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Hi!
Finished my freedom 17 and enjoy it fully. However im looking for a smaller companion to the 17 footer. Since i got the stations cut, is it possible to build a 15 or a 16 footer using the same station molds?
Or should i go for another design, Prospector vs Ranger, can i build a Ranger from the Prospector station molds?
Canoe manufacturers such as Novacraft have stretched and shortened Prospectors into 15, 17 and 18 foot versions. I don't see why shortening to 15 feet would be a problem.
This is a 6.25% shortening, to be absolutely correct the offset values for the stem molds should also be shortened by the same percentage, by converting inches to metric and then multiplying by 15/16 or 0.9375.
The shortening in the stem molds might be insignificant to keeping the lines fair, so maybe unnecessary... I'd have to see for myself with a batten once the stations were in place.
We shortened the Redbird to 16 feet by moving the stations to 10.75 inches and modifying the stem molds by using the multiplier 10.75 / 12. I stayed with imperial and just rounded to the closest 16th inch.
The process was pretty straight forward and we are pleased with the results.
Everything I've read on this subject says don't stretch or shrink more than a few inches (maybe a foot).. Going from a Freedom 17 to a Freedom 15 sounds like a pretty big change. I'd avoid this. I've built the Freedom 15. It was easy to build. Paddles nicely tandem or solo if kneeling.
Randy, how does your yoke work out for kneeling solo? I'm not much of a canoeist, so i'm not sure of the pros/cons of yokes, thrawts, etc. But I'll be adding mine in a few weeks I hope. Any suggestions?
btw, I would think that shortening a Freedom 17 to 15 would be quite drastic. That's not to say that it wouldn't work or that you wouldn't like it. But surely the canoe will be very different from the intended design.
