but we were keeping it quiet during that event. Didn't let it out of the bag until everyone had gone home.
I fell in love with the first proto right away. Lots of speed good blunts and loose and all that but the rail was definitely what
was amazing. I had been thinking about the rails for a long time but hadn't really connected with how we would be able to
make the boat paddle easily but have an aggressive rail. So in the first proto I just tried tucking it under but keeping it progressive and the first ride on the wave I felt pretty sure that I was onto the right thing.
I have been through 4 seperate prototype molds with several iterations on each proto. The Second proto I took to Hell Hole on the Ocoee (for loops), Big Rocks on the Nolichucky (for cartwheeling), and up to the Ottawa River (for all kinds of features). All kinds of different spots were in on the Ottawa like, Corner Wave, Right Side of McCoys, Baby Face, Garburator, Push Button, and this sick little loop hole above McCoys. So really the Ottawa gave me a bunch of great feedback. Thats why you see so much footage on the boat from there right now.
I wanted to make a boat that could play anywhere, big features, little features, or just get you down the river. One the coolest things that I found through the testing was that I could do clean blunts SO much better. I had maybe done 20 clean blunts
ever, and I did close to 20 my first day in the number 2 proto of the Vision. The number three prototype mostly stayed around here making sure that it worked in the smaller features and getting all the outfitting and comfort things right for
this boat.
I sent the boat away to the mold maker the other day and it will be back the middle of November. So we will start making Visions then and shipping in December. I can't wait. If all goes well I will make a couple boats and fly to Africa for my first taste of the production Vision on the White Nile in Uganda. I have tasted enough sanding dust to suit me for a while.
Time to go boating.
Shane
