Freedom 17, Cirrus or Winisk

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GeirB
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Freedom 17, Cirrus or Winisk

Post by GeirB »

I was going for one more Prospector16 but have reconsidered. I did not like the lines of the modern designs before, but now I can`t get the pictures of the Freedom of my mind.
It seems like the three, Freedom17, Winisk and the Cirrus have a lot in common both in size, apperance and characteristics.
Please give me advice on which one to choose.

Geir
Rick
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Post by Rick »

It depends on what you want to use if for - I like the Freedom 17 for it's versatility and it's on my list of possibles. It's small enough to paddle solo, but still can carry enough gear for most trips going tandem. The other two are larger and and will be heavier and more difficult to portage, but carry more gear. The high-performance Cirrus has a lot of flare built into it, and it should be especially good when things get rough on large lakes. The Winisk is a high-volume hull for extended tripping, and should be more stable and comfortable than the Cirrus.

I've only tried the Freedom briefly, and liked it solo and empty. Haven't tried the other two, and am just going by hull shape and description.

If you've already built a Prospector 16", it also has high volume and carrying capacity, so the higher-performance Freedom, or going even further up the performance scale, the Cirrus, might be for you. Both the Prospector and Freedom can be versatile solo/tandem boats, if that's what you want.

Again, it depends on what you need the boat for - maybe you could identify this and get more precise recs. The Prospector you've got is a versatile canoe to begin with and maybe you're looking for something more specialized.

PS... it also depends on your body size... larger paddlers will prefer larger boats, and vice versa.
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GeirB
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Post by GeirB »

It will mostly be used as a tandem, weekendtrips with family, me wife and one maybe two kids.
I like the Prospector and it will be prefered when going on weeklong trips fishing/camping with friends.
I`m building a kayak for my solotrips.

Geir
Rick
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Post by Rick »

It will mostly be used as a tandem, weekendtrips with family, me wife and one maybe two kids.
The Winisk, then, since it has the most volume and stability. The Freedom 17-9 might be even better, since it's a little larger and has the highest stability in the Freedom types.
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Bryan Hansel
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Post by Bryan Hansel »

I plug the Freedom so much you'd think that I was getting paid to do it, but if you're planing on touring with two kids and your wife, I'd say that it would be cramped, unless you camp very lightweight.

Image

Anyway, I have a few more pictures, and a little review on my website, if you are interested: http://www.nessmuking.com/boats.htm

By the way, if you check out the website, check out the plans for the Viking Faering. Someone just built this boat, I'll try and find the link to post in off-topic.
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GeirB
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Post by GeirB »

Your right, the trips with wife and kids will be short trips, using the canoe to get a bit away from the road. Daytrips, maybe a little fishing.
I am not planning on any long expeditions into the wilderness. This summer it will be a three to five day round tour with the Prospector and my brother in the border aereas near Sweden. Nine different lakes, some carrying, some downriver padling. Did the same tour three years ago with a heavy, ugly blue canoe owned by a friend. (See my website: På tur).
I want to use the experiense from the first project to do a better job the second time. The strongback and molds for another Prospector are ready to start striping, and I like that canoe a lot, but the lines and looks of the modern designs are more and more appealing to me. I just can`t deside on which one.
(The two pic`s of the Winisk on the car roof, I want that!!!)

Geir
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Doug
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Post by Doug »

I built the Kipawa from Green Valley Boats ( http://www.greenval.com/ ) four years ago.
The Kipawa is a foot shorter, at 16.5 feet, than the Winisk, but other than that, I believe all the other numbers are the same.
I am completely happy with the performance of the kipawa.
I believe it to be a great boat for two people and a week of gear.
It is primarily designed for the smaller lakes of Ontario, it is a modern and efficient tripper canoe.
The online building support from Martin Step at Green Valley Boats was outstanding!

All the best,
Doug
"Some people hear the song in the quiet mist of a cold morning..... But for other people the song is loudest in the evening when they are sitting in front of a tent, basking in the camp fire's warmth. This is when I hear it loudest ...." BM
Rick
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Post by Rick »

Great looking Freedom 17, Bryan! You said that it got some rough use. Was there anything added to make the hull more durable besides the extra layer of glass you wrote about here earlier on?

PS... what is Omering? Paddling like Omer Stringer?
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Bryan Hansel
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Post by Bryan Hansel »

Yes, Omering is paddling like Omer Stringer. His solo style was said to revolutionize solo paddling, and it is more often called Canadian style.

Thanks for the kind remarks on the Freedom. It's gotten a lot of tough use. At first, I only had one layer of 6 oz. glass on it, but shortly after beating that layer up, I added a second 6 oz. layer. Currently, it has a 6 oz layer inside, and two 5 oz layers outside. The Raka 5oz glass is pretty tough. I used it on my kayak that I paddled on 560 miles of the Mississippi River last summer. The first half of the trip, before the lock and dam system, involved a lot of rock banging and bottom scraping. We paddled the river during what one old timer described as the lowest that he had ever seen it. And the kayak was loaded much heavier than my usual trips, because we weren't willing to drink hand-filtered Mississippi River water, so we ended up carrying two to three gallons of water at a time per kayak plus all our gear (we each carried gear to be self-contained , and a lot of camera gear. There are very few scratches that go into the glass on my kayak.

The main problem that I have is that I like a light boat, I like it to look wooden, and I like to take my wooden boats were only plastic should go, so I have accepted the fact that I'll end up replacing some glass here and there, but Raka's 5 oz seems to be a rock-solid glass. I think that they no longer offer it, and if that is the case, I try and find an other fiberglass with very tight weave in that weight range for my next kayak. I also have moved out of Iowa, and live near the Boundary Waters and on Lake Superior, so my boats should take a little less abuse. Then again, you should see my Bell Magic after it's first full year of use, and most of the milage was in the Boundary Waters, so maybe I won't be nice to my boats up here.

If I was more concerned about durability than appearance, I'd use Kevlar and Carbon fiber to build a super tough boat that would have no problems taking the beating that I dish out.
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