TV 19'1"- 32 racing pirogue

[mosportsmen]

This race requires a strong commitment, to the race and to your partner. Finding another partner within 60 days of the race is not an option and going solo is not something I want to do either. We learned a lot with this incident about ourselves and each other. My partner handled the near tragedy with a level head and he has completed the race before. So, nope we go on and now we can better recognize our weaknesses.

We trained together again this past weekend and figured out boat balance and what seat positions we need when we switch positions. We will be fine together.

The river is a monster, but it is mostly like a big fast moving lake, lots of room to avoid obstacles and we won't be hitting no more buoys. Been there done that.

Did an end pour on the stern last night, ready to put on the rear deck and start figuring out how to install the rudder and get controls hooked up. Got control peddles in the mail from Duckworks yesterday.

 

[mosportsmen]

Had a good training run last night with foot braces moved, I think it will be a little weird to have rudder controls on the foot braces but i guess I will get used to it.
Putting on rear deck soon and mounting rudder. Here is the frame for the rear deck

Here is the rear deck dry fit just going to take a little fiber tape and a screw or two to hold it in place while the epoxy dries

Thinking this project will never be done but seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[mosportsmen]

I have put seat tracks down for three positions. Don't know how the boat would handle three adults, but that is not what the middle position is for. I plan on training solo some so I wanted the option to be open. Tracks may help with some minor oil caning in the middle I have seen on the water. I have had to move thwarts around to make things work. I now have two positions for the rear thwart and I remove the front thwart unless I want to solo paddle, otherwise the front thwart gives more support for car topping. I have to remove the middle thwart if I want to solo. My front two seats are the same height, the rear one is a bit taller. I figure the taller seat position will give me a better angle paddling especially for the single blade paddle. I will probably switch out to the lower seat when I know I will be facing headwinds for an extended time.

I know I am probably over thinking this but my goal is maximum comfort to be able to stay on the water as long as possible.

 

[Kayak Jack]

<SNIP> Tracks may help with some minor oil caning in the middle I have seen on the water.<SNIP>

Mo, I presume you meant "oil canning" there, with the wood buckling in use? If not, and you were referring to lubrication, have you considered powdered graphite?
If neither is the case, just ship me a bottle of single malt scotch, and I'll go back to what I was doing. :wink:

 

[mosportsmen]

You bet, Splin never been one of me strong suits

 

[Kayak Jack]

If the seat runners are glued to the bottom, that should pretty much take care of excess flexing, I'd think. You may need (want?) some supplemental strips in addition, but may not need any.

 

[JEM]

If the seat runners are glued to the bottom, that should pretty much take care of excess flexing, I'd think. You may need (want?) some supplemental strips in addition, but may not need any.

Yep, that's the way to go. You could also apply some additional fiberglass but see how the rails do first.

 

[mosportsmen]

Oil canning is not much of a problem with it. Nothing compared to the water bed like bottom of those plastic boats. I am trying to add as little more to it as possible. I started out under 50 pounds and I did not think I was adding much of any weight to it but it is sure getting harder to lift up to the roof rack. Just about done.....getting down to just adding pretty. I made a block that has two pins that will let me drop the navigation front light into a couple small holes in the bow.....very secure, portable and light weight......ingenious simplicity......if I do say so myself. Will post more photos of progress soon.

Got the rear deck installed and the rudder installed and tested. The rudder works great with control peddles from Duckworks. I got used to them real quick paddled 5 miles on a lake in 25 MPH winds yesterday. Just keep paddling and turn the rudder to keep your course......beautiful. Spent two days on the local lake had the bass boat and the pirogue out. Got the pirogue up to about 20 MPH towing it behind the bass boat she gets up on plane pretty good.

BTW, a testament to the stability of this boat. Paddled it back in a sheltered cove and decided I needed to take a pee....stood up and let 'er fly.....have never stood up and peed from a canoe that I recall. JEM....we're gonna call this the stand up N P test.....she passed with out a drop in the boat.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Did you write your name on the water?

There may be other ways to reduce weight - some. Lightening holes in various stations, in very carefully selected locations. Look very carefully, becasue it is sometimes surprising where you can spot "excess wood".

 

[mosportsmen]

Funny.....my girlfriend says there is no such thing as "excess wood"

 

[Kayak Jack]

I'll not start an argument with your girlfriend. Substitute the words "structural or decorative material" and you can proceed with gay aplomb.

 

[mosportsmen]

A plum? that is just too weird, even for her.

 

[mosportsmen]

Wow, unprecedented water releases in the Dakotas predicted not to slow down for a solid month. The Missouri is raging and racers are staying off the river and training on lakes. They are starting to talk about race postponement. Hoping it goes as scheduled on the 19th of July but things are not looking good. May have to change partners if that be the case my partner can't change vacation time but I got and offer from the guy that helped me build the boat last night to be my partner if the race is postponed. We are going to the lake tonight to do a little training.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Wow, unprecedented water releases in the Dakotas predicted not to slow down for a solid month. The Missouri is raging and racers are staying off the river and training on lakes. They are starting to talk about race postponement. Hoping it goes as scheduled on the 19th of July but things are not looking good.

The weather service has officially announced an end to the drought. Timely, ehh?

 

[mosportsmen]

It is over, guess I have another 13 months to train now. They have canceled the race for the Missouri River. They are replacing the Missouri river with a 150 mile race on the KAW river through Kansas :?

I am not too happy about it. As a real change of pace the KAW is low. This river is being held back in order to not contribute to the Missouri. It is full of sand bars and the race will most likely include a lot of slogging through mud and sand pulling your boat through. I think my boat will do well in this kind of environment but I am on the fence whether I will do this new race venue or not. Not the race I signed up for.

 

[tx river rat]

Go for it , you will ave an advantage in that boat.
Ron

 

[mosportsmen]

I think I will. I have got a new partner. The guy that helped me build the boat this winter. That is a definite plus, adds nearly 100 pounds to the boat compared to my original partner, but there is a lot of muscle behind those pounds.
The TV will be a good boat for this race, there will be an advantage over some other boats. It does not take a lot of water to float it. I have yet to do more than a little test run solo in it but that test was impressive how fast the boat cruised skimming along the surface of the water, felt like there was not a lot of boat in the water, but still stable. I am afraid it might get a little out of control in the wind. I could actually install an additional foot brace/rudder control location for a solo position, got that all figured out in my mind, but not too much need right now.

Got the tie down hooks epoxied down for the rear hatch last night. Hope to make a little training run tonight. Hope to get some detail photos posted soon to share with y'all the intricacies of the boat I have built in for its special purposes.

 

[JEM]

I think I will. I have got a new partner. The guy that helped me build the boat this winter. That is a definite plus, adds nearly 100 pounds to the boat compared to my original partner, but there is a lot of muscle behind those pounds.
The TV will be a good boat for this race, there will be an advantage over some other boats. It does not take a lot of water to float it. I have yet to do more than a little test run solo in it but that test was impressive how fast the boat cruised skimming along the surface of the water, felt like there was not a lot of boat in the water, but still stable. I am afraid it might get a little out of control in the wind. I could actually install an additional foot brace/rudder control location for a solo position, got that all figured out in my mind, but not too much need right now.

Got the tie down hooks epoxied down for the rear hatch last night. Hope to make a little training run tonight. Hope to get some detail photos posted soon to share with y'all the intricacies of the boat I have built in for its special purposes.

I drew this style of hull with efficient parting of water in mind. Less turbulence, less resistence. So long as the hull bottom near the bow doesn't come out of the water, it's gonna be fast. Now if you find yourself punching over surf, with the bow coming out of the water and back down, the hull bottom near the bow will slap more than "part".

You might need a rudder for steering more than keeping straight path. Depends on how you are loaded.

 

[mosportsmen]

JEM,

Remember, this boat is grossly adapted by 4 ft. It tracks pretty good and straight but with all the extra length I am just thinking the rudder might be handy to fight the wind. The little bit I have been in it solo, just feels so light and fast that you just imagine it may become a bit of a feather in the wind and it would benefit from a rudder. So far it has been great, the design stretched pretty well. I am sure it would have turned out better if I would have had you redraw the plans for the longer boat. I just took it from a little different direction. Instead of 12" lines on a 8' board I made 10' boards and drew the lines on 15" reference. This all worked out fine till I drew the ends of the bottom pieces........shorted them a bit (can't take a measurement off a line that is in a different place)

If I ever try this design again I will definitively call on you to make me a custom plan laid out on 8 ft boards. Heck, you might want to add the racing pirogue to your line up. The boat might have been a little faster in the 29" design, but I chose comfort and stability over speed for this race. I just want to finish.

Tom

 

[WDfrmTN]

The weather service has officially announced an end to the drought. Timely, ehh?

Yeah...and they'll be wrong, too! Watering like hell at evening, and then can't drive a nail in the dirt by noon!