OC2's now what?

[danab]

What are folks considering now that dagger caption is almost impossible to find. Caption is such a fun tandem boat and looking for something with similar performance. Don't think I want to go flat bottom-thanks; but comments on the "speed" issue in attainments etc. would be interesting from those of you who have paddled the Esquif tandem. What about the Bell Nexus (think that's the tandem)? Looks interesting, heard from some Occoee users who hated the Prodigy, but...

hopefully there are a few folks here that do some tandem to comment.

thanks

[NZMatt]

My wife and I purchased a Mad River Rampage last year (new hull) dirt cheap. Haven't really had a chance to paddle it, since the outfitting took all season, but it seems to work OK. If you're a lighter team you might want to consider something in the 13' range - one of the older "solo" boats. My wife and I have a combined weight of only ~250lbs (plus gear) so we definitely didn't want a bigger boat. The Esquif Vertige is meant to be a pretty good tandem for light teams and apparently they've just started to produce a Vertige X (see David Nickerson's post over the weekend) which is 14' long, so should be an excellent tandem option to replace the Caption.

[Jim]

Go for a great one- take a look at Millbrook's Prowler (http://www.millbrookboats.com/ ), which is a composite boat.

I got 1 a couple of years ago and it makes it very hard to enjoy paddling plastic. The carry-weight is phenomenal, the handling is brisk, it is DRY and it loves to surf. Because it is composite you do need to baby it some, but it holds up much better than I anticipated. It functions great for tandem or solo- this weekend I will race it both ways, including with 1 partner who will combine with me for 375 pounds in the boat (this will be a first- I will let you know how it handles).

Mattbcha was looking for a boat for his wife and should also take a look at these because of the weight. Many years ago my “gift” to my wife was a Whitesell. She hated it because of the weight (Darn. I then had put many miles on that boat for her!) and went to the darkside. I am just beginning to get her interested again in canoeing.

Good luck,

Jim

[Sir Adam]

A few options from the OC2 side of things (yes, I need to add Esquif's new boat..)

http://www.cboats.net/oc2boats/

I've always been partial to the ME myself

[Jim Michaud]

I believe that I'm getting the first Esquif Vertige-X that hits the U.S.A.. I saw the prototype last October and I was highly impressed. It has slightly more rocker than the Caption. It still has a flat bottom like the Caption but the chines are much softer. I paddle a Caption and I've found that the Caption front surfs great but it's terrible at side surfing. The softer chines of the Vertige-X should remedy that. This is what I've been hoping for in a canoe for a couple of decades. I'm real excited about getting hold of it. I'll post my thoughts on it after I put it through its paces on many rivers in April.

[abird]

hey jim (the one from New Hartford)
i guess you didnt get the email from Keech -- the Salmon slalom is cancelled due to low water. too bad, eh? we've got about 12 gates at T-Ville though, so ill be going out there a lot next week if you want to join me.
take care
Alden

[James]

I'm using an old sunburst II as an OC2. Lacks some performance compared to a caption, but still makes for fun tandem paddling. Other older solo boats might be an interesting route to go.

[NZMatt]

Hey Jim (Michaud)

I thought you'd been paddling an Outrage or Outrage X the last couple of years? You'd go back up to a longer boat? Look forward to seeing you in your new Vertige X! (Out of curiosity, why the X not the shorter Vertige?)

Cheers

NZMatt

[Jim Michaud]

Matt,

I was paddling Captions until I started getting free Outrages. I like the Outrage a lot but I haven't been able to get a free one yet this year so I'm back to paddling my Caption. Meanwhile, I was just offered a deal on the Vertige-X that I couldn't pass up so I'll be paddling Esquif in the near future. I haven't examined the lines on the standard Vertige but I have on the Vertige-X and I liked what I saw. It looks to me like it will be a much better boat than the Caption. I'm anxious to try it out.

Jim

[Ed Leahy]

I got a Mohawk Probe-14 with the triple saddle set up last summer and used it a lot taking my daughters down the Chattooga (section 3). It has good stability and is pretty dry (at least with a small bow paddler). I find that the lap belt works better than thighstraps for me.