Pick Two

Pick Two

Expense, Weight, Durability

How much money do you want to spend? This will greatly influence weight and durability. Rotomolded plastic is the cheapest yet most durable option. Sure you could find a chopper’d sprayed in vinylester/fiberglass boat cheaper BUT, it would not be more durable and would be much heavier. 

There is a relatively ‘new’ process called by different proprietary names, but they’re generally referred to as ‘Thermo-formed’.  These boats take plastic to the next level: they’re slightly lighter, maybe a tad less durable than roto-molded and more expensive.

On the other end of the continuums we have composite boats. They’re much lighter using vacuum bagging techniques, exotic materials such as Kevlar, carbon fiber, and/or honeycomb foam cores with epoxy resins. Options such as keel strips add significant durability and still more expense. Materials aside, hand made boats are time intensive and much more expensive.

Therefore, you can have a high performance boat that is light and durable but you will pay thousands of dollars or euros.  You can have a boat that is cheap and durable, but it will weigh significantly more.

This brings me to two boats that I would like to own. 

Rockpool Taran and the Wilderness Systems Zephyr

Rockpool Taran

I’ve never paddled one but this boat just screams at me. Long, composite, and wicked cool graphics. I have no idea what it would cost because I can’t find one in the U.S. It’s just not a long and fast boat that tracks straight. Supposedly it also surfs and turns without the aid of a rudder (although it comes with a rudder/skeg system).  Love at first sight… I can smell the resin…

Wilderness Systems Zephyr

OK, so here is a boat I could afford and really like to paddle. On the shorter side at 16 feet (the boat also comes in a 15.5 foot model but it’s a little tight on my legs) this boat has a ton of rocker which means it will turn and surf. (And it comes in Orange)

Technically, rocker is the shape of the hull when looking from the side. A flat-rocker’d boat will track straight and be slightly faster because of the long waterline. A rocker’d boat will be upturned at the end (think of a banana with the ends turned up) and will turn easier, but be a tad slower due to the shorter wetted waterline. 

If you have a cool picture of the Zephyr, send it.