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Strip: Comparing Spitfire vrs 12' Nymph
By:John Messinger
Date: 6/12/2012, 5:44 am

A friend and I have been debating canoes for lake camping in New York's Adirondack Lakes.

He asked me to consider the Placid Boatworks "Spitfire" at 12' long and their "Rapidfire" at 15'
http://www.placidboats.com/spitfire.html
Placid's marketing describes the Spitfire as a very fast boat and they emphecize their CF&Kevlar vacuum infused technology yields a Spitfire of 20-24 lbs (depending on kit.) I am bigger than my friend and would require the 15' Rapidfire at 28 lbs. Placid does not offer plans.

Nick Shade's "12' Nymph" seems to be similar to the Spitfire.
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/guillemot/node/2399/details
Am I interpreting the numbers correctly?

An interesting thing about Shade's design plans is that he places a building form every 12". If this is true for the 12' Nymph, then it seems I could get a reasonable replacement for the "Rapidfire" by moving the forms out to a 15" spacing.

Does anyone have any experience with the Placid boats or the Nymph? I hope Nick could weigh in with his design intent for the Nymph and whether the boat would be managable if built as a "Stretch Nymph."