Ok, what's the fastest whitewater boat you've paddled?

[Craig Smerda]

it was in a short boat... while trying to go upstream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmCryHPb2po" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mike W.]

C-1 - The wildwater boat I had. The guy who built it over 30 years ago didn't remember which model it was.

OC-1 - My Wenonah C1W. This is a downriver racer that most folks (other than Gene Jensen) would consider a flatwater boat. 16.5' long w/ NO rocker.

I do want to try some of Kaz's boats. Bob's Cobra looks good too.

[laeljon]

Dagger Glass Slalom C1
OC1 My Spark....
I like the look of that Cobra...

[cheajack]

OC1 = Spark
C1 = Millbrook hornet

[sbroam]

it was in a short boat... while trying to go upstream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmCryHPb2po" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any idea what the current speed is on a good wave? I've always wondered but not enough to get an instrument to actually measure it.

[beereddy]

Prelude is slowest
Fastest OC1 - Spark, Vertige

[KNeal]

c1: Maverick, although I found the Galasport Loco (Great Gonzo's boat) to be screaming fast

oc-1: Mike W's Wenonah (Jensen) oc-1w

[ezwater]

Is there any method to this madness? Some reports must be based on impressions rather than on measures that can be compared. But, that would take the fun out of it.

My old Phoenix Seewun is a pretty fast boat, with its low rocker, elliptical cross section, and swedeform hull. Lousy on a slalom course, though. My Dagger Zealot isn't as fast, but accelerates better, and of course runs gates better.

For OC-1, my Millbrook Big Boy and Mad River Synergy seem to fast-cruise with about equal ease. They both have too much hull out of the water to manage a speed commensurate with their lengths. Of course my Mad River Guide Solo is faster on flat water.

If we're talking flatwater speed, the engineering rules that make for speed are well established, and one can usually identify faster boats by visual inspection, unless hulls are fairly similar. If you want speed on a slalom course, that gets real complicated. I recall that the old Maverick c-1 was pretty fast in a straight line, but less successful when a lot of gates got thrown in the way.

[Longboatin]

Wenonah Jensen OC Wildwater - '81

[Bob P]

Is there any method to this madness? Some reports must be based on impressions rather than on measures that can be compared. But, that would take the fun out of it.

Well, I actually do stopwatch'd circuits with all my boats, so my comparisons are associated with real numbers. I'm a Friggin' engineer. I like numbers.

And if KNeal thinks the Loco is fast... My Cobra is 3-4% faster in flatwater.

[Mike W.]

And if KNeal thinks the Loco is fast... My Cobra is 3-4% faster in flatwater.

Now I want a Cobra!

[jharris]

In terms of C1s, the Gyramax has a ton of speed but the Atom feels faster to me on whitewater, I think because it has a little better acceleration. I haven't paddled the Millbrook composite boats but out of the OC1s I've paddled definitely the Spark

[the great gonzo]

The fastest boat I ever paddled in WW is the Bombard 14ft EIB we use as high water safety boat at Esprit ...oh, wait, it's go a 40 horse Merc back there ...never mind then .

But I agree with KNeal, the Loco is seariously fast, I can run in circles around most of my kayaking friends in it... . And it's not only deriously fast, it turns on s dime, too.

TGG!

[KNeal]

And if KNeal thinks the Loco is fast... My Cobra is 3-4% faster in flatwater.

Bob, I do want to paddle that Cobra.

[sbroam]

And I want to try a Loco... Actually, any "new rules" C-1 for the plus sized paddler...