B O A T I N S I D E R
Same boat. New logo. PHOTO ROBERT FAUBERT
MAD RIVER ALLOWS TANDEM PLAYBOATERS TO ACCESS THE ACTION PORTION OF THIS PROGRAM CLOSED CAPTIONING
IN THE VERY EARLIEST YEARS of this century Dag- ger abandoned its canoe business. And with that decision the mould for the Caption went to rest with the pigeons in a dusty storage warehouse. Open boaters with Caption dreams were left to sift and sort through the private market, the most desperate of them driving 1,000 kilometres to make deals with foolhardy sellers needing the cash. Back in 1993 when Dagger released this Steve Scarborough–designed sporty tandem boat, pad- dlers embraced this versatile hull that did so many things so well. But it was not as if the design for the Caption fell from heaven onto Scarborough’s draft- ing table. Its precursor was the Millbrook Boat by John Berry known simply as the ME. The ME has the distinction of being the fi rst mass-produced Roy- alex tandem boat that you could race in, and it was manufactured under license by Mad River. All the cognoscenti paddled that now-ancient
rockered tandem and the ME itself had its origins in a slew of composite slalom race boats. It could be argued now with the benefi t of hindsight that the Caption was either a revolution or a giant evo- lutionary step in popularizing the growing sport of whitewater canoeing. It had a fi ne balance of stabil- ity, speed and manoeuvrability with its soft chines and aggressive rocker. And best of all, a Caption paddled by good boaters was dry, or at least a great
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measure drier than the old ME. It was a very com- petitive slalom tandem that was tough to beat, as well as a solo big-water boat for the larger and stron- ger paddlers, and a solo whitewater tripper that you could fi ll with gear. So when Mad River Canoe announced a year ago
that it was depriving the pigeons of their perch and resuming Caption production, the orders started rolling in. Production problems with the quality of the Roy-
alex sheets held up deliveries until late last summer. But the Mad River version of the Caption is now available, in brilliant cherry red, with vinyl or ash gunwales. The reincarnation is several inches wider and
more stable than the original Dagger version; you can shorten both thwarts to bring it back to the old Dagger specs if you wish. The vinyl trim option is Mad River’s IQ gunwale system, and to call it robust would be an understate- ment. The IQ system has a slot on the in-wale, which allows the attachment of accessories like spray cov- ers, removable yoke, and gunwale bags. Weigh- ing in at 14 pounds, the IQ gunwales are often un- screwed and replaced with ash for a weight saving of eight pounds. If you do upgrade to wood, you’ll have to part with Mad River’s hilarious sliding plant pot cup holder—the most useless whitewater acces-
sory imaginable. Someone at the Mad River factory in South Carolina has a great sense of humour. The outfi tted boat with wood trim only weighs 57 pounds and is effortlessly manoeuvrable when the seats are placed as far apart as the thwart positions will allow. For very aggressive paddling and racing, highly skilled paddlers can set the seats closer to- gether for an even drier ride. It should be mentioned that the Caption’s tight- carving turns are hard to break out of (not to mention wildly addictive), but otherwise the Caption can be enjoyed by paddlers of almost any skill level. Don’t let its performance on the racecourse scare you: this is a really fun boat that is sure to take your pad- dling up a notch.—Brian Shields
Length ................................................... 14’ Width .....................................................32” Depth ..................................................15.5” Weight .............................................. 58 lbs Gunwale System
............................IQ2 /ash Capacity ......................................... 850 lbs Price with vinyl .......$1,299 Cdn, $1,200 US with ash .................$1,449 Cdn, $1,350 US
www.madriver.com
MAD RIVER CAPTION
RAPID
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