TRR LAKER 15' 5'' A

[tx river rat]

She floated
and is a winner
Report later

[tx river rat]

And here is the winner









I took the laker 15 5 a for her first swim today and she did well
,even floated



Paddled around close for a few minutes getting the feel of her.






LOVE THIS BOAT


The water I am paddling is pretty swift , small outboards have a lot of problems in this area but no problems for this boat

This is going to get pretty long so I am going to break it in parts
Ron
More to come

[tx river rat]

Part 2

Right above the bridge where I launched is a area of rocks and swift water
, boats with 15 horse are smaller outbords really struggle to get thru this area going upstream.
Well I had to go try it







I was amazed at how well she handled the swift water you could just cruise up thru it, of course I had to play for a while.





Folks let me tell you this little boat will handle some swift water and do it so easy.

After I played a while I told Sondra I was headed up river and would see her about dark,she headed back to town and I headed up river .
I had my gps and fighting a good curent it was no problem to maintane 3.5 miles an hour running upstream.
I was having so much fun getting to know her , I looked down at the gps (dang I was 7 miles up the river) and time was running out on me so I turned around here and headed back down.



Going to break it here more to come
Ron

[tx river rat]

Part 3
I held my breath as I started down stream,this what this boat was built for ,going fast down stream , after a few minutes I was grinning from ear to ear.
Folks this boat will move,Mick and Matt it is a burner.
I was watching my gps 4.5 to 5.5 was just playing going down river
5 miles an hour is just a good steady cruise not paddling hard. Well had to dig in a little got above 6.5 and I was bucking a head wind, I didn't plan out Bob but was moving right along.
I got about three miles from the take out and ran into Kim ,a friend that I paddle with, we talked for a minute and then headed back down river.

Liking it better all the time folks.
Kim was in another builder boat that races here in Texas,He did the Colo
100 mile race in just a little over 16 hours, the Neches 25 mile in 4 hours and some change, Kim was in that boat.Well folks the Laker can run with that river cruiser all day
Took a couple pics as we came into the ramp, don't get any better than this pretty river a good friend new boat and this




After we loaded up headed to the house, dang I am in trouble its 100 pm
Oh well
Evaluation to come.
Ron

[craiggamesh]

Your boat and your photos of the river look beautiful. Sounds like you had a great time. I'm hoping to get out today and maybe catch a fish or two on a local river.

[tx river rat]

Ok here we go .
Speed is great it is the easiest paddling boat I have had the pleasure to paddle, glide is great and long ,The asymetrical and length made a tremendous difference in stability, she is lively and responsive but feels solid under you. tracking is excellent. I was bucking a head wind coming down , which with twist and turn of the river gave you a cross wind, zero weather cocking wind just didn't matter much at all.
Had a couple things I have to do, need to add a hatch in the rear, did not like the fact I couldn't have extra paddle and extra stuff with me, I am a little lower in the nose than I want to be. I placed the seat 19 inches behind the center line of the boat, that is not enough so I need to load her
a little more in the rear, she paddled fine but where you had a current coming in from the side it would push the nose sideways , so I need to trim her out a little more. Being asymetrical and wider in the rear she can handle more weight farther back.She is stable enough that I am going to try raising the seat a 1 1/2 for comfort. The 15 ft 5 inch length still turns well so I am happy with that.
Matt you better get this set up to sell ,I am telling you this is a winner
Easy paddling fast stable low wind signature turns tracks glides she does it all and in a really good looking package.
As she sits right now she is dead up beside the T-V as my favorite boat
and my T-V is the best I had ever been in up till now.
Well there is the report
She is as close to a 10 as I will ever get and is going to break a lot of plastic boat owners hearts.
Ron
Note I was using a touring blade paddle , a different paddle will speed things up a little more
Thats all folks

[hairymick]

G'day Ron,

That is one very cool boat mate! and is your prettiest build so far.

Yet another superb model to add to Matt's allready impressive Laker line up.

I think I have said it before, but I believe the Lakers (all of them) are going to become the S$G kayaks by which all other S&G kayaks are judged.

Matt, Congratulations mate on yet, another winner. I agree with Ron in that I think you needto get these plans onto your web site.

[tx river rat]

Mick
I thought of you when I was paddling this boat, I think you will love it
livley quick and fun . I still can't wait till you paddle the T-V.
Ron

[OnkaBob]

Great report Ron. Some of those photos of the river almost look like they could be here in SA - maybe some similarities in climate.

I am astounded by the speeds you got out of the Laker - but then I'm not very knowledgable about these things. Hope mine comes up to somewhere near the quality level set by the rest of you.

Have you weighed her yet? Be interested to know the weight/ply thickness etc.

[zeb]

Congratulations on a great looking boat Ron.