After a lot of online searching, there really is not a single good source of how and when the Lightning was developed. There are a lot of old threads about Lightning vs. Mirage but that doesn't really help give us background info. The Lightning's performance history in the Kai'wi Channel is definitely clear, but if any of you have insight that can contribute to developing the background history on this canoe, it would be appreciated!
Submitted by TI on Fri, 05/12/2017 - 5:47am
if you search around on this site there are a few threads where people weigh in on the origins of the bradley profile shape and rocker. none of it proven or confirmed by the man himself though.
http://bradleyhawaiicanoes.com/about-us.html
link to sonny's contact info. maybe ask him?
http://bradleyhawaiicanoes.com/contact-us.html
#1 Sat, 05/13/2017 - 8:35am
To close the loop on this, I did reach out to the contact at the Bradley Canoes website and received a really nice email back from Momi Bradley. Her response is below.
"The original glass canoe is the Bradley RACER, then the Bradley ENCORE followed by the excellent open ocean wa'a, the Bradley STRIKER.
The ENCORE was modified with lower gunnels for High school regattas. The lower gunnels make it user friendly for women and various men divisions as it is much easier to get over into the hull as changes are being made.
The LIGHTNING made its first appearance in all the 2005 Women's Long Distance races. It was victory after victory, in the 2005 Long-Distance races. The Women Long Distance repeated victories over the last 11 years.
The LIGHTING in the 2006 Molokai Hoe was initially used by the Tahitian crew, Shell Va'a, which hold the longest record since 2006.
In the 2011 Molokai Hoe World Championship, Shell Va'a realized its triumphant achievement of finishing the 41 mile race across the Kaiwi Channel in 4 hours 30 minutes & 54 seconds."
#2 Tue, 05/16/2017 - 8:15am