Congratuations Lisa on paddling the MR340 in your LPB!

Huge congratulations to my friend and Cape Falcon Kayak builder Lisa @nemo_634 who just finished the MR340 in her LPB in 75 hrs with a 7.5mph average speed. She finished 14th in the solo female division!
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If you’re not familiar with the MR340 it’s a 340 mile long race along in Missouri River across the state of Missouri. Participants must finish in 85 hours so the miles are incredibly long and the sleep very little.
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This is Lisa‘s third time racing the MR 340 and her best placing yet. We actually worked together to prototype the new smaller size LPB (21.5 x 16’6”) specifically for this purpose. After building one of my own I realized that it’s not any faster than the larger size LPB that is 1/2” wider, but it looks wicked at least!
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Generally I discourage built up seats in my kayaks because they decrease stability and just aren’t necessary, but for this ridiculous amount of cockpit time Lisa decided to add a foam pad on top of our normal seat sling and then another foam seat on top of that. She also added a full width footboard onto her foot braces which makes sense in this kind of a situation.
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She said the boat performed well although occasionally a rudder would have been useful in the swirling currents. As far as speed and time goes she noticed absolutely no difference between the LPB and her QCC 600.
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Those are very different kayaks but both are designed with efficiency in mind. For the QCC John Winters attacks the problem with design software. For the LPB I’ve basically glued the bow concept of a Surf Ski onto the front of an extended version of my F1 Stern, and the couple of percentage points of flow efficiency that I lose with a hard chined hull I easily gain back with better ergonomics, less overall weight, and more flare to the hull.
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With the current subtracted Lisa was pushing a steady 4 to 5mph the whole time, which is darn respectable over this distance for someone who’s not a full-time athlete.
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Again, congratulations Lisa on this accomplishment! I know you read the comments here so maybe if people have any race questions you can answer them?
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Huge congratulations to my friend and Cape Falcon Kayak builder Lisa who just finished the MR340 in her LPB in 75 hrs with a 7.5mph average speed. She finished 14th in the solo female division!

If you’re not familiar with the MR340 it’s a 340 mile long race along in Missouri River across the state of Missouri. Participants must finish in 85 hours so the miles are incredibly long and the sleep very little.

This is Lisa‘s third time racing the MR 340 and her best placing yet. We actually worked together to prototype the new smaller size LPB (21.5 x 16’6”) specifically for this purpose. After building one of my own I realized that it’s not any faster than the larger size LPB that is 1/2” wider, but it looks wicked at least!

Generally I discourage built up seats in my kayaks because they decrease stability and just aren’t necessary, but for this ridiculous amount of cockpit time Lisa decided to add a foam pad on top of our normal seat sling and then another foam seat on top of that. She also added a full width footboard onto her foot braces which makes sense in this kind of a situation.

She said the boat performed well although occasionally a rudder would have been useful in the swirling currents. As far as speed and time goes she noticed absolutely no difference between the LPB and her QCC 600.

Those are very different kayaks but both are designed with efficiency in mind. For the QCC John Winters attacks the problem with design software. For the LPB I’ve basically glued the bow concept of a Surf Ski onto the front of an extended version of my F1 Stern, and the couple of percentage points of flow efficiency that I lose with a hard chined hull I easily gain back with better ergonomics, less overall weight, and more flare to the hull.

With the current subtracted Lisa was pushing a steady 4 to 5mph the whole time, which is darn respectable over this distance for someone who’s not a full-time athlete.

Again, congratulations Lisa on this accomplishment!