Hello, I want to share info on our "traditional" racing canoes here in Panama.

Cayuco is the name we give to our boats, it comes from the same name our indigenous tribes use for their pirogues, canoes made from hollowed out trees

The boats we use are the same pirogues but shaped to match a competitive racing canoe all boats used for 21 and under (were I compete) are made this way, their age ranges from 50 to 6 years old and they are true works of arts. No fiberglass is allowed so to have a sturdy boat they are thicker than wjat most people would think for a racing boat.

Because years of use and the nature of the sport, we're talking about 5 days per week of hard use and even more for top crews, its hard keeping the boats in top TOP TOP shape, thats why most boats are painted, for the most part we use automotive paint and clear to get nice results. To my knowledge only around 4 clear coated boats remain where you can literally see the whole boat as a perfect hollowed tree and they are incomparable in terms of beauty to the painted boats.

For the open class (22+) fiberglass is allowed for building boats because of the dificulty and enviromental Hello, I want to share info on our "traditional" racing canoes here in Panama.

Cayuco is the name we give to our boats, it comes from the same name our indigenous tribes use for their pirogues, canoes made from hollowed out trees

The boats we use are the same pirogues but shaped to match a competitive racing canoe all boats used for 21 and under (were I compete) are made this way, their age ranges from 50 to 6 years old and they are true works of arts. No fiberglass is allowed so to have a sturdy boat they are thicker than wjat most people would think for a racing boat.

Because years of use and the nature of the sport, we're talking about 5 days per week of hard use and even more for top crews, its hard keeping the boats in top TOP TOP shape, thats why most boats are painted, for the most part we use automotive paint and clear to get nice results. To my knowledge only around 4 clear coated boats remain where you can literally see the whole boat as a perfect hollowed tree and they are incomparable in terms of beauty to the painted boats.

For the open class (22+) fiberglass is allowed for building boats because of the dificulty and enviromental impact that would come from getting the a 30 ft log cut and hollowed out. To balance this they are required to weigh at least 250 pounds which is basicly the minimun theoreticall weight a strong decent natural wood boat, like the 21 under uses, can have (though the actual average weight for youth boats is 290). Boat lenght = 28 to 31 feet (theres no limit but trailering a 40 footer aint fun)

No outriggers are used so balance is a hugee factor especially when the weather gets disastrous. What ends up banged the most after a race are the abss jaja.

We do 4 races in the season
A 4.2 mile race (~34minutes)
6.3 miles (~50)
8.2 miles (1:09)
And a 1/4 mile sprint