The New Swift/DY Redesign of the Dragonfly

gumpus · Saturday at 12:25 PM

ABT said:
Good points Glenn, as always. Didn’t mean to imply it was possibly competition for faster boats like a Keewaydin, just found the comments on its “surprising” speed interesting. All my paddling is downriver so “fast enough” for Tim is potentially fast enough for me as well, but is of course a subjective evaluation. Speed isn’t my primary objective but is certainly nice when you want it on the slower pools.

I think it's interesting that when folks talk about a fast canoe every person may have a different view of what that means but almost no one is actually referring to top speed. I think it's also a bit odd that folks seem to like to debate "which canoe is faster" but these debates almost never include any discussion around the paddler's weight or strength or any reference to how they use the boat.

It's been a while since I've paddled a Baboosic but my take is that it feels light on the water and easy to accelerate from low speeds. Personally I would not call it fast (for my weight and strength) but maybe Tim Burris' style or weight or strength or ? give him a different perspective.

Steve in Idaho · Saturday at 11:56 PM

gumpus said:
I think it's interesting that when folks talk about a fast canoe every person may have a different view of what that means but almost no one is actually referring to top speed. I think it's also a bit odd that folks seem to like to debate "which canoe is faster" but these debates almost never include any discussion around the paddler's weight or strength or any reference to how they use the boat.

It's been a while since I've paddled a Baboosic but my take is that it feels light on the water and easy to accelerate from low speeds. Personally I would not call it fast (for my weight and strength) but maybe Tim Burris' style or weight or strength or ? give him a different perspective.

It is interesting. But "fast" is bound to be defined differently by different paddlers, if for no other reason than we all have different "motors". For a strong paddler, a longer boat will probably be faster. For a weaker paddler (where I more likely fit in) a shorter boat with less wetted area may more easily reach a higher speed. A faster theoretical hull speed may not be sustainable or even attainable for the weaker paddler.

I'd bet that only a small fraction of paddlers ever approach theoretical hull speed in the bigger solos, but a really efficient hull might still feel faster because of its sustained glide.

It's definitely not a hard science.

JV_RedLeafDesigns · 2025-03-16T13:54:54-0400

Thestripper said:
Do you mean that handle looking thing?

Swift calls it a: "Carbon Assist Bar - This support bar is designed to help a paddler get up from a seated position in a boat or as the ultimate handle for portaging."

View attachment 145811
Next big thing could be a thwart handle-handle, so you don't have to grab the thwart handle directly.

I'm pushing for a thwart-handle-thwart, with the carbon bar sandwiched between two pieces of cherry...

The "Old Man Handle" comes from Steve Landick. He has them in all of his boats and sold me completely on them. They're 1-inch round carbon tube and are a great addition to boats with lunch counters or non-round thwarts so that you can easily mount GPS, bow light remotes/switches, and all sorts of other bits and bobs that come in handy for long distance tripping and racing.

The Swift team executed the concept much more elegantly than the straight carbon tube that Steve and I have on our boats and the hollow-molded technology and rapid prototyping they used was astounding to me.

RPATCH · 2025-03-16T14:48:53-0400

Glenn MacGrady said:
Robert, is this your new Swift Dragonfly 15? If so, it would be great to see more pictures of it here. And . . . are you still planning to risk its pristine virginity in the rapacious Yukon territory this summer?

Yes. I'll take some more pictures. I will take it on the Big Salmon River this summer. I plan to use it as intended. We shall see how the new epoxy UV shield holds up.

NikonF5user · 2025-03-16T20:52:17-0400

RPATCH said:
Yes. I'll take some more pictures. I will take it on the Big Salmon River this summer. I plan to use it as intended. We shall see how the new epoxy UV shield holds up.

I cannot wait to be seen paddling next to that awesome boat!!

JV_RedLeafDesigns · 2025-03-16T21:11:20-0400

RPATCH said:
Yes. I'll take some more pictures. I will take it on the Big Salmon River this summer. I plan to use it as intended. We shall see how the new epoxy UV shield holds up.

My Cruiser 16.8 is Kevlar Fusion with a Textreme Innegra outer layer, epoxy, and UV Shield. It took a beating over about 1100 miles of paddling last season and was absolutely impeccable. It took a few hits and high-centers that would have trashed a vinyl foam core skin coat hull.

I’m still incredulous that no repairs were needed after one, particular high center incident on a stump in a grass cut during a race.

The New Swift/DY Redesign of the Dragonfly

gumpus

Steve in Idaho

JV_RedLeafDesigns

RPATCH

NikonF5user

JV_RedLeafDesigns

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