Racing Solo Canoe

I have designed and built a canoe that fits into the ICF TC1 class with a view to using it to compete in the NSW Marathon Series.

To fit into the TC1 class, the canoe needs to be 16'6" or 5.03 metres long and 28" wide 4" above the keel or 712mm at 102mm above the keel. That width allows the seat to be mounted about 160 to 180mm above the keel and still have acceptable stability.

There were a few challenges with the construction as all of my previous twelve stripper were kayaks. The wide hips that enable it to meet the TC1 specifications yet still have a reasonable turn of speed meant that some strips would have to be bent sideways quite a bit. I largely avoided that by fitting the decorative strip at the widest point, then stripping outwards from the keel.

I could have built the whole thing in one piece, but glassing it would have been a nightmare as the amount of tumblehome would have necessitated doing some of the glassing upside down. So I built it in three pieces: the hull up to the widest point and the two sides of the upper part separately.

It is built from 4mm thick Paulownia strips with a single layer of 85gsm glass inside and out. The hull weighs a little over 8kg, but the seat and footrest etc add almost another 2 kg, so the weight ready to paddle is close to 10kg.

At 712 mm maximum width, it is quite a bit wider than my kayaks.
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Before I fixed the seat platform in place, I took it for a test paddle to make sure that my range of adjustment on the seat would enable me to trim it as I wanted.
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According to Kayak Foundry, the software used to design the canoe, the decorative strip should be parallel with the surface of the water when the canoe is properly trimmed.
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At cruising speed, a wave builds up at the bow and stern, leaving the widest part in the middle in the trough. This has the effect of reducing the effective waterline beam and reducing the drag slightly. However, the canoe remains quite level.
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Allan,
Your skills are becoming even better. This one looks great, as usual. You sit so high it must be hard to balance but then your an expert. My daughter recently bought a house in Tuross Heads. We spent a couple of days there in March and now know why you became an avid paddler. It is truly a lovely place to live.

Whitewood