Geodesic Aerolite Canoes

[kcaddy]

I am interested in building a canoe for my sons and myself to use on local lakes. I need a boat that is fairly stable and has good tracking.
I have discovered the Platt Monfort designs. Has anyone had experience with these designs? I am interested in a small fleet of Snowshoe Lassies or Snowshoe 12's.
Can any give a performance report on any of these designs. I am also thinking about the Snowshoe 14 , Snowshoe Arrow or the Snowshoe 14 Explorer. I need some help trying to figure
out what the differences are and which one would best fit my needs as a daytripper on local lakes! Any help will be appreciated! Thanks!!

[Tom Dugan]

I can't give you firsthand experience on Platt's boats, other than to say that they're pretty sturdy for what they are. I think they're still fairly susceptible to punctures, though.

A more general issue is how you plan on using them. If you plan on one person per boat, something in the 12 foot range is probably best, especially for a boy. I find my 12' Sassafras just about right for me. I'm 150 lbs. Anything larger (especially in the ultralight class) tracks less and is more susceptible to windvaning. Even my Sass still windvanes in a stiff breeze. I've tried a 14' Wee Rob (Ian Oughtred's), and it floated too high and windvaned on me.

I think Montfort's boats are intended to be double-paddled while seated (as is my Sass). My experience is that boats designed for this make miserable craft for single-bladed paddling while kneeling - COG is too high.

Two boys together (or boy and dad) might find a 14 footer about right.

Ummm, kind of a brain dump of stuff you didn't even ask for. Hope some of it is useful.

-T

[skuthorp]

I loved the look of these and the engineering involved appealed to me, but I felt inevitably the skin would let me down when I really needed it not to, and I was worried about how much they'd 'walk' in any sea at all. Rather than face retrofitting ply lapstrakes, I ended up with a Macgreggor.

[landlocked sailor]

I am just finishing a "Nimrod 12" which is a bit flatter in the midsection (fuller bilged). I put it together for a 70 yo cousin who is a life long messer and needs something light to carry to the lake. This is my 7th boat and I was intrigued by the minimal engineering and pushing the weight envelope. Everything went together as Platt predicts but I did find the whole process to be a bit of a fussy pain in the butt. A couple more coats of varnish then sea-trials, delivery and I'll be starting on "Catherine", a real wooden boat. Rick

[landlocked sailor]

I have also built a couple of Tom Hill "Charlotte" canoes and found the whole experience much more enjoyable. The boat sure handles well and is quite light; I would recommend it highly. Rick

[JimConlin]

If I were to build a 'fleet' of small canoes, I'd choose a construction method which rewarded mass production. Seems to me that the Tom Hill methods would. I'd scarph all the plywood in one swell foop, make patterns for each plank, etc. Could get efficient.

Jim