new fluid design

[bayrower]

I see that Fluidesign came out with a new hull that slots in between their midweight and their heavyweight, 26'6" for scullers 180-195 lbs (they can build up or cut down the decks for those on the outside those ranges if need be. Their existing midweight is 25'10" and the heavyweight is 27'4"

From their website they also designed a new cockpit for all of their boats. Quite different looking.

[lt.wolf]

I feel the new hull size will be great ans I know a few rowers considering it already.

The new cockpit reminds me of an Empacher, a classic look on a good boat

[bayrower]

And with the new rolled cockpit edges, I fear less the time I flip it and have to get back in. Those sharp ones on the "old" boats scared me every time I looked at them. I think 1xsculler put edging on his just in case.

[1xsculler]

Those 11" long, plastic, theme paper binders that pinch the left edge of a set of papers, affixed with 2-sided mounting tape work great to strengthen the cockpit edges, make them much less sharp and they can also act as a good grip to carry your Fluid by.

[platypus]

I already have one of those and have had it for over a year now. It's a middle weight boat with a raised deck. There are both pros & cons to owning such a boat. It suits me better than a Hwt boat because I'm 88kg and the standard MWt boat is only rated to 80kg. It's shorter length makes it much easier to get around the bends on the narrow twisty river that I row on. However in choppy or cross wind conditions the raised deck means that there is more surface area on the sides of the boat exposed to side wash making the boat more difficult to row in such conditions.

[lt.wolf]

Tonight on the RI 'Hour of Power "

GORD - from Fluidesign

Tonight on the RI " Hour of Power"

We get down and talk about boat building , the industry and who is leading the charge

FTNS.co ( no "m") at 7:00 pm eastern time

There is an app for it .

email questions to swolf7@hotmail.com

[bayrower]

I already have one of those and have had it for over a year now. It's a middle weight boat with a raised deck. There are both pros & cons to owning such a boat. It suits me better than a Hwt boat because I'm 88kg and the standard MWt boat is only rated to 80kg. It's shorter length makes it much easier to get around the bends on the narrow twisty river that I row on. However in choppy or cross wind conditions the raised deck means that there is more surface area on the sides of the boat exposed to side wash making the boat more difficult to row in such conditions.

It's only been out a few months.

I think you may have a midweight with a raised deck, not their new "intermediate" which is a different length/hull? Sized between midweight and heavyweight.

On any of their boats they can raise or lower the deck to make a more custom fit for one's weight.

[tpj]

I just picked up a new midweight a couple of weeks ago with the new deck design - the hull at the cockpit area is amazingly more stiff due to the rolled edges. A much more finished look too.

[JD]

Good for Fluid. They are really good boats, but I never understood why the same people who demand stiffness would tolerate such flexible mounting points for the rigger and stretcher. No way would a boat with a single skin and such softness in key areas be tolerated from another manufacturer. Imagine Resolute, Vespoli or Empacher producing something like this. They'd be accused of having lost control of their construction processes. The only rational conclusion I can draw in regards to these "flaws" is that they are not flaws; the success of Fluid singles is that these things are not as important as good customer service, aesthetics, and an innovative rigger design, and that ergonomics and rowability are what makes a boat great.

[1xsculler]

After you (I) have a conversation with Gord you (I) usually want to own a Fluid. And, Gord will do just about anything within reason to see that you own one. It is somewhat unprecedented that a single skin boat with extremely flexible sides could qualify as an elite racing shell but the longitudinal stiffness of his boat is excellent and many of the top Masters scullers row a Fluid and that fact sells boats to us (me) sheep. I asked The "Champ/The Kat" why he chose to buy a new Fluid after probably 40 years in a Van Dusen Traditional and he said something to the effect that it just seemed to be the most popular single at this time. I'm sure he must have liked test rows in it too.

[JD]

When you have a conversation with Gord you usually want to own a Fluid.

So I hear again and again. I look forward to meeting him.

[h_curtis]

I will be buying a single probably sooner than later. Is there a way to take one of these out?

[bayrower]

The intermediate weight is the hull of the heavyweight but cut shorter and lower.

Anyone using one?

[1xsculler]

After recently messing around with some carbon fiber I'm amazed at how strong and stiff one or two layers of 3k cloth becomes once it's cured. Gord's hulls are .070" thick which equals about five or six layers oriented in different directions. That certainly produces a very longitudinally stiff and durable hull.

[southernrower]

Can someone with more boat knowledge than me explain what creates longitudinal stiffness in a Fluid? When you poke it, it bends. When you put it on the racks it bends. The only parts of the boat that I can see that would create longitudinal stiffness are the seating deck mount and the bow and stern deck mount joints. When you put the boat on the ground upside down, pick up the bow and wiggle the boat, Fluids seem to have more give than, say, an Empacher. Not that any of this apparently slows anyone down. And does any of this matter to a boat whose wing is attached to the stiffest part of the boat- the seat deck?