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We found these two guys playing at the same spot on the Gull River ON.We couldn’t have staged a better old school and spud boat comparison.
who needs ‘em? by Thom Lambert photos mostly by Scott MacGregor
You see them on the river, on the web, in your local paddling shop, and in the backseats of cars—SPUD BOATS! If you live where playboating is popular it seems like an eight-foot boat is long, and even a seven-footer measures in above average. Spud boats are the new breed of playboats shedding all extraneous length, leaving just enough to fit your legs. Suddenly, William Nealy's classic cartoon of paddlers with a short section of boat strapped around their waists doesn't seem so far-fetched.
So, what's up with these spud
boats? Are boat designers just chal- lenging one another to go a little shorter every year until they hit the wall? Or is there good reason to cram yourself into a boat that may not be a lot longer than you are tall? Most importantly the big question is; should you have a spud boat and why?
Spuds are not a new phenome-
non. There have been several boats that have pushed the lack-of-length boundary. The first was the Eskimo Topo in the 70's.When every other boat in the world was eleven feet long, the Topo popped onto the mar- ket at an incredible seven feet, two inches. Although not a playboat by today’s standards, the Topo is a cult classic. Entire clubs of Topo owners get together for river rallys. When you think of playboats, the Lettman Pinball,Wave Sport Stubby, and Riot 007 all come to mind as boats that were short and corky, when every- thing else seemed to be long and slicey. Today’s spud boats are more than
just
short.To get a perspective on the design concepts of a spud boat, we
talked to Corran Addison. Corran (in case you have been living in a mon- estary for the past three years) designed the Riot Disco, the boat from which all modern freestyle spuds have descended. The Disco, like most spud boats to follow, is based on three design principles: short length; rocker; and high vol- ume ends.
Most spud boats are under seven
feet long. Why? Two reasons really, ease of handling and the ability to get the boat off the water and into the air. Corran noticed airborne snowboarders using shorter boards and translated that concept into boat design.
Spud boats have rocker, and lots
of
it.See a spud on the water and you will notice that the ends are way out of the water. Surf one, and you’ll notice how easy it is to keep the
M
ends from catching. The large amount of rocker contributes two things to spud performance—for- giveness and bounce. Forgiveness is important because most of the new aerial moves are attempted on big, fast waves where catching an edge is a bad thing. And bounce is impor- tant for getting the boat off the water and into the air. After years of ever-slicier play- boats (compare the Wave Sport X to a Dagger Ego) spuds seem to be reversing the trend with their high volume
ends.That volume is not for foot room,although that's a comfort- able by-product; the volume con- tributes to the wave performance. Corran explains,“While people were cutting the volume out of the ends of the short boats,I was putting it in for landing big air moves.” Increased vol- ume in the ends keeps the boat on
Most spud boats are based on three design principles: short length; rocker; and high volume ends.
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