Here's an oldie-but-goodie: the start of the Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak Race in 2001. I look so young. And in fact I was young (I was 33). Photo by Emerson Wickwire.
Several decades ago the United States Canoe Association, hoping to attract more wildwater racers to its national championships, created a "downriver kayak" class specifically for wildwater boats. In the ensuing years several boat designers came up with boats that met all the specs of a wildwater boat, but were lighter and narrower for greater speed on the Class I-II water of the typical USCA Nationals. The boat I'm paddling above is one of those boats: the "Apple Turnover." It's got the wings behind the cockpit to satisfy the width requirement of a wildwater boat, and like a wildwater boat, it has no rudder: you steer it by leaning the boat to the side opposite the desired turn direction.
I think this boat is of 1980s vintage. I bought it from a friend in 1997, at which time my primary focus was on whitewater slalom but I thought it would be fun to have some kind of flatwater boat to paddle in the Memphis area. As my interest grew in the flatwater/open water racing I'm doing now, I worked this boat hard, and it was a valuable tool for learning the many nuances of making a tippy boat go fast.
This brings me to the main point of this post: though I am rather fond of this relic, I might be willing to part with it. Right now it is stored in my old woodworking shop, and as I move things over to my new shop, I'm looking for ways to lighten the load. The boat has been patched a few times but is solidly seaworthy and in reasonably good shape for a 30-year-old craft. I would love to see another person have the rich learning experiences in it that I had.
I hope to receive a low-three-figure sum for it. Interested persons may leave comments here, or contact me directly if they know how.
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