a Rival. I'd like to do more creeking in it than anything. Thanks

[the great gonzo]

Get a Pyranha Prelude. It's made of PE, so it's a lot more durable, especially when used in slow volume creeks, than a Royalex boat.
It's only 9'5" long and has lots of rocker for maneuvrability but still decent decent speed. It's ends are higher and have more volume than the othe available short PE boats, making it much dryer. I pretty much paddles like a shortened higher performance Ocoee (which is pretty much what it is).
The only drawback is a certain lack of primary stability, but secondary stability is really good.

martin

[Martyn]

I'd have to agree with Martin about the Prelude but if you can find a Quake, don't pass it down. The Quake is pretty slow, but extremely stable. It isn't as dry as a Prelude but you don't have to think as much about boat balance. I really like the bulkhead style of outfitting in the Prelude. I don't know how the Rival you paddled was kitted out, but the bulkheads are great for displacing water and getting in and out of the boat quickly.

If creeking really is your thing, stay away from Royalex, you'll be buying a new boat every year.

Martyn

[James]

I used to creek in a savage skeeter, and echo the ideas already mentioned. The limited amount I paddled a quake I definitely noticed it had better primary stability. Haven`t tried the Prelude, but the higher and drier ends look very promising.

[chuck naill]

Look into a spanish fly or prelude. I use the spanish fly in Summer and am very impressed with the responsiviness. It is slow because of length, but you can make quick last minute maneuvers. THese boats are wet and therefore I use a c boat in colder months.

[Jim Michaud]

Bill,

If you're paddling Sprite Creek in an OC-1 then your doing real well. I agree with Martin that a boat made out of PE would be the way to go but I'm not too sure about the Prelude though. I've never paddled one but from the pictures and the description I don't think that I ever will. It is much too narrow and hard chined for my liking. I would be upside down most of the time. There's a reason that kayak creek boats like the Phat have rounded chines. I paddled the Quake once and never again. It was much too slow and hard to control.

Martyn's comment is absolutely true that if you creek in an OC-1 you'll wear out a Royalex boat in a year. It would be real nice if someone would make a PE boat more suitable for river running. I personally prefer a Mad River Outrage but like Martyn said, I wear one out every year.

[bathtuboy]

Would definately agree with the prelude. I've used a Superfly for 2 years paddling grade III/IV in UK and France, and found it very stable and responsive, but very wet.
Bought a prelude this year for a trip to the Austrian/Swiss alps and Norway. Althought the lack of primary stability is initially disconcerting I got used to it quickly enough, and found myself confidently paddling harder rivers than I have ever tried before. It accelerates quickly, but still very responsive, and also gives quite a dry ride.
There are some rather large video files of me paddling it in Norway here.
http://robt.info/Video.htm

[Steward R]

Fantastic video's bathtuboy.
I especially like where you side surf the prelude accross the hole above the drop. I wish there were more canoe seens though.

Thanks

Steward

[TommyC1]

I'm partial to the Outrage but at 12' it's the same size as the Rival.
The Detonator is a sweet boat. At 10' it still has some speed but spins much better than the Outrage.
The Zoom is even smaller but I've never tried one.

Hey! Anybody know where a New England boy could demo a Prelude?

Tommy

[NZMatt]

Last I heard Suncook Canoe and Kayak in NH had one, and it was at a really good price too....Kerry could probably be convinced to let you demo it if he's still got it.