The late Spring '09 estimated date depends on funding matters (remember that we self-fund our product development generally). The RIGHT investor(s) (venture capitalists looking for majority ownership need not waste their time).
The Products:
The production version of the 18' inflatable pictured on this site
This one's almost ready. It will feature our own padded rigging (necessary for capsize safety) attached to a Piantedosi rowing track and sliding seat system, as the existing Piantedosi complete rigging is a tad too wide for the boat and the rowing geometry is not quite right for our boat. This boat can be rowed as a single or a double scull (two 10' oars per rower). The boat is too short for rowing as a pair (i.e. one 14' sweep oar per rower).
Break-down 10' or 14' "outfitter" oars
The 10-footers are used for sculling and the 14-footers are used for sweep rowing boats set up as pairs (also known as the 2- configuration)
Regular oars are too fragile for the kind of conditions for which our boats may be used, especially fast-moving rivers, especially with shoals and/or hidden rocks. Outfitter oars, usually made of hard aluminum are necessary. These are the oars you will see used on drift boats, where the rower stands forward when rowing. The oars and replaceable blades can actually be used to "pry the boat against a strong current in shoal conditions (rocky shallow water).
The problem is that the dimension of outfitter oars is greater than standard sculling oars. We are working on a special rowing collar system to allow the use of outfitter oars in standard high-performance oar locks. Our oars will come in various break-down configurations for easy transportation to remote locations.
Several kits for home-building rigging systems
We will have several kits for sculling systems (10' oars) or sweep rowing systems (14') oars.
Other Boats
- An 18' self-bailing boat of hard shell/extreme-duty fabric composite construction. The boat in its travel configuration is only about 4" thick with a 2' beam...like a really long surfboard. We are considering a version that "breaks down" into two (2) sections. This is a highly-protected design at this time.
- A 24' self-bailing hard-shell/fabric boat that breaks down into 3 stackable 8' sections. The stacked broken-down boat will measure about 4"x2'x8', which is easily carried on car roof racks.
- This boat can be rigged in any of the following configurations.
- Single sculling (rower uses 2 10' oars)
- Double sculling (each rower uses 2 10' oars)
- As a pair (each of two rowers use ONE 14' sweep oar. The rower in the stern controls a steering rudder with foot controls)
This boat is also a highly-protected design at this time.
Other Stuff
We'll tell you about other gear as we invent it. One thing we are toying around with is a wireless controlled motorized pair rudder (with an old fashioned cable-controlled system, of course)
adventure, boat, boats, break-down, composite, fabric, hard shell, inflatible, oar collars, oars, outfitter, Piantedosi, riggers, rigging, rowing, sculling, sweep
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