kiddie boats

[BlueFloater]

My son paddles my Option just fine at 5'4" and 115 lbs. He is 14 y.o. and has been been physically able to paddle the Option for a couple years now.

It's hard for me to imagine that there are that many parents putting kids 6-12 y.o. in solo canoes on moving water. Seems to me to be a very small market niche.

[thomsonbytheriver]

An interesting thought, however, I can think of many arguments to the contrary such as:

Dagger Blast
Jim Snyders Rockhopper
Jim Snyders Puddle Jumper
Jackson Fun 1
Jackson Fun 1 1/2
Jackson Shooting Star
Jackson Little Hero
Jackson Sidekick

Among others...

Why not for the canoe too? By the time they are 13, they often become more interested in hanging out with their friends than with Mom and Dad on a buggy river. 6 to 12 is precisely the market as the kayak industry has already discovered.

If there are not one, not two, but three little kid whitewater programs in the Ottawa area alone, then there are more than enough parents willing to get their kids into an appropriate canoe. I meet them on the river all the time.

[VTBoater]

Speaking as someone who runs an outing club for teens, I would definitely appreciate more OC-1 options for smaller kids. Some or our kids really like kayaks, and that's fine--we can pick up used kayaks pretty cheaply and easily. However, I have a lot of kids who would like to progress beyond duckies and rafts, but are a little spooked by the "trapped" feeling of being in a kayak. OC-1 would be awesome for these kids.

Our program inherited two Esquif tandems (Blast and Vertige-X), which are great boats, but just way too big for most of our kids. The result is that they associate canoeing with the frustration of blundering downriver in a big, heavy boat that they can't control well.

I hate to see kids dismiss canoeing as a whitewater option, and I'm always on the lookout for smaller, lighter boats. But canoes are so expensive relative to kayaks, it's just hard to build up a fleet with our pitiful budget.

If our program had a sugar daddy, I'd buy us up a mess of Options and Ions and turn our club into a canoe-only operation.

[Geoffingeorgia]

Pain Boater: You considered selling those two boats and using the money to buy some smaller ones? They're both highly desirable boats!

[Sir Adam]

Solo boats for "kids" is certainly a niche... but as anyone who has tried finding a used Splash knows, the boats that are out there are hard to find and go quick...so it seems to me there is room for a few more:)

[Neill.2]

My Ten year old has really excelled this year in his Esquif Taureau... The advice and the ability source said canoe was all just being apart of the C'Boats community...Thank you all

[dirk]

Has anyone seen one of these? Looks like royalex and the quoted dimensions seem close to a kid sized boat. Although the picture looks shorter than 6 ft. If cheap enough to produce a cooler, why not a kid's OC1? I would not even mind the beer advertisement on the side.

http://austin.craigslist.org/spo/4040004880.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[arhdc]

I've seen them before. I'm not sure what they are made of but the hull design is very poor for use as a water craft. It would be ok as a pool toy or fun to take on a tubing trip but not something to take boating.

[Paddle Power]

That's what every paddler needs, even if s/he has no kids.