I just read your Barracuda build thread. I have a Magic, and was thinking of building a Barracuda for the same reasons you did. However, after reading, it seems you weren't happy with the speed of the Barracuda. Any update? Do you still have the Barracuda?

Obviously I'm not Alan, but a good friend.
Alan has moved, and is pretty busy with updating his new place.
He still has the Barracuda, and I've paddled it ! It is fast !

Hopefully he will get a little free time, and chime in ! I do know he has a lot of work ahead of him !

Jim

Thanks for the update...I figured he was out paddling the Maligne for a few months.

Hi Don,

As Jim said I've been a bit busy and not checking the forums often.

I still have my Barracuda and think it's a great boat but I also think the descriptive paragraph about it at Greenval is a little misleading. I didn't really find it to be any tippier than my Magic and not really any faster either. Maybe someone else could drive it to a higher speed but paddling them back to back with a GPS revealed nearly identical speeds and times.

The sides are low enough that it takes on water pretty easily and I wouldn't want to trip out of it but those low sides also make it a pleasure to paddle. IMO it's a great boat for day paddles if you enjoy paddling hard. Maneuverability isn't too bad for a boat that length. I enjoy paddling mine. Not sure where you're located but you're welcome to try it out any time. I'm in Estherville, IA. You might even be able to talk me into selling it if you didn't want to build your own.

Another option if you're looking for a go fast but friendly boat would be to build my AGX: http://www.canoetripping.net/forums/forum/general-paddling-discussions/diy/19929-x-canoe-build

After being disappointed with the speed of the Barracuda I decided to design my own hull since nothing else fit what I was looking for. It turned out great. Much better speed than something like an Advantage but not quite the speed of a racing C1. But the thing is it's much more user friendly than a racing C1 with better stability. It's a great boat for workout paddles and I designed enough flare in the bow that my dog can even come along. I think it would also make a great boat for long distance canoe races. Mine came in just under 30 pounds.

Alan

Alan,
Thanks for the response. The reason I am looking at different canoes is that I have become interested in doing some racing. Specifically, I plan to do the MR340 next year. I have a Magic, and am leaning toward just using it. My goal is to finish the race, but also finish it as quickly as I can. I don't have any delusions of a podium finish, but a more efficient boat might make 340 miles go by a bit easier.
Sounds like the baracuda may not be the boat I was looking for.
With your racing background, how reasonable is it for me to try to maintain a 5 mph pace for 2 hours in a magic? (assuming I do the work, is the boat up to that pace?)
Anyone's thoughts are appreciated!

Ok, I just scanned through the AGX build thread. You have me a little excited that it might be just what I'm looking for. After knowing what I will be using it for, supported ultra marathon racing, do you agree that it would be a good fit? The goal speed of 5 to 5.5 is right on my target.

If you put in the work (lots of hard training and conditioning) the Magic could hold over 5mph for a long time. I wouldn't expect the Barracuda to be a whole lot faster but it is a more comfortable boat to paddle (low sides and narrower gunwales). When I used to do some racing (was never very good) running the Magic at 5mph was hardly enough to break a sweat. It's a bit more effort for me to put out that amount of energy now.

The AGX would keep you on your toes a bit more but has the capability of a lot more speed. But you'll have to have the horsepower to drive it there.

I could never sprint the Magic or Barracuda over 6.3 mph. I've pushed the AGX to 7mph. I wasn't in very good racing condition at this point and despite the higher sprint speed the average speed over a couple miles was 5.3mph for the Magic/Barracuda and 5.4 in the AGX. The better your condition the more difference there would be between the two.

When I designed the AGX I had races like the South Dakota Kayak Challenge and maybe the MR340 in mind. With a cover I think it would make a great boat for those races. Adding a rudder would greatly add to the efficiency.

Alan

According to my GPS, I have hit 6.3 in the Magic. Currently, I can cruise from 4 to 4.5 mph, but wear out quickly when I try to hold 5 mph. I have just started working on my conditioning and technique, but I have a year to prepare. I have been contemplating a rudder and cover for the Magic, but building a new canoe would allow me to lea e the Magic as is for tripping.
Unless you talk me out of it, I am really interested in building the AGX. It would be cool to have a nearly unique canoe to train and race in!

quote gymcoachdon: "According to my GPS, I have hit 6.3 in the Magic. Currently, I can cruise from 4 to 4.5 mph, but wear out quickly when I try to hold 5 mph. I have just started working on my conditioning and technique, but I have a year to prepare. I have been contemplating a rudder and cover for the Magic, but building a new canoe would allow me to lea e the Magic as is for tripping.
Unless you talk me out of it, I am really interested in building the AGX. It would be cool to have a nearly unique canoe to train and race in!"

The speed will come but it will take some time. I found a heart rate monitor/GPS combo to be helpful when starting out. I started out racing kayaks and found that I could easily ramp up heart rate with the double blade (170-180) but whenever I used the single blade in the canoe I couldn't get it over 145 even when sprinting. As my single blade technique improved I was able to easily get that heart rate up and my speed went up too. The heart rate monitor let me know when I was pushing it too hard during a long race or when I was backing off too much.

I'd love to see another AGX get built and used. As long as you're not entering USCA or similar races where the boat needs to meet certain length/width restrictions then I think it's the fastest canoe I've ever paddled while still retaining some user friendliness. If you want to build one drop me an e-mail and we'll figure something out. If you want to pay shipping too I'd even be willing to send you the forms. I have to clean out my shop for a move anyway and wasn't planning to hang on to them. I've already got my copy and don't see myself building another.

If you can find some races to enter in your area I'd highly recommend it. Canoe racers were about the nicest group of folks I've ever hung around with. Tons to learn from them.

Alan

Thanks for the info again. Email sent.
I have been looking into local races, and will probably do the Freedom race, a 100k, on the Missouri river prior to the 340. Bad thing about my job is that I work 6 days/week, and Saturday is my longest day. Good thing is I have every morning free for training, and work short evenings through the week. I will have ample opportunity to get lots of canoe time on a small local lake. I have already been researching a heart rate monitor as well.

Alan, I'm not sure how I never saw the AGX build thread- the lines do look real nice! It piques my curiosity as well. It looks like a long savage river blackwater with the rocker of a magic. Did I miss the sheer numbers? I bet it would be a good fast workout hull and of course can't help but wonder what the stability feels like. The bow stiffness would be solved with any substantial wales. ...or maybe something integrated into a carbon layup.

gymcoachdon: This photo represents time trials as part of my summer fitness this year: paddling a magic on more-or-less the same course over a 2 month span. No structured training, but my first year using paddling as a summer activity to stay fit for ski season. It was fun to see the improvement, and you can see that at two months I was holding the magic up above 5mph for 2 hrs. Not a racing boat for sure, but as a quicker all-around it performs very well.

Thanks for that info Muddy. Good to know a fit paddler can keep that speed over 2 hours in a Magic. Is this a lake or river?
My current goal is to be able to paddle an hour averaging 5 mph. Best so far was a 2.5 mile quick workout at 4.76 mph ave. Today was a bit longer, and averaged 4.6. I also built a canoe ergometer from a Nordic Track to keep up the fitness over winter.

That's awesome- It would be fun to see pics of the erg!

I live about 200rods from the Mississippi, and put in just above the Sartell dam. (12 minute portage with an empty boat- all the neighbors know me as canoe-guy) There is about 3 miles of minimal-current 'lake' above the dam, but it is all river beyond that. (There is a channel in that stretch that connects to a 5-mile-long lake too.) My thought was that for any 2-hour session going upstream-and-back; the current cancels itself out for the most part. Nevertheless, it is a mental boost to hit sub-10 minute miles during the second half of the workout!

The furthest I've gone upstream is 20mi, and at that point there is a considerable 3-4mph current.

Of note: I use the "map my ride" app on iPhone to track these workouts. I like hearing the audible time/distance/pace/average pace called out every mile.