More on Royalex

[Robin]

I subscribe to "Maritime out of doors" and received this post last night. It's an interesting blog and worth a look.
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[TD] [h=2]Goodbye Royalex, Hello Nova Craft Prospector[/h] by genoandchase[/TD]
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Old Town Canoes made headlines in 1978 when they tossed a Tripper canoe from the roof of their warehouse and it landed unscathed. The boat was constructed of a new material known as Royalex -- bonded layers of vinyl, ABS plastic, and a foam core. Royalex caught on immediately and companies all over North America adopted it for their own tripping and whitewater canoes. But it was all over in April 2014 when PolyOne -- Royalex's manufacturer -- announced they were ceasing production. Boat builders were left in the lurch as they scrambled to find a suitable replacement. Developing another material compatible with existing canoe moulds proved difficult. A brief glimmer of hope came along when Esquif Canoes announced that they'd developed a replacement material -- T-Formex -- for release in 2015. But Esquif lacked the financial backing, and they shut down. Consumers raced to snatch up the last of the Royalex canoes. Not wanting to miss the boat -- literally and figuratively -- I caught Royalex fever. I had to act fast if I wanted to get my hands on a canoe like my father's Old Town Tripper. I called several distributors in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and their answers were all the same: they were out of stock and waiting on orders that would never be filled. Looking online at Nova Craft Canoe’s distributor list, I saw there was a dealer a mere 4 km from my door here in Corner Brook. One quick email to a buddy who just began working at the store and I had confirmation that there was one canoe in stock. Tense hours passed while I waited to hear what model, length, colour and, most importantly, material the canoe was made of before I had my answer late Friday evening. Saturday morning I loaded this 16-foot Nova Craft Prospector onto my truck, knowing I had just purchased the last new Royalex Prospector in Newfoundland, possibly in eastern Canada!

Nova Craft Prospector 16
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With proper maintenance this canoe could last me a lifetime, but for added insurance I applied Kevlar skid plates. I laid out a template for the skids with plastic and masking tape and roughed up the vinyl left exposed. I applied a generous coating of epoxy on both skids afterward.

Skid Plate Template
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Skid Plate Installation
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Finished Product
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Now I just have to wait for the ice to finally melt in the ponds and rivers here in western Newfoundland to take her on her maiden voyage!
Editors Note: At time of publication Esquif has announced they will reopen and continue developing the T-Formex product. Only time will tell if it will compare to Royalex.

genoandchase | May 11, 2015 at 10:03 pm | Tags: Kevlar Skid Plates, Nova Craft Canoe, Nova Craft Prospector 16, Royalex | Categories: Canoeing | URL: http://wp.me/p3Zf5C-bz

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[memaquay]

I picked up the last new royalex canoe in northern Ontario last week. A Nova Craft Haida, 17 foot. The store had been holding it for our club since before christmas. Nice canoe, wish I had ten more!

 

[oldie moldy]

I have to wonder what's the story on the factory that made royalex? You wouldn't think that after gozilllions of canoes and various other craft, made from royalex, all of a sudden one day the factory people decided to hell with it?

And even if the original manufactures of the stuff quit, why doesn't somebody else start making the "new improved" version? Maybe, for all the importance we put on our canoes, the market just isn't worth it for some supplier of royalex?

My old town Camper is looking better all the time, although yesterday I moved it and it's still as heavy as it always was.

Yellow Canoe, with your ability to find things on the internet, have you turned up any information on what's going on?

In my youth, I always thought there was a kind of trade off as you grow older: True, you become more and more worn out but along with that you come to understand things better and become wise(er).
Well, I'm sure enough getting worn out and gimpy, but dang it, I can't say that I understand things any better, in fact I still have more questions than answers!

Rob

 

[latremorej]

Yes the more you know, the more questions you think about. In my case however, ignorance is bliss!

 

[memaquay]

I'm working from a mostly defective memory, but I seem to recall only one plant in the world made royalex, and the machinery that made it was helplessly worn out, or something like that. The cost of replacing the machinery outweighed the profits from the meagre amount sold for canoes. So the company mothballed production. Sounds kind of like the way I feel every time I go to one of these teacher conferences where they tell me I'm doing everything wrong, and have been for the last 27 years. I'm sure there's a suitable replacement for me though, just not as ugly and contrary.

 

[ppine]

I have recently acquired a Wenonah Cascade and have a Bell Northwind which are both royalex boats. They should allow me to close out my river running career.

 

[Guest]

I have to wonder what's the story on the factory that made royalex? You wouldn't think that after gozilllions of canoes and various other craft, made from royalex, all of a sudden one day the factory people decided to hell with it?

And even if the original manufactures of the stuff quit, why doesn't somebody else start making the "new improved" version? Maybe, for all the importance we put on our canoes, the market just isn't worth it for some supplier of royalex?

Uniroyal produced original Royalex sheets with the hope that it would find application in various niches. IIRC vehicle dashboards was one. I don’t know that it ever found continuing success for anything but boats.

IIRC Uniroyal actually molded the first RX canoes and sold the naked molded hulls to manufactures. Or anyone who wanted to buy at least six hulls to gunwale and outfit. The manufacturers soon had their own molds and just bought RX sheets to their specifications.

Uniroyal sold RX sheet manufacturing to Spartech, not sure of the date. In the early 90’s there were purportedly some EPA/OSHA mandated changes to the manufacturing process and some paddlers felt that the original RX was superior enough to seek out well cared for pre-90’s hulls. There were some not-good sheets of RX produced around 90/91; I’ve seen a couple of those canoes.

Spartech eventually sold it to PolyOne. The widespread story was that the after 40 years the machinery was getting old and worn out, and I expect the popularity of poly rec kayaks lessened the demand for Royalex in any case.

PolyOne may have bought a pig in a poke. They raised the price of RX sheets, and raised it yet again and still couldn’t make a go of it, abruptly pulling the plug.

I am kind of surprised that no Chinese firm has bought the old machinery and shipped it across the Pacific where labor costs and environmental regulations might make it viable. That alone indicates that the market just isn’t there.

But who knows, maybe in a few years you’ll be able to buy a Flying Dragon Explorer or Prospector.

The cost of developing a new heat/vacuum molded Royalex-like material was almost enough to sink Esquif, and while I have my fingers crossed the jury is still out of T-formex.

 

[Philtrum]

In my youth, I always thought there was a kind of trade off as you grow older: True, you become more and more worn out but along with that you come to understand things better and become wise(er).
Well, I'm sure enough getting worn out and gimpy, but dang it, I can't say that I understand things any better, in fact I still have more questions than answers!Rob

Aren't Solomon and Socrates considered the paragons of wisdom? And what do you suppose their methods were? They asked questions. You're in good company.

 

[daveo4]

At work we have one Royalex canoe left for sale. It's an OT Camper 16 in dark green (spruce). Just sold the last Penobscot 17 only a week ago. They didn't exactly "fly off the shelf ".

 

[cflcanoe]

Esquif is back but are they still trying for tformx? And even if they come out with it how many companies still have there Royalxx. quipment and molds left?

 

[Guest]

At work we have one Royalex canoe left for sale. It's an OT Camper 16 in dark green (spruce). Just sold the last Penobscot 17 only a week ago. They didn't exactly "fly off the shelf ".

I was at Blue Mountain Outfitters a couple of weeks ago an met a guy who bought the last Esquif Vertige they had in stock. He drove from Indiana to get it.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Nova Craft also has a new hull material that I think is supposed to be priced similar to rx, and might actually be a more desirable material.

 

[memaquay]

Watched that video, looks pretty tough. I notice the regular tuff stuff comes in at 54 pounds for a 16 foot prospector. Wonder what entry level pricing will be. Two years ago I was still getting royalex 16 prospector for 1799 plus tax.

 

[Guest]

Nova Craft also has a new hull material that I think is supposed to be priced similar to rx, and might actually be a more desirable material.

From what I have read Tuff Stuff is a composite material, a woven combination of Basalt and Innegra fibers.

A new extra tough composite priced similar to RX would be desirable; repairable and outfit-able with the usual adhesives and amenable to some designs where Royalex produced a blunter stemmed canoe.

I’ll be interested in how “similar” the price is to Royalex. In later years the cost of a new RX boat was already approaching the cost of some composite builds.

 

[wgiles]

A 16' Nova Craft Pal in Tuff Stuff, standard trim, lists for $2599 US.

 

[Guest]

A 16' Nova Craft Pal in Tuff Stuff, standard trim, lists for $2599 US.

Well, that question is answered.

If Esquif brings their T-formex into production and the cost is significantly above what latter model Royalex boats sold for there is going to be a big price point void in the middle ground between poly hulls and higher end canoes.

 

[Canotrouge]

A 16' Nova Craft Pal in Tuff Stuff, standard trim, lists for $2599 US.

John Kaziermierczyk at Millbrook boat sells a 16' tripping canoe, the AC/DC, ready to go for $1000 less.... I don't understand why we don't see more of his boat on the water, I own one(Shacho), an it is hell of a great canoe!

 

[Muskrat]

You can't just buy a millbrook off the rack at the nearest outfitter. That's my only guess on why they aren't more popular.

 

[memaquay]

A 16' Nova Craft Pal in Tuff Stuff, standard trim, lists for $2599 US.

Wow. That's quite a difference from Royalex. In Canada that would approach 3000 smackers, and there are plenty of good composites around for that price!

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Well, that question is answered.

If Esquif brings their T-formex into production and the cost is significantly above what latter model Royalex boats sold for there is going to be a big price point void in the middle ground between poly hulls and higher end canoes.

Yeah, 2599 is not even close to the final price of rx. Too bad.

Like Canotrouge, I am thinking any new canoe I might buy in the future is likely to be another Millbrook. Wish I could get close up and ppersonal with an AC-DC to answer some questions.