Ever since the last Greenland design progression, wrapping new boats in plastic and testing them has become standard operating procedure. It’s a bit wasteful but not nearly as much as skinning the boat, paddling it once, and then never using it again.
This is my second LPB frame in 2 weeks as I work towards expanding the sizing on that boat. The last one was 22 1/2 inches wide and intended for someone 175 to 190 pounds and this one is 21 1/2 inches wide and intended for someone 130 to 145 pounds. I’m 165 normally paddle the 22.
It’s a little hard to judge a boat that’s not the right size for you but imagining myself a little bit lighter I think what I want here is an a little more stern rocker to loosen up the tail and a little less volume in the bow to bring it down just a touch. I also want to reduce the overall depth of the boat by a quarter inch. So significant changes but not quite enough to justify rebuilding the frame. I have a student right now who’s building an identical one so we can make the changes on hers and see how that compares to this.
I’m dragging the stern a bit here which steals about a half mph of sprint speed, but also gives me a boat that doesn’t weathercock, surfs like a demon, and trims perfectly with a camping load. I can always throw milk jug full of water in the bow for a race!
I tend to lean towards high-volume bows in general because I used to live on an open coastline where every launch was a surf launch, and taking 1000 pounds of ice water to the face and chest and then getting pressure washed for 20 seconds was not exactly my favorite way to start the day!
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