Hey!! It is flat out there, and yesterday I took out an old "Lagoon Boat" for a rudderless spin. What ever happen to these canoes? They track very well in the flat and are very sleek and smooth. In Hawaii, The Fiberglass Shop use to make them out in Campbell Industrial Park. Later, Tiger Canoe acquired the mold and started making them in Kona. Also, Karel made them from an old mold from Paul Gay's back yard. Sure would like to compare them with the V-1's of today. The Lagoon boats were raced rudderless in the Steinlager Sprints on the Ala Wai 20 years ago. The top rudderless paddler in those days was from Kauai, what happen to him?
Submitted by koacanoe on Tue, 10/06/2009 - 7:24am
Steve Cole might be who your thinking of, Koa. He's actually a former Lanikai guy who's lived on Kauai for decades now. I betcha someone from Kauai can comment on his present status, I'm pretty sure he's still an avid paddler and does well in races over there. And, yes, I loved those longboats, too. I actually had one that Karel made for John Foti, one of the first w/ aluminum iako, sitting in my yard in Kailua a few years back. Great glide in the flats, would be nice for up here in Seattle.
#1 Tue, 10/06/2009 - 7:46am
Thanks Jim, but no it wasn't Steve Cole, however, you reminded me that it was another Steve: Steve Baker who would sprint down the Ala Wai using what looked like an 11 inch blade in winning the Steinlager Sprints. Those Kauai paddlers all paddled rudderless and preferred to do so, even when rudders were later added on to the "Lagoon boats." Add a state of the art ama with the aluminum or carbon iako, and feather light lay up, and I bet those "lagoon canoes" would be hard to beat in a rudderless drag race up and down the Ala Wai or Kawainui Stream?
ps: I use to have videos, but they were Beta format and thrown out with the broken Beta recorder.
#2 Tue, 10/06/2009 - 8:44am
Remember those old Montgomery's . they were the best,,,,,,,,,, man could they hummm. I sure miss mine .I lost it at the place I would bring my boats for repair , they threw it out , by mistake. they must have mistaken it for garbage , I folded it in half on too many times I guess.
#3 Tue, 10/06/2009 - 11:59am
I bought my lagoon boat after the first world sprints in Hawaii....must have been about 1984 or something like that. Still have it. Needs repairs, but in not bad shape. On flat days, that thing could haul a$$. However, it was very challenging in the wind. I would always snap the pins that came out of the ama and through the puka's on the iako's. I would take it surfing and most always break something.
JawsOut.
#4 Tue, 10/06/2009 - 2:28pm