The Tripper can be paddled solo. Best to turn the canoe around so that your setting or kneeling
on what was the passengers seat. That way you are in fore and aft trim.
You want to have a strong paddle technique for solo in any tandem canoe. A nice wide white water
size paddle blade helps when it's time to power the bow or stern around. Boats like the Tripper, and
especially the 16' Blue Hole OCA, were often ran solo white water in the years before specialized solo boats
came on the scene. White water solo in a tandem requires more space to set up your maneuver, while
flatwater solo in a tandem takes a good strong paddle effort when wind and wave are adverse. Sweeping the
paddle well out to the side can spin the boat quicker than a regular pull stroke will. Back paddle is your
maneuver friend.
The Tripper can be paddled solo. Best to turn the canoe around so that your setting or kneeling
on what was the passengers seat. That way you are in fore and aft trim.
You want to have a strong paddle technique for solo in any tandem canoe. A nice wide white water
size paddle blade helps when it's time to power the bow or stern around. Boats like the Tripper, and
especially the 16' Blue Hole OCA, were often ran solo white water in the years before specialized solo boats
came on the scene. White water solo in a tandem requires more space to set up your maneuver, while
flatwater solo in a tandem takes a good strong paddle effort when wind and wave are adverse. Sweeping the
paddle well out to the side can spin the boat quicker than a regular pull stroke will. Back paddle is your
maneuver friend.
We used Trippers where I worked and they were a pretty good canoe. The team that used them the most were three members, so one of them ran the canoe by himself. Seemed to work out.
When it came time for the Wife and I to buy our canoe I thought we'd get a Tripper, but the local store had a try day and I liked the Mad River Explorer much more. We planned on me using it by myself and ordered it with a "whitewater twart", just a flat piece between the seats just back from the center to rest my butt against while kneeling. It has worked out well for our needs. I'm not even a good beginner, but yes they can be used alone and to some extent they can be improved to make life easier.
Some time back a father/son team took Explorers (one guy per canoe) on a long trip. They wrote up a report on this site. Seems they did some whitewater and did just fine. I'm sure Trippers would have worked just as well.
Old town tripper
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
