View topic - Swift Keewaydin 14

Anyone here used one of these boats? I'm looking at various solo options and I've had a good experience with my Swift Winisk. I'm a lighter guy (165-170 lbs) and I travel light, so I'm not too concerned with capacity, but I also don't want something that's crazy tippy. Would also love any other suggestions for solo boats to look at.

Thanks!

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http://www.allofalgonquin.com

Try out the Swift Shearwater (16'). Very fast, relatively stable.

Hey Drew. I think you already know my boat. It's awesome and I highly recommend it. We have similar tripping styles and I'm a little heavier than you, so I'm sure it will fit you well

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Shawn http://myselfreliance.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIMXKi ... q2UJePJEog

Shearwater is a big boat for smaller guys.. How tall are you. Kee 14 does nicely for shorter than six foot people.
Its height more than weight to be considered first.

Thanks for the feedback folks. I'm between 5'10 and 5'11, so it sounds like the shorter Keewaydin would work.

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http://www.allofalgonquin.com

Nonsense. I'm 5'7" and have no difficulty handling the Shearwater. If you want speed, go with the longer hull. Minimal weight penalty, big gains in performance.

Its not nonsense. Solo canoes are designed with paddler height as the first most important factor.. No one disputes that you can paddle any canoe heeled over to get contact with the water but the most stable stance is one knee in each bilge. If you are short, you cannot do that in a wider canoe.

Also the shorter the boat the less the horsepower is required to drive the boat. With a longer boat there is a friction loss.
Thats why I the weaker can keep up with my pal in a Shearwater while I am in a shorter Peregrine.

Longer does not always equal faster. I suggest you talk to a designer. I can cite David Curtis. David Yost and John Winters. From those I have learned much..

That theoretical hull speed of 1.55 x the square root of the length of the hull is just that.. based on an adequate power source.

Thanks for saying that. I'm not sure why canoeists talk about speed from a longer hull when the formula calculates 'potential' speed, not actual, and is completely dependent on the power source. It's much more relevant to displacement hull power boats than manually operated boats.
The Kee 14 not only tracks well and moves fast with low friction, it's very maneuverable in tight quarters.

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Shawn http://myselfreliance.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIMXKi ... q2UJePJEog

I had a Shearwater for 15 years until this winter. It is a great boat, very stable, fast, tracks well, excellent capacity for a solo canoe. However, I was starting to find it a bit big and heavy (more my age than the boat, but it was an older Kevlar layup with wood gunnels and wood trim, so it probably was approaching 50 lbs).

Yesterday, however, I just picked up my new kevlar fusion Keewaydin 15 with carbon and kevlar trim and gunnels. It's just about 30 lbs. I'm still testing it, but so far I really like the way it paddles. It's a bit more tippy feeling, but has very good secondary stability, and seems to track well and also be fairly maneuverable.

Here's the beauty …

The 14 accelerates faster than the fifteen because it has less drag/skin friction/skin in the water but the 15, a foot longer and 1.5" wider, yields more stability for double-haul casting.

the 15's theoretical top end is 1/3 mph higher, but unlikely to be an issue.

I'm 167 lbs, 5'8.5", down from 5'10" when younger. I employ cross strokes/ maneuvers with 14 or 15, but with Shearwater I need move both knees to use cross forward strokes. That movement engenders more instability than the wider hull provides. I am more stable in hulls that fit me.

i have a "swift keeywaydin 15", carbon 28.5 lbs.
my only problem is fitting a portable yoke to the carbon gunwales,,, the contour of the gunwales does not provide a good fit,, the carbon gunwales are very slippery. the clamping gizmo that "swift" sold me is almost impossible to attach securely. it has been suggested to me that i put foam rubber along the contact points to act as a gasket to prevent slippage. kinda works.
what type of yoke do you use with your "keewaydin"

A Kee with integrated gunwales was at the Western PA Solo Canoe event
An easy way to provide more purchase for an add on yoke is to run electrical tape across the guwales and build up the fore and aft of the gunwale will clamp to with so or seven more tape layers so the yoke can't shift. That's what the owner did

I went to test the keewaydin, osprey and shearwater and really surprised myself when I liked the shearwater the best. For me the keewaydin and osprey both turned amazing which can be hours of fun spinning around but the shearwater just tracked so straightl. I'm 5'8 162 so not huge either and I handle it just fine. Can't go wrong either way but maybe choose the boat based on the types of paddling you'd do. I.e. Bending rivers/ streams vs open lakes. Happy paddling with whichever you choose. Can't really go wrong.

Boats and paddlers are a partnership. All three boats track well...and the fit is in the height and knee spread. No need to spend hours spinning around. Lessons help with good stroke mechanics.. Its possible to make any boat track quite nicely,

LRC, I mean I enjoy taking a boat out and spinning around playing/ honing strokes. Many good memories taking short cedarstrips out just to play. The shearwater doesn't spin like those old beauties but ya way better on the open lake. If one solo boat was the best for all things we'd only produce one design and be done with it. At 5'10 I think any of those boats would work fine but best to demo.