[wyoruss]

Hello,


I recently purchased an older 15' Riken Whitewater Pro raft with lace in floor.
Recently we did a low water Deso trip and it felt like I was rowing a boat with an anchor. Obviously, the low flows in the river - 2100 cfs - didn't help. But when we returned home, I discovered or noticed the "gaps" in the floor as shown on the attached pictures. These gaps or sags in the floor are present in the bow and stern of the boat.



Has anyone dealt with this issue ? And any thoughts about how to address it ?



My thought is to put some grommets through the top and bottom floor pieces and lace up the sagging bottom piece of the floor to the top layer of the floor. But wanted to post this and hope for feed back.


Thanks,


WyoRuss
[email protected]

 

[B4otter]

If those sleeves are dragging you would see it on the water - and your rubber would be sag-daddy. 25-30 year old hypalon will "relax" (sag) and you'll lose some kick, but shouldn't be "anchor." If this is your first Riken w/the self-bailing floor, likely you're just learning why they are slow... the main floor w/tubes parallel to side tubes is fine, but the moment you wet the tubes that are perpendicular - front or back, or both - it will feel like you pulled the emergency brake.
Only solution is to load light enough to keep weight over the middle of the boat and try to keep the front and back sections of the floor dry - or as little wet as possible. Deeper they go, slower you will...

 

[caverdan]

If those sleeves are dragging you would see it on the water - and your rubber would be sag-daddy. 25-30 year old hypalon will "relax" (sag) and you'll lose some kick, but shouldn't be "anchor." If this is your first Riken w/the self-bailing floor, likely you're just learning why they are slow... the main floor w/tubes parallel to side tubes is fine, but the moment you wet the tubes that are perpendicular - front or back, or both - it will feel like you pulled the emergency brake.
Only solution is to load light enough to keep weight over the middle of the boat and try to keep the front and back sections of the floor dry - or as little wet as possible. Deeper they go, slower you will...

I totally agree. The problem is in the shape of the floor and the I-beams running in different directions. We had an Avon in our collection that had a retrofit floor like yours. We got rid of it for that very reason. Slow as a pig when it's used as a gear boat.

 

[smhoeher]

For what it's worth, my brother-in-law has the same generation Riken. Has the same problems. It's nick name is "The Fat Bastard"! The frame (aluminum) is extra heavy too which makes it even worse. It's OK for day trip. He isn't going to throwing a lot of money into retrofitting a 30 year old boat.

 

[bob larrabee]

Your laces are strung wrong. Where the lace is visible from the bottom it should be visible on the inside. It's like when you lace your new sneakers with the first loop under and get a blister or can't run as fast.