I am debating between the Night Heron Hybrid vs the Strip built. The description on the S&G indicates it tracks more "stiffly" than the strip-built because of the sharper "V' of the hull. Does this mean it would be a little less prone to weather-cocking, and in general requires less corrective strokes to paddle in a straight line?
Thanks in advance.
....... "stiffly" than the strip-built because of the sharper "V'......
Likely means that it doesn't turn as well especially in waves, ie surfing.
Weather cocking.....If it has "free board" it can weather cock. Most folks that are worried about weather cocking place a retractractable skeg into the boat. Boat weather cocking? skeg goes down. Boat needs to turn a lot?..... skeg goes up. Don't get me wrong boat will turn with skeg down.
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The other thing to remember is that a lot of comments are talking about a thing of small difference. My computor wants to make changes to make it log on faster..............only improvement is measured in .0001 type units. My Cheasapeak weathercocks........if its windy and the water is wide I just go into the wind and surf down wind. A little longer but the downwind can be fun. Wife's boat does not. Different hull with round chines and a skeg.
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A stitch and glue takes about a 1/3 the time as a strip. And I might be over estimating that.
i have built and paddle both.
the first picture is the night heron high deck hybrid -- so the hull is stitch and glue.
the next is the full strip:
the strip built is noticably more maneuvarable than the stitch and glue hull if no skeg is involved. it's a bit hard to see in the pictures but the fore and aft 1/3rds sections of the strip build are very rounded compared to the stitch and glue that has a clear chine pretty much from stem to stern. the middle third, they both have a pretty definitive chine.
both of the boats, however, have skegs. the strip built goes straight as an arrow with the skeg down and other than when i am turning, i often just put a little down to minimize any corrective strokes. if there is no significant wind or sea, i won't use any skeg on the strip built, but when the wind or sea is up, i am typically putting some skeg in to trim the boat unless i am willing to change course to balance the boat.
my favorite from a handling perspective is the strip built becuase, with a skeg, it has a wider range of maneuvarability - they both go straight with the skeg down, but the stich and glue can't hold a candle to the strip built for maneuvarability with the skeg up.
on building, the strip built boat is a lot more work than the stitch and glue. i had a couple stitch and glues under my belt before i did my first strip boat. i think its a logical progression and i did not have a lot of woodworking experience prior to getting involved in building. but if you have the time and patience and skill, you can start with a strip built boat.
based on my experience, i spend about 4 times the time on a strip built boat than a stitch and glue. there is just typically a lot of things that you are left to the builder to figure out on a strip built and its a lot of strips. the stitch and glues usually have a very well-define construction procedure and steps. for the strip you get a book that explains the general process and you have to apply it to the box of wood that arrives at your house.
so if i was advising somebody new to it, i would start with a hybrid or stitch and glue and build some experience.....as i think you will be less likely to get frustrated and abandon the project. that said, if you have a lot of woodworking experience and its really about what design you want, and time/labor is not a factor....go with the strip built and just have a skeg as part of the build....the perfomance and looks are sublime.
h
i meant to say.....
"if there is no significant wind or sea, i won't use any skeg on the stitch and glue boat, but when the wind or sea is up, i am typically putting some skeg in to trim the boat unless i am willing to change course to balance the boat.
Thanks to both of you for the thoughts and details. That was a lot of good information to help decide. I have two stitch and glues under my belt (ch 17 and ch16) but don't consider myself that skilled yet, either in woodworking or paddling!
For that reason and also wanting to keep this timeline a little shorter, I think the hybrid is the logical next step. Hspira, I have seen other pix of your night heron builds and really like what you created. Will undoubtedly have more questions once I get into it.
I actually already have the NH strip kit purchased and in my garage, and will be purchasing the S&G panels separately to complete what I need for the hybrid. I will have quite a bit of strip left over and then can decide what to do with that.
thanks again.
Hi OlyWa,
thanks for the nice comments.
if you have not already, i would either call CLC customer support and/or study the parts list on both the strip built and the hybrid.
in addition to the hull panels, there are some other kit/construction differences.
most notably, the frames for the strip built are different from the frames in the hybrid. while they pretty mush share the same deck sections, the hybrid frames are cut to be temporarily inserted/glued into the stitch and glue hull. you wont be able to do that with the frameset you have.
also, in the hybrid kit, they give you a okoume plywood cockpit sill, risers and coaming...which makes those elements go pretty fast. on the strip built kit, you don't get any of that and are expected to fabricate it yourself.
apologies in advance if you were already aware of this, but other than the strips, there are other bits you will need in addition to the hull panel. fwiw, i buiilt my night heron strip first and then built the hybrid several years later....si i was personally surprised by some of the differences.
hope that is helpful.
h
Ahhhh. That is good to know, and I was a little afraid of that. I have contacted customer service at CLC and they indicated they would be preparing a custom quote for me. I will see all of what they include in that.
Scott