: sir rob of macks,
: interesting subject. i'm not going to pretend i know EVERYTHING or at least,
: anything. i will say i really like the north star. when i was looking for
: plans over a year ago i was really impressed with the looks of the boat;
: however i was certain this was not a design to be built as a first time
: build.

: i'm currently bulding a pygmy q.c. 17. i picked it because i like the looks
: of it, and i figured as a s&g it would be an ideal build. here, is where
: i'm going with this...what are your thoughts on shear-water bifid bow
: boat? if you don't feel comfortable responding in this forum feel free to
: e-mail me. i've decided i was going to build either your north star or
: shear-water's version next. can you sell me on either? eric shade feel
: free to respond as well.
: please understand, i mean no disrespect to either design, or designer. i just
: would like a better feel for the pro's and con's.
: thank you in advance for your help
: brett the hitman hart

Given the limitations of working with plywood panels I think Eric has done a good job.

I was certainly challenged in solving the construction translation of the baidarka bow and stern from skin on frame to stripper. I had done a lot of research and sat through hours of lecture by George Dyson the spark plug for modern interest in this design, back in 93 when I made the first hard shell baidarka.

I’ve been very happy with the results of my North Star and most recently Shooting Star baidarkas. I’ve gotten quite a few “seconds” on that, from happy builders. Besides being fast (also think, easy to paddle) they track very well AND are easy to turn.

I don’t care for S&G boats. They just remind me of those old Popular Mechanics projects for the home builder that nobody wants cause they look so clunky. Sorry, that’s my bias. For some of the hard chine Greenland style boats they’re not bad, but why would someone who has built a stripper want to do a S&G unless the had to?

Hey, if you got to have a boat quick and you don’t care much about making things they’re great.

To be fair, I haven’t paddled Eric’s baidarka, and unless he got in mine up at the Newfound Rendezvous last year when I wasn’t around, I don’t think he has paddled either of my baidarkas.

I wondered why Eric made his baidarka so long, I think it's 19' +. I can only imgaine he was looking at the 20' stiletto version in David Zimmerly's book and thought "if I make mine that long it will fly!"

I don’t know how his S&G compares to my Strippers. As I said before, Peter Hunt was speed testing boats with a GPS at the Newfound Rendezvous last fall and told me my baidarkas were the fastest boats there. Maybe he went around and told everybody their boats were the fastest, I don’t know. You’d have to ask Peter how Eric’s baidarka compared.

All the best,
Rob