hot damn thats a nice boat...

[jjones03]

wavesports new playboat. only 50 in production.

http://cksblog.com/?p=1283

tell me that aint pretty

[Trismegistus]

"This boat is not for everyone, and only 50 will be available world wide". Sounds like they are intentionally hoping to exclude a large number of folks from having the priviledge to paddle this fine boat.

Not to go astray -- but if that's not an expression of the same type of elitist consumerism that underlies the current global economic struggles then I be sadly mistaken. Otherwise -- may be a pretty boat but that comment alone will have me looking elsewhere for my next boat.

[tomcat]

oh goodie.....a play boat for Financial CEOs.


actually, I like it! I miss my light-weight slalom boats. Paddling those 18lb boats was a trip. Even at 13.2 ft long....that ability to control the spins/pivots with body torque was amazing. For a while they were marketing a composite foam core layup that was around 11lbs and so stiff you didn't need pillars for deck support.

[Trismegistus]

:) That's the real problem -- I want one too but can neither rationalize the expense nor deflect the criticism I would have to shoulder from my family if I were to lay down the money. So rather than shed a tear of sadness and envy my only effective emotional recourse is to reveal my internal conflicts by opposing those who are more fortunate than I.

May the truth set me free!!

[Eric Esche]

Different strokes for different folks is what they say... Not even tempted. Susan should be glad. Toad Hall will not be trying to hide one of these in the boat stash.

Boats that I still lust over and have no money or room for still include:

a Mad River Courier or something similar (Susan has said no more canoes)
A Jackson Mega Rocker (Susan saw one for the first time at Pack Rat last week when I had her sit in a Rocker, so she knows)
possibly a Dagger RPM MAX someday
and someday a longer and narrower seakayak with rudder and day hatch that would be faster so I can go farther, but Susan says only if I sell one of the others first.

On the other hand, if these babies really do have a market, I just might have to crank up my old mold and kayak building skills at those prices. 13% design change and all that to beat a patent isn't hard to accomplish if you know what you are doing. I do have experience with carbon fiber and kelvar construction using both epoxy and vinyl ester resins. My runs might have to be limited as well if Confluences lawters ever got hold of me. Occasionally have thought about doing that for a sea kayak design, but I like plastic too much.

Eric

[Fish]

Um, am I hearing you right CB? A boat laid up of carbon fiber, and you perhaps expect them to produce it cheaper than $2500? A carbon fiber helmet costs $200! This is elitist in what way? If someone wants a top of the line playboat that's half the weight of plastic and has $2500 sitting around in this economy, then why not? I think the company's intention is to make some bucks from wealthy wannabes and serious throw-down experts. Of course it ain't for everyone - like me - but it doesn't affect me or anyone else in a negative way, right? Granted, if I see some newbie flailing in one of these things, I'm gonna laugh... a lot. But if some really good playboater saves their pennies up and spends it on one of these things, grreat. It is a sexy looking boat for sure. I'm surprised it doesn't have gull-wing doors too.

Wonder if they can make me a creekboat out of that stuff? Now a creeker that weighs 25 lbs would be VERY useful, especially when I'm portaging it around class V drops... Of course, that much kevlar would be $3500 or so I bet. I'd have to sell my car and live in a box, but I'd be smiling on that carry out of Bobtail. :-)

- Fish

[Clif]

... but I'd be smiling on that carry out of Bobtail. :-)

Until ya got to the lot and it was time to drive your box home.

[Fish]

Until ya got to the lot and it was time to drive your box home.

Just be hitchin a ride. :)

- Fish

[Cowper]

Yep, she's purty.
Nope, $2500 is not excessive, if you consider how many of us buy a $1000+ boat every couple of years. Or let's talk about buying a $25000 car instead of a $35,000 car, etc, etc. But it is somewhat of a limited purpose boat since it can't take a constant rock beating - I wouldn't even consider trying to boof rocks in this boat just for giggles the way I do in my tupperware.
It might even tempt some old fart into trying to pull off a loop or some other move that he has written off as not worth tthe effort - but first he'd have to want it more than several other toys on his list, and by the time you get old, if you aren't rich, the list of toys you want but do not yet own has grown very long...

Sure would like to paddle one, for just a few minutes. Anyone buying? Can I demo?

[paddledog]

Someone had to take the plunge and start building boats out of materials besides plastic. It will be interesting to see where this trend goes, and more importantly where it takes freestyle kayaking.

With only 50 world wide, what is the chance one will end up here............

[RandyJ]

Targeted for top-end competitive freestylers, I assume. If it performs markedly better than plastic - which is likely - it may be like, say, cameras. If you don't have the megapixels and highest-quality glass (lenses), you won't be able to compete with those who do (I'm thinking wildlife photography in particular here).

But yeah, this would be excessive and un-justifiable for me. I'm lining up behind Cowper for a demo, though.

[okieboater]

Heck, back in the days of old, I had a GT Outdoor Club student built glass boat and ran a lot of stuff like Cossatot, etc in it. I boated with a great group from Ft Smith (you guys chime in here) and they paddled glass boats all over. Upper Richland, Cossatot, Browns, Numbers, Royal Gorge come to mind.

Not sure of the actual weight but my memory guess is between 20 and 25 pounds.

The good thing was if they cracked, you just duct taped em and paddled out to put on a good patch over night or back home.

For sure tho, we did not intentionally do many rock spins or boofs off thinly watered rock shelves on to river rocks, but I remember a lot of boofs off the Upper Richland falls right side with just scratches.

Point being glass boats have been around a long time and my guess is they have gotten stronger. And look at inflation, my glass New Wave Big Foot cost over a thousand bucks back then and with inflation that might be pretty close to 2500 bucks now. Stll got that baby in the boat shed, just cannot bear letting it get away.

[RomanLA]

Here's a nice looking carbon/kevlar creation...only 50 available...$5000!
Wilderness Systems Zephr 15.5 ST



p.s. Wavesport and Wilderness Systems are sister companies, along with Dagger, Mad River Canoe, Perception, Harmony, and Adventure Technology.

[knu2xs]

In the realm I am in now, the midst of the slalom world, composite boat construction and design is something I am becoming increasingly familiar with. The truth is, composite boat design and construction is much more about ideas, innovation and technical construction expertise than anything else.

Around two years ago, Tom Hewitt started iTomco in Canada. He is building composite race boats. Tom has come down here to design boats, working with Nathan Davis to design to tweak the Aps K-1 and design the Absolute with Benn Fraker.

Watching how the process works, it is rather simple really. It has more to do with knowing about boat design than having a huge workshop. Anybody who wants to can design and build their own boat with a workspace about the size of a single car garage.

Even if all you really want is a high performance version of your favorite plastic boat, you can easily pull a mold off a new plastic boat. From this, you can build your own freakishly light and rigid playboating machine...and it can be built in your garage.

Two guys, thinking along these lines and desiring their own design, did exactly this. A few years later, they now have a company called Shaggy Designs. Among many of the new Englander C-boaters, their Sith C-1 is a cult classic, a true favorite of legendary status.

My last boat, I paid almost 3,0000 USD for, primarily due to how the Euro was stomping all over the Dollar about a year ago. However, for a boat built domestically, even if all carbon, they can be built and sold for less than 2,000. At this price though, the margin is likely not what corporations are desiring.

[Al Donaldson]

They do not have to cost that much...

http://millbrookboats.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards,

al