From: lee@wang.com (Lee Story)
Newsgroups: rec.boats.paddle
Subject: New creek boats
Date: 13 Apr 92 22:01:15 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Wang Laboratories, Inc.


Well, after a couple of afternoons planning how to justify a fourth
'yak to the wife ("I'll be so much safer in a new European-style creek
boat," or "I did the taxes this year so I deserve it"), and a couple
more afternoons haunting boat racks, I drove away with the
silliest-looking thing imaginable---the new Dagger Freefall.  The
final rationale went something like this:

Downside:

I like fast boats, and this thing will probably be a real pig; I like
edgy boats and squirt sterns, and this has a huge "anti-backender"
stern for waterfall jumping; I like to look classy in a boat, and this
thing floats on the water like an overripe banana with flatulence.  I
like to customize my boats, and Dagger has decided to make it a real
pain just to move the seat a half inch forward.  The Corsica S and
Matrix are known to spin quickly, surf well, are only moderate pigs,
look good on the water, and the minimal Perception outfitting is easy
to change, so why not buy one of them?

Upside:

For classy looks and good speed over the water, I already have a
Vampire, and will continue to paddle it in preference to a 'plastic'
boat where pins are unlikely and I don't want to hole surf (which the
Vampire is really lousy at because its thin tail wants to cut out of
the hole, though it rides waves beautifully; it (V.) also has a
cockpit designed specifically to keep one from getting out of the
boat---lots of space behind you, none in front).  The Freefall, on the
other hand, looks to be about the safest river kayak ever made (and if
I keep running steep creeks in pointy boats, eventually I'm gonna pin
badly).  With its tremendous rocker and moderate rail, it should spin
into eddies or catch holes well.  The fairly rounded bottom should
make it a good sidesurfing boat, though for the same reason it may
tend to stick in holes.  It's a new design that's reportedly quite
popular, and should be easy to sell if I don't like it.  So I went for
it.

Yesterday I took in down an easy II-III dam-release run on the
Westfield (nothing else in the Northeast is running---we almost have
a drought up here).  Initial appraisal:

* It does look like a sick banana.

* It spins even better than expected---better than any other
  non-squirt boat I've paddled.  Little edge, of course, but if you
  really lean into an eddy turn you can feel the rail, unlike completely
  rounded hulls such as the Dancer's.

* The big stubby stern actually does appear to discourage backenders.
  I tried going really slow down the only steep drop on the run, and
  leaning back hard in the 4'-5'-high wavetrain below; the boat simply
  wouldn't go vertical.  I'll probably have a better idea of how it
  handles steeps after next week's vacation in the Cheat basin (hooray!!)

* For a 9'6' boat, it's surprisingly fast---almost as fast as the ol'
  Dancer, though a Crossfire feels quicker.  Curious---maybe I'll try
  some actual timings across a pond.  You do have to plan ahead a little
  more if you're used to a faster boat.

* It does sidesurf very well.  Because it's so short, it tends to
  settle into deep holes and want to stay there, and it can prove hard
  to get up momentum to get out the shoulder of a hole.  Also, I'd
  gotten used to turning 180 downstream in a hole by letting the
  current push the stern under in a partial backender to clear the
  rock (or refrigerator, or woolly mammoth, or whatever's making the
  hole)---that just doesn't work in this boat; in a small hole you
  have to power up onto the shoulder or onto the foam pile a bit to
  swing the stern around---no squirt techniques allowed!

* It surfs smooth waves much better than I'd expected.  Being so short
  and rockered, you really have to keep on top of it to keep the nose
  from wandering excessively.

* It rolls extraordinarily easily, and may be the only boat larger than
  my Bigfoot that I can hand roll to the left with some facility.

One other note:  I think Todd Leigh is mistaken when he says:
   [...]
   from what I've heard and seen of the Matrix, it's a more stable (less edge)
   boat than either the Corsica or the Corsica S, so it probably suffers a
   little in the performance category.

The Matrix I examined carefully (but didn't paddle) appeared to have
_more_ edge than the S, much more than the original Corsica.  Also
both ends of the boat are a bit thinner than the S, though the boat is
longer and the rocker similar.  So I'd expect it to be faster and
even-better-carving than the S.

Regards to all,
   Lee

--
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  Lee Story (lee@wang.com) Wang Laboratories, Inc.
              (Merrimack Valley Paddlers)
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