Where are the reviews of the L'Edge?

[the great gonzo]

can anyone compare the L'Edge to the Prelude?
Don't care much about how it plays, what I am interested in is how it handles compared to the Prelude as far as creeking is concerned, ie. maneuvrability, boofing, tracking, acceleration, boofing, stability, these kind of things.

cheers!

TGG!

[RodeoClown]

Very cool boat....but oh so expensive, expensive.

If you think it's expensive, try making one yourself. Then you'll find out what expensive is. When you add up all the costs involved, and allow esquif and the dealers to actually make enough money to make building such a boat worthwhile, the pricetag is pretty reasonable.

[sbroam]

Expensive is relative - and cheapness may be genetic, it seems the same genes that tend to make one an open boater also tend to make one paddle (and patch) the same open boat for years and miles beyond it's reasonable life span. (Says the man who raced a 20 year old canoe this weekend). Compared to other sports, this one is still pretty inexpensive, especially when you look at total cost over years or in cost per trip or hour of paddling.

If this boat holds up as well as those original PE boats that are still hitting the rivers and commanding decent resale values, it'll be a bargain. But yeah, I hear you - $1,600 out of your pocket all at does make you wince. But, so does that mortgage payment

[Big Al]

Jeremy,/Scott,

You're absolutely right and I should've phrased my comments differently. Everything IS relative. It's been so long since I've bought a boat new. With one daughter still in college with 2.5 years to go, that's another financial excuse I can use to justify my frugality.

L'Edge will last a paddler a long time and will likly be one of your primary vessels.


Big Al

[kanur]

I picked up my open L'Edge on Saturday and it is everything I hoped it would be and more.

This is the first boat that has felt completely right for me on the first paddle since I bought a new Ocoee when they came out. I had to learn to like my Skeeter and Prelude. Ole Smerda must be about 5'11" with skinny legs cause the saddle fit me perfect.
If you have large legs plan on doing some carving.

We spent about 3 hours playing at Gilmores on the wolf, an easy straight forward rapid that is fairly long and full of eddies and play features. It snaps right into eddies, carves and spins on waves, feels solid and predictable on a side surf, and is just SOOOO stable.

As for as comparing to a Prelude they are both short plastic canoes and that is about the only similarity. Did I say Stable! I have been paddling my Prelude a lot of years so I am pretty used to it and I think the Prelude is a little faster. As for as boofing and creeking I have not had a chance to do that with the L'Edge yet but I see no reason for it not to work very well. Dooley should be able to let us know how it handles the knar soon.

This boat is going to be the missing link to get boaters who did not like the instability of the Prelude, or did not like the looks of the Skeeter or Fly type boats into a short Plastic OC.



Thanks Craig and Esquif

[agrestal]

I got to demo it at Nationals in the "big water" aka 3 pumps running for the rafts. Way more stable than a prelude. A bit wetter for me but not much and surprisingly easy to paddle with water in it. Super maneuverable and playful but didn't feel like paddling a barge. Really fun boat - I need one in pink! ;o)

[Wendy]

A comment on the cost discussion- the mold alone is so expensive!!! I am grateful to Esquif for taking this sport to other levels with bold designs that fit different needs for the wide variety of demands.

[Craig Smerda]

... it wasn't as playful as I'd like for an all-round boat- but what I'd say qualifies as playful is a lot different from what most open boaters would.

Jeremy

Yeah... but my truck goes around corners better than your van can.

That was a fun day Jeremy.

[TonyB]

Yeah... but my truck goes around corners better than your van can.

it just couldn't make it to the Lower Yough.

[Craig Smerda]

Yeah... but my truck goes around corners better than your van can.

it just couldn't make it to the Lower Yough.

That wasn't my truck... you can thank Homeland Security and the DOT of upstate New York for that.

[PAC]

Sorry work after vacation is getting in the way!

Overall I enjoyed my time in it! Ran both the decked and open versions at 2 and 3 pumps.

The two boys (neither with much OC1 time or rolls) jumped a couple of in them around 11 on Sat and didn't get out of them just pre-race time (2;30ish). They went from being cautious to cowabunga within 30 minutes. Video beng worked up and will post when done.

ASCI is a neat venue but not a place we're we could validate creeking... sorry Martin. The UY (Jeremy?) or even...ahhh.. the LY would have been a better test bed. But I was paddling the green "Lude" and in comparison I liked the L'Edge for play.

I liked the open version more than the deck verson - perhaps its more tradition but it might be that I thought the deck version was a tad more hole bait as the decked version (only when your out of it and really not that bad). Yes you can get out of it easy enough...but enough on that!

The few items I could come up with are:
o The ends need to have tiny drain holes on top to get rid of the limited water (pint) out that stays in the boat.
o Craig was right the Open version only has 3 inches of water in it if you roll up in the pool below a drop ...However, if you roll in a swirling muke of funny water you get about 6 inches. Still not bad and the boat works even with water in it. Decked version did not stay as dewatered but only by an inch or two.
o The boat handles funny water very well, is relatively quick and stable for its size.
o No problem for me to roll...in flat or funny water. This was tested frequently.
o When it front surfs the nose comes way up... I like that... shades of squirt blasting! At least at the first hole.
o Its light to carry... not sure how that thinner / lighter plastic will hold up over time if your banging rock and drops. This would be my only issue but time might prove me wrong... you can also learn to avoid rocks!
o It 360s okay but the holes were not super friendly for that... unless you're light (Elliot).
o the factory outfitting is better than most and word is there will be an adjustable version coming. The foot pegs could have been higher.
o I even like the color (but pink would be okay too).
o Currently kids are bugging parents for new boats....this is both good and bad thing!
Overall score -4.5 out of 5 T-grips!
Paul C.

[Wendy]

Yesterday no numb feet all day. Thanks guys for angling the feet toward the middle. Just what mother nature intended. Footpegs are a touch low.

[the great gonzo]

Paddled the L'Edge proto that sits at Espriot down the ottawa today. Good times. Couldn't really go all out, as I am still recovering from falling off the bus last friday, so I did not play hard, but I found the boat to be very dry have very precise handling due to the rails. I found it quite edgy though, but then I ran into Trevor at pushbutton, and Trevor happened to demo Mark Scrivers production L'Edge, so I got to surf that onbe as well. I could really tell the difference, thwe production boat is really nice to paddle and surfs exceptionally well.
Too bad there is no creek running, I would really like to try it in that encironement.

TGG!

[Lappie]

It would be nice to hear from Trevor... On his tought of the said boat!