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Clipper Advantage OC-6
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 The
OC-6 your club has been looking
for.
Designed specifically to perform in moderate seas
as opposed to huge open ocean waves.
The Advantage is the best built most maintenance
fee OC-6 on the market.
At 44' 8", the Advantage is one of the longest
canoes in competition. Entry and exit times are
as fine allowed within the HCRA rules. The generous
rocker profile allows maneuverability, to turn quickly
in surf conditions, yet provides enough tracking
to keep the boat on course. The sides of the Advantage
are high to decrease the amount of water coming
in when paddling through waves. The combination
of high speed, maneuverability and rough water capabilities
make the Advantage the perfect boat for all Outrigger
races.
Canoes will be available at regulation 400# weight
or at 300#, your choice.
Orders for the Advantage can be completed in as
little as 4-6 weeks.
NEW Club Pricing
- all prices in Canadian Dollars
Canoe: $9949 - includes ama and iako
Purchased seperately
Ama: $1300
Iako (pr): $540
Manu
Local Blank: $60
Local Finished: $160
Koa Blank: $140
Koa Finished: $240
• "Blanks are saw cut to size, pre-drilled
for deck hardware, and are ready for carving your
own Manu.
• "Local" refers to locally grown
woods, eg: Maple, Alder
Splash board (hardware not
included): $75.00
As the popularity of outrigger racing continues to grow
worldwide, demand for well built racing craft has
also grown. Second only to race performance is most
club's concern for low maintenance. The Clipper
Advantage was built to meet and exceed the needs
of the most demanding outrigger racers - one of
our taller orders! From the start of the project
our goal has been to build the best OC6 (six person
outrigger) available. This page was put together
to help you learn more about what makes the Clipper
Advantage such an exceptional canoe.
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HISTORY
In 1996 Western Canoeing was considering production of a six
person Hawaiian racing outrigger. After the success of
the 31' Northern Dancer, a project large enough to require
development of new laminating techniques as well as new
mold tooling, we felt confident that we could develop
another big canoe. We heard that Greg Barton was working
on a similar project in Seattle. During discussions with
him we decided to collaborate on the project and the concept
of the Advantage OC6 was born. After a year and a half
of design work, prototype testing, and tooling, the first
production canoe was completed early in 1998.
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Greg came into
the project with considerable hull design background as
well as the respect among the paddlesports racing community
that comes from two Olympic golds, a first place Molokai
finish, and the continuing racing success he enjoys. Greg
raced the Advantage to a first place in the mens masters
division at Catalina 98 with Team Hawaii Masters steered
by "Nappy" Napoleon. |
| HULL
DESIGN by Greg
Barton. "At 44' 8", the Advantage is one of the longest canoes
in competition. Entry and exit times are as fine allowed
within the HCRA rules. The generous rocker profile allows
maneuverability, to turn quickly in surf conditions, yet
provides enough tracking to keep the boat on course. The
sides of the Advantage are high to decrease the amount
of water coming in when paddling through waves. The combination
of high speed, maneuverability and rough water capabilities
make the Advantage the perfect boat for all Outrigger
races" |
The Advantage was
designed to meet Hawaiian Outrigger Specifications using either
the Hawaiian or California test methods. On April 18, 1998 a
production canoe was weighed, measured, and tested by Bud Hohl
of California. By the end of the day it had passed and was certified
race legal by KOA (Kalifornia Outrigger Association) standards.
When loaded to the
1500 lbs displacement for waterline measurement the waterline
length is 36' 4 1/4". It starts 44" from the bow,
measured along the rocker line. Please keep in mind that this
is the waterline for testing only, an 1100 lb crew in the 400
lb hull will not trim the hull out in the same way because of
the distribution of the weight. Because of the fullness of the
Advantage's stern relative to the bow, a shift back in crew
weight will shorten the canoe's waterline. A shift back in crew
weight to move the waterline 3" further from the bow should
only move the stern waterline back a little over 2". In
short, this means that the Advantage's depth and considerable
rocker make it sensitive to trim - something that can help in
a race once you learn how to use it.
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COMPONENT
DESIGN Canoe spreaders are on 10'7" centres. This will
accommodate a Channel Master Ama, the Huki Ama or Western
Canoeing's own Clipper ama. |
The splash board and
manu ends are not permanently attached to the canoe.
They bolt on with stainless fasteners into threaded
inserts mounted flush in the deck. Wooden manu ends
are not included with the canoe but can be ordered.
Clubs may choose to use the canoe without manu, or
customize it with manu carved specifically for their
canoe. Molding the decks without fiberglass manu allows
us to build stronger ends into each Advantage and
allows traditionalists to race their canoe with koa
manu.
Our urethane coated nylon spraydeck slides into an
anodized aluminum track, the track is included on
all canoes. Instead of fitting over the splash board,
the splash board is removed, the spraydeck is installed,
and then the splash board is bolted back on through
a foam gasket sewn inside the end of the spraydeck.
The result is a very watertight and sleek fit at the
front of the spraydeck. Spraydeck joins at the iako
use a new roll-down system and quick release buckles
that is very watertight, gives lots of adjustment,
and can be quickly opened and reclosed to adjust the
rigging.
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Seats are contoured
and are bolted to a rail on the hull. The bolts allow for some
adjustment of seat placement to fine tune the trim. An Advantage
could be ordered with seats permanently glassed into the hull,
this would probably increase the torsional stiffness of the hull
marginally but the adjustability of the trim would be lost, keep
in mind, the torsional stiffness of the hull is already very good.
CONSTRUCTION
Western Canoeing's building
experience is very diverse, our line includes open Canadian canoes,
decked canoes and kayaks, and several big canoes. From the beginning
of the Advantage project we felt that a different approach could
be used to build an OC6. Our construction method centres on the
concept of eliminating seams. We have developed a way to make
the Advantage essentially a one piece canoe built in a two piece
mold. The laminate includes a lot of unidirectional and biaxial
fibres to enhance stiffness as well as woven kevlar and structural
foam. The building technique includes crucial timing sequence
of building stages, vacuum bagging, and rotating the whole mold
to different orientations during construction. There is no "chop"
and no wood used anywhere in the Advantage.
Our goal has not been
to build the lightest OC6 possible. Advantage weights average
in between 365 and 370 lbs. Our goal has been to build extremely
durable outriggers requiring minimal maintenance, outriggers that
will still be competing when they are 20 years old.
RIGGING
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CLIPPER
ADVANTAGE OC6 RIGGING NOTES TOE IN:
Most canoes are rigged
with some toe in , perhaps 3/4", in order to compensate
for the ama drag causing the canoe to turn towards the
ama. The Advantage has more gunwale beam at the rear
iako than at the front iako so rigging it evenly (measured
from the centre of the ama to the outside of the port
gunwale) is actually rigging with about 1/2" of
toe in.
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ISSUES: |
Ama
weight
- a light ama means less
drag (a fast canoe) but also less stability
- adding weight to the ama
(eg: two small weight training weights, one on the ama-end
of each iako) can dramatically improve stability.
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Canoe lean
- if the canoe is rigged
with lean towards the ama (usually accomplished by adding
a wedge between the gunwale and the iako on the ama
side ) some of the weight of the crew and canoe are
transferred to the ama, pushing it down and increasing
stability.
- as the ama lifts, lean
disappears and so does the stability from it.
- the heavier a crew is,
the more they push the canoe down into the water - as
this happens, lean decreases - consequently, identical
rigs are less stable with heavier crews in them
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Width
- a wider rig (ama farther
from canoe) is more stable but the ama drag also has
more effect on steering than with a narrow rig.
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Suggested rigs for average
conditions with a crew of intermediate experience - start with
these rigs and then fine tune to suit water conditions, crew weight
and experience, etc. These are for the Clipper Advantage rigged
with a 25 lb Channel Master Ama and iako supplied by Western Canoeing
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LIGHT
CREW: (average paddler weight 140 lbs)
HEAVY CREW:
(average paddler weight 200 lbs)
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