Final boat test before we leave for Mexico. Here I am testing some foam saddles that I made to level out the outrigger and yet another pair of rudder blades.
I’m still not 100% satisfied with the steering situation, part of which is the boat and the other part is the rudder blade. The big problem with a solo tandem hybrid like this is that trim sucks in both modes. With two people, the bow ends up sitting a little high, and then when the stern paddler turns around to face backwards, and the stern (now the bow) is also too high in the water, and that combined with the lightweight of the boat is just a death sentence for efficient canoe steering. This is why I strongly recommend against building a solo/tandem canoe, I had to build this one to remind myself why I hate them.
The next issue is that I’m using 1/8th inch thick flat plate, 6061 aluminum for the rudder blade. This is a deliberate choice to keep things simple for people who will be building these and also, it gives me a rudder that will hold itself down without a downhaul line which greatly simplifies control and minimizes strings. Of course, the lack of a foil section is definitely noticeable, especially when combined with the other issues of this particular boat. So what I’ve been doing for the last month is just spending a fortune on aluminum and making blades of different shapes and sizes to see if I could find the least worst option. I still haven’t decided what I like. best for aspect ratio, and overall size.
The foam saddles were super easy to make, and worked out great, and I couldn’t be happier with the whole attachment system. It takes minutes to rig and seconds to de-rig, which is hugely different than setting up a normal outrigger canoe.
Safety Note: this attachment is the result of dozens of iterations, and five years of testing, and we have had multiple catastrophic failures. Do not copy from these videos alone.
The pop-up sail as usual is super convenient, although mostly limited to runs and broad reaches in this length of canoe. Motor sailing with the pedal drive is entertaining although the drag is horrendous.
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