Ray Goodwin's canoe

We're lucky, Silverbirch isn't exactly a typical company! 

It's very existence is Born out of a desire to make better products for ourselves as passionate paddlers.

Business-case decisions tend to be made based upon how much enthusiasm there is for an idea rather than the profitability or strategic value of one and from the very outset of our composite journey we have been adamant that any composite offering from Silverbirch must underscore this philosophy.

The development process is an extension of this luxury - we intend to take a weird and wonderful route towards our range. We intend to try ideas we are unsure of, we intend to break things, and in some cases we intend to try things we think are a bad idea.... just to be sure ;-)

 

That brings us nicely onto development boat #1

Boat #1 is currently being looked after by Ray Goodwin. His brief is to pick as many holes in the boat as possible, and to try and break it. We will publish this feedback without selectively editing it!

So what did we try and what do we intend to learn from this boat?

Outfitting locations:

Every use-case is unique, and to truly get the most out of a craft it should be outfitted to match this! By dialling in Ray's outfitting we can generate a huge amount of information which will help us in the future to offer this service to all composite canoe customers.

To make this process quick and easy we have used a standard solid gunwale, and used surface mounted plastic washers for seat hangars, yokes, etc. We do not intend to go to production like this, this is just to allow for quick and easy riverside changes!

Once we have a realistic range to work within you will see us move to countersunk fittings and fluted or composite gunwale options to keep weight to a minimum.

Mitigation of shear lines at edge of hull reinforcement:

If you look at the picture at the top of this article closely you can see a wavey line internally at the chine. This is where the additional hull reinforcement finishes. It has been made in this shape to help disperse impact forces over a wider area rather than focusing them on a well defined straight line.

Our concern with this concept was one of internal comfort when kneeling, and whilst this problem is easily overcome with a kneeling mat we intend to try differing ways of achieving the same concept over the next few iterations!

Hull Stiffness:

Zero hull flex may give maximum efficiencies in terms of power transfer, but it also gives minimum feedback from the water and usually comes at a cost (both weight and money)

We intend to explore both ends of this spectrum. For boat #1 however we decided to start at the stiff end of things as we felt it would allow for easier and more concise feedback on seating locations, etc

 

Boat # 1 key Specs:

Length: 4780mm / 15' 8"
Width: 900mm / 35.5"
Effective rocker: 70mm / 2.75"
Depth at Centreline: 385mm / 15"
Depth at bow/stern: 535mm / 21"

Weight: 22kg (48.5lbs) as a finished shell (including Gunwales, handles, end tanks) 28.5kg (62.5lbs) with all outfitting and furniture to Ray Goodwin's specification (as pictured)

Where next? Boat #2 will focus on a  more 'knee friendly' method of mitigating the shear line at the edge of the hull reinforcement, and a more refined gunwale solution.