What does anyone think of this company's boat desighn?

Hey anyone seen the boat design on this website? I am thinking about getting one of these.
Let me know.

The website is www.rodriftboats.com
Let me know
Carl

 

Seems sensible, sharp chines will help with tracking and dampen any rolling, sharper chines should be better for this...

 

They look like nice boats and I'm seeing more of them on the Green River where I fish most often. I haven't rowed one, though. I love my Hyde and if the pricing is similar I would choose the Hyde. But, Hyde's tend to be a bit pricy. The new Cabelas here in Salt Lake City has some great deals on Hydes.

I wonder how the RO's concave bottom would impact the rower's ability to crawl (row sidways), which I find myself doing more than the traditional backstroke these days to stay positioned correctly relative to the bank.

 

Maybe I'm thick but it looks like a wide 'Grand Banks' dory to me! Nothing new in the world is there? - just a different colour is all!

 

Clearly you're not familiar with drift boats.

 

Clearly not! It still looks like a dory tho' So what is the difference between a dory that drifts and a drift boat thats a dory "drifters" to me are something completely different

 

Drift boats and dories, although they share a common ancestry, are for different purposes and of different design, mostly. They have a similar sheer line and both have a lot of flare at the bow, but those are about the only similarities. The dory is used primarily on still waters (mostly with power these days). The bottom is usually pretty flat longitudinally from midships to transom. The transom is generally as wide (or nearly so) as the max beam width. The pointy end is the bow and faces the direction in which the boat is moving.

Drift boats are designed for drifting large rivers, often with big rapids and boulders. They have rocker throughout the bottom, although some have a short flat section in the middle, which aids in “holding” the boat in place in a current with minimal effort by the oarsman. After that flat section, though, the rocker continues again and extends all the way to the transom. The reason for that rocker is that the boat is actually rowed backwards with the transom facing upstream and the pointy end facing downstream, so the rocker from midship to the transom allows the current to flow under the transom rather than having it pillow up against the transom and push the boat downstream (against the efforts of the oarsman…the boat is almost always rowed upstream, away from upcoming obstacles). The width of the transom is generally less than half that of the max beam.

 

Well, the pointy bit is the bow - wow I never knew that! Hey an idea - go find a 'Cape Ann' or 'Grand Banks' dory (same thing basically) take a look at that and then have another go! the 'dory' you described is what can be known as a semi dory, modified to suit engine power. Like ALL dories it has a flat bottom (origional planked fore to aft or logitudinally) NO KEEL, just a plank, bit like what you got here! But what do I know I ain't a Yank, dories are American in design (what a pity you seem to have forgotten some of your own designs - some of which are bloody good!) even tho' this was based (apparantly) on european designs!

 

Did anyone read the blurb?

".............. This concave channel tracks the water and concentrates friction on the Kevlar-reinforced chines. ............."

Sounds great but Concentrating friction ? I think they might be a little confused since this is entirely due to the wetted surface area. Then;

"......when you pull back against the current, the current lifts the bottom of the boat. That makes it float up on top.........."

I like boats that float on top The displacement will remain constant unless at planing speed.They want you to think it will float higher as you row gently along.

There's more
" chine-to-chine tracking uses the water's own force to improve handling in any conditions. " Sounds good but in a rowboat what is this?

"you can also get it to stop a lot easier." Why ?

I think their nautical knowledge is summed up in another quote

"....... It's almost a Zen thing..........."

I am not saying the boat is no good just ignore the marketing patter , it is fine for a good laugh though.

 

Walrus - much as I hate to admit it, after doing a bit of research (I am not familiar with the dory designs and thus could not have “forgotten” anything about them) I must agree with you; the dories you describe are indeed very similar in appearance to the drift boats used today to drift large rivers here in the US and Canada, and increasingly around the world. The biggest difference is that drift boats have a lot more rocker (the Cape Ann/Grand Banks dories DID have a little rocker…not much) for the reasons I described earlier. However, despite the similar appearances, a ‘dory’ would handle like a barge in comparison to a drift boat if one attempted to use it on the same waters for which drift boats were developed. I could explain why, but you would certainly not understand if you have not rowed a drift boat while two fisherman, one in the bow and the other at the stern, attempt to place their flies within inches of the bank where the trout hold. By the way, many of the trout I mention are Brown trout, which are European in origin and were transplanted here more than a century ago (I thought that tidbit would be incredibly gratifying to you).

By the way, I mention the pointy end of a dory being the bow to contrast that with a drift boat, on which the pointy end is considered the stern. My apologies if I did not make that clear enough for you to get it.

One can’t help but notice from your comments in this thread and several others that you seem to harbor a lot of bitterness toward us “yanks“. You should get help with that as it can have serious long term health implications. There are medications that would benefit you greatly (some of them developed in Europe, no doubt). The first step is the hardest, but I urge you to take it as you will like yourself much better in the end (as will everyone else).

 

It's quite unusual with the upward arc in the midship section, isn't it?

 

CET, concerning the 'Yank' bit, surprisingly enough I actually like a lot of 'Yanks', it's the presumtious idiots with the big heads I don't like! unfortunately your nation appears to have rather a lot of these! such that you seem to overloaded the market on fools! the Only long term implications this can have I believe is the arrival of a SWAT team with big guns and bigger mouths to make a mess of my garden! Unfortunately at roughly the same time no doubt the majority of the world who actually hate the 'Yanks' would also arrive to assist and my belief in the essential goodness of most men would come to an unfailing end! Pity but the only way I can see out of this situation is to purchase a large ST. Pierre Dory and motor the f*** away as quickly as possible (being careful that I have enough rocker to do so)!

 

Actually CET my main reason for professing to dislike 'Yanks' is much like your own hobby of fishing! you caste out a bait and wait for the fish to take it! Invariably the first few nibbles are by some damn yankee so we gets a bit of sport! The French & Spanish are nearly as much fun but unfortunately speak some outlandish language that actually takes a small amount of work to understand! So being lazy you guys are first in the boat every time!

enjoy

the Walrus

 

Trolls are among the lowest form of life on the Internet and unfortunately there are plenty of them to be found, but before now I have not encountered one with so little dignity that he was willing to freely ADMIT he was a troll. You take the prize, walrus.

 

Back to the boats....
They do look like fairly nice little rigs; having never seen one up close I can't testify to their construction quality. The only way you can really tell is to have your dealer take you out to a river with one, and see how it handles. Then poke around inside, stick your nose under the seats, etc. and see if it's built tough enough for what you want to do.