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SOMETHING SPECIAL. PHOTO: KAYDI PYETTE
Nova Craft Bob Special Length ..........................................................15’
[ CANOE TREE ] Everybody Loves Bob NOVA CRAFT’S TAKE ON A CLASSIC ALL-ROUNDER
It was way back in 1905 when the Chest- nut Canoe Company first introduced what would become one of the most popular and enduring canoe designs of all time—the 50-Pound-Special. A dozen canoe compa- nies now produce their own versions of the 110-year-old timeless classic, yet I had never had the honor of paddling one. That was un- til this spring, when a Nova Craft Bob Special was delivered to the Canoeroots office. Last year I wrote about the history of
the Bob Special (“Who’s Bob?”, Canoeroots, Spring 2013,
www.rapidmedia.com/0212). I learned that in 1956 Chestnut changed the name. The time-consuming process of keeping the weight of each canoe under 50 pounds was unsustainable. The model became the Bobs Special, named
after a beloved, senior British commander in the Boer Wars, Lord Frederick Roberts. His nickname? Bobs. Apparently,
the boys at
Chestnut had a thing for high-spirited char- acters of the South African Boer Wars. In 1979, the Chestnut Canoe Company
closed up shop. Nine years later, Tim Miller, owner of Nova Craft Canoe, took a stab at creating his version of the popular design.
32 | Canoeroots According to Miller, the only major change
to the original design was to create a fuller bow to allow for a drier ride in rough water. Miller also tweaked the name from Bobs to Bob. And of course, Nova Craft isn’t build- ing their Bob Special out of cedar and canvas. Our test model is an Aramid Lite material. Not as authentic perhaps, but 10 pounds lighter than the original is okay with me. Once the ice on the river finally broke up,
I unwrapped and launched my Bob Special. Miller attributes the design’s popularity to
its versatility. “Today the Bob Special is a re- ally good all-arounder; it’s a good day tripper for a couple to putz around the lake for the afternoon, it’s a nice solo for going out fish- ing and a good weekender for couples who travel light.” Even the late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau soloed his very own Bobs Special. Adding to its charm, the Bob Special is re-
markably stable thanks to its 35-inch width and shallow-arch hull. This stability has made it a favorite amongst photographers, anglers and parents with young, active children. At only 15 feet long, for me the Bob is a solo or very light weekend tripper. Nova
Craft claims a capacity of 800 pounds, so it will easily float my Dutch ovens—the prob- lem is finding the room to put them. Seri- ous tandem trippers unwilling to strip down should consider a lengthier Nova Craft mod- el, such as the Prospector or something from their Cruiser series. The Bob comes standard with Nova
Craft’s black aluminum gunwales, comfort- able ash seats with nylon lacing, as well as ash carry handles and yoke. Nova Craft will custom build you one in a variety of other materials, including fiberglass, Royalex, Aramid, Spectra and Nova Craft’s own Blue Steel, ranging in weight from 60 pounds down to only 40 pounds. Nova Craft’s Bob is a classic design in
modern materials. As a tip of the hat to the old war commander and Mr. Trudeau in his buckskins, I’d recommend trimming your Bob Special in the more authentic ash gun- wales. —KP
jDIGITAL EXTRA: Click here to watch the Bob Special in action.
Max Width ................................................. 35” Capacity.............................................800 lbs Weight ...................................................40 lbs MSRP (as tested) .............................$2,599
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