Hi all. I recently saw a request for information about which boat one
ought to chose to replace a Dagger Rival. I am working on my third
Rival and believe it to be the best tupperware WW canoe ever made.
However, the world moves on and Dagger is no longer making it.
I recently considered this problem and went with a Bell Prodigy.
The Bell is about a foot shorter but gives up none of the speed which
is a great asset of the Rival. In fact I think the Prodigy is faster.
It front surfs like a dream and because of ites size and speed carves
very nicely on the wave. I can also get attainments that I could not
make even in the Rival.
On the down side the Prodigy runs wet. I weight about 178-182 and
may be just a tad porky for this boat but I think it is also a design
issue. I agree with others who mentioned that the boat sems a bit
fragile. When I first picked it up I was shocked by how light it was.
Well, I was also unhappily surprised by how easily it dented. I use
my whitewater boats hard on creeks and in big water and they need to
be tough enough. I am concerned that this boat is not.
It rolls easily; not quite as easily as the Rival but much better
than my Skeeter or other hard chined boats like the Ocoee.
Other responders pointed out that this is a Bob Foote design and
if you like Foote boats you will like this one. I agree completely
The Prodigy also shows its Bell roots in that it likes to be leaned
over when paddled. It is responsive anyway but I got even more from
it when I leaned it some. I bet that a good freestyle paddler could
get more from this boat than almost any other whitewater canoe around.
It won't play holes as well as the hard chined boats. but you
will love the speed.
The word is that Bell is coming out with a slightly larger
version. I hope that is true and I hope they address the wetness and
the tendancy to dent too easily.
I will bet that the Esquif will play better in holes but that the
Prodigy is faster. If you liked the Rival then I bet you will like
the Pridigy, even with these flaws. If you like the Ocoee better then
you will probably like the Esquif better.

Hi to all my RBP friends!! How are we doing with sp*ns*ns and
access in Boulder, Colorado? Chris Kelly

(Chris Kelly)

Typed in Message-ID:

he Bell is about a foot shorter but gives up none of the speed which
is a great asset of the Rival. In fact I think the Prodigy is faster.
It front surfs like a dream and because of ites size and speed carves
very nicely on the wave. I can also get attainments that I could not

make even in the Rival.

Hi Chris,

Think the shorter boat would help you to make some of those tight turns and
slots
on the RF?

Well, I was also unhappily surprised by how easily it dented. I use
my whitewater boats hard on

reeks and in big water and they need to
be tough enough.

What Chris really means is that he runs into a lot of ROCKS :^).


I will bet that the Esquif will play better in holes but that the
Prodigy is faster. If you liked the Rival then I bet you will like
the Pridigy, even with these flaws. If you like the Ocoee better then
you will probably like the Esquif

better.

Esquif is rumored to be releasing a non ABS boat that I assume will be some
type of Poly like the Pyrana boats or even like the OT discovery series. It
should hold up a lot better than the ABS.

When you coming back East. I'm up for another Russell Fork run. Winter is
coming also, the Cumberland Plateau is calling you.

SYOTR
Larry C.

Hi Larry, I think yes, the shorter Prodigy will give some advantage
on creeks but really, the Rival seems to fit most places, and yes....I
do hit lots o' rocks!!!!
If the boss turns me loose I am gonna try for the Columbus Day
weekend but for sure GAF. I am a bit skeert of the Russell Fork at
full release. I am hoping for enough rain to bring the Plateau up for
September 31. My dream plan wud be to paddle daddy's on Friday and
then drive to the Nanny for the GAF sruff and then back to the Plateau
for Sunday. lets stay in touch.
chris

PS By the way, I broke the Rival in the second drop of Lost Paddle the
Sunday before Gauley Fest and have not yer repaired it. On inside
Gunwale is broken in half. I am paddling with a c clamp holding the
boat together.

In article ,
(Chris Kelly) writes:

If the boss turns me loose I am gonna try for the Columbus Day
weekend but for sure GAF. I am a bit skeert of the Russell Fork at
full release. I am hoping for enough rain to bring the Plateau up for
September 31. My dream plan wud be to paddle daddy's on Friday and
then drive to the Nanny for the GAF sruff and then back to the Plateau
for Sunday. lets stay in touch.

You can always come up and do the Easy Section of the Russell Fork during
release. I'm not wild about running the breaks at full release either.

Let me know if you are interested in running it any of the release weekends.

Larry
SYOTR
Larry C.

Oooh, oooh, oooh; Mr. Kay-BELL, ask me! I'm much closer to the
Russell fork than I have been in previous years and would love to hook
up with you for a run down from the dam (or two) on a release weekend.
If Kelly has to be there too, so be it; I'll put up with him.
-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
--
================================================== ====================
Richard Hopley, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
rhopley[at]earthlink[dot]net 1-301-775-0471
Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll.
rhople[at]wfubmc[dot]edu 1-336-713-5077
OK, OK; computer programming for scientific research also matters.
================================================== ====================

ospam (Larry Cable) wrote in message ...
In article ,
(Chris Kelly) writes:

If the boss turns me loose I am gonna try for the Columbus Day
weekend but for sure GAF. I am a bit skeert of the Russell Fork at
full release. I am hoping for enough rain to bring the Plateau up for
September 31. My dream plan wud be to paddle daddy's on Friday and
then drive to the Nanny for the GAF sruff and then back to the Plateau
for Sunday. lets stay in touch.

You can always come up and do the Easy Section of the Russell Fork during
release. I'm not wild about running the breaks at full release either.

Let me know if you are interested in running it any of the release weekends.

Larry
SYOTR
Larry C.

Richard, Larry and his RF buddies took me at lower (not low, 400
cfs). It was literaly one of the best days of my paddling life.
Still very hard; Walked the second drop of Triple Drop and Climax.
Absolutly wonderful creeking. Do it for sure at lower water. Chris
K

In article ,
(Oci-One Kanubi) writes:

Oooh, oooh, oooh; Mr. Kay-BELL, ask me! I'm much closer to the
Russell fork than I have been in previous years and would love to hook
up with you for a run down from the dam (or two) on a release weekend.
If Kelly has to be there too, so be it; I'll put up with him.
-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty

Didn't mean to slight you, Richard. I'm going to be up there the first weekend
and the last two for certain. Cecil will be back for Maine and join me for the
last two. Let me know if you are interested in hooking up.

The first weekend is Russell Fork Rendezvous and I'll probably end up helping
over there some on Saturday evening. The Woodstock wannabes don't really thrill
me, but it still raises a good chunk for conservation, and our club is the
major sponsor, so I kind of feel obligated to show up.


SYOTR
Larry C.

(Chris Kelly)

Typed in Richard, Larry and his RF buddies took me at lower (not low, 400
cfs). It was literaly one of the best days of my paddling life.
Still very hard; Walked the second drop of Triple Drop and Climax.
Absolutly wonderful creeking. Do it for sure at lower water. Chris
K


Glad you had a good time. The second time down, the adrenalin isn't quite
flowing as much and you start to notice things like that its one damn pretty
canyon and that there are a lot of nice rapids besides the big five.

Larry
SYOTR
Larry C.