RapidInsider DaggerGT
Hull Story Dagger’s goal was not to create a playboat that could river run nor to design a river runner that could play…but to create a boat that was equally balanced at both. Partially as a replacement of the popular Redline series and partially as an evolution of the more playful Outlaw/Showdown series, the new GT and GTX were borne of a desire to fill a niche that was left empty. Dagger wanted a boat that is equal- ly at home running harder rivers and playing by today’s new school standards.
With all the hype freestyle paddling has received it is easy to forget that a vast majority of paddlers prefer running rivers. For park and play paddlers the concept of river running consists of limping down the river, helplessly floating past the hero ferries of yesterday in boats designed to maximize their freestyle potential. Yes, it’s true some playboats are decent enough river runners and they’ve helped push the envelope of what is acceptable but they lack the exhilarating all-river performance of longer traditional boats. Without any more editorial tangents let me introduce the new Dagger GT.
boat
length width volume weight cockpit
paddler weight standard features
MSRP Cdn GT GTX
7’ 10” 8’ 2” 24”
25.5”
67gal 76gal 38lbs 40lbs 34”x19” 34”x19” 90-180lbs140-230lbs
Precision seat and thigh braces and Clutch Outfitting System
$1495.00
Coming in at just under 8 feet in length the GT splits the difference between traditional river runners and park and play boats. If you’re the type of person who likes a sweeping over simplification of design we’d say the GT series is an old school RPM combined with a new school ID. Like the Dagger ID, the GT and GTX are relatively narrow and have a very slight cur- vature across the planing surface combined with raised edges. The design theory is that you can more easily tilt from edge to edge than you can with a wider, completely flat hulled boat. Rather than going with more traditional river running continuous rocker, Dagger short- ened the planing surface putting a hard rocker break just ahead and behind the paddler. Mark Lyle of the Dagger design team explains: "We went through five prototypes before we had what we wanted. There is a lot of trial and error involved in boat design, more than some peo- ple might realize. It was important for the boat to feel loose on a wave but we noticed that a longer planing surface made a lot of other moves harder. As soon as we shortened the planing surface we could boof and pivot better and the boat responded better to paddler input.”
Outfitting Dagger’s new Clutch Outfitting isn’t industry leading but it contains all the essentials a pad- dler requires to be safe and comfortable. The kit has a certain sense of familiarity to it that leaves paddlers with a feeling of self empow- erment instead of shyly asking the store staff what the new auto-ratcheting, micro- adjustable, heat-moldable, thermo-resin doo dad does to ensure they can get out safely. The peel and stick hip pads and assorted foam shims are all pretty self explanatory and likely revolutionary compared to the typical river run- ner’s blue foam and duct tape jobs—brutal. The fully adjustable thigh braces are a pretty slick system with no exposed bolts and the seat and Bomber Gear backband are fully adjustable. Throwing in a compact screwdriver and a little wrench would be a nice touch. Short people win once again; they can move the adjustable bulkhead wherever they want. The seat is adjustable from front to back but should be set for boat performance not fit
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www.rapidmag.com
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