[jpwinc]

Dear mt Buzz community,

We just finished a new down river Raft for the Animas Amazon race team. I did a blog about the design process, and it has a lot about how we looked at the design, and why we built it that way.

This is a request to put your two cents in. Do you think this design is a good one, would you do something different, and why.

This is an honest attempt to get quality info from the rafting community. Do not feel like you have to sugar coat anything if you think there is something that you do not like, let me know.

Read the blog at this web site.

Thanks for all the information you can give me. I prefer you reply from the blog as well as here on Mt Buzz. there is a direct link to my email in the blog.

Thanks

Jack

 

[DrBigDog]

Boat Design

Jack. What a fine looking boat you designed. The computer image of how the floor curves up (3rd from last), to me, shows a boat that will track well and be fast. It kind of looks like a pit viper in stare-down mode; ready to rock!
Thanks for putting art to the science.
Cheers.

 

[jpwinc]

Thank you that is very kind, and I certainly appreciate you having a look. I am debating if I should put a link on the site to edrawings. One other thing I did not dwell on is that the inflatable floor is removable. That means paddlers have to clean underneath it once in a while or after trips on muddy places like the san Juan. So the blog will improve, Thank you for your kind words. Still the proof is in the doing of the thing. Or using of the thing.

 

[Osseous]

You would sell more boats if you would show detailed PICTURES of your work. You seem obsessed with these CAD drawings- they're all over your website. This is a great article, but without showing the outcome with detailed pictures, who knows how well the product matches the CAD work? I think it's a right brain/left brain thing- but I have read here before of people's frustration with your website and the proliferation of this CAD stuff. Show PICTURES of your work- otherwise folks are making a huge leap of faith to order from you sight unseen. (Hey, you asked! )

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[jpwinc]

You would sell more boats if you would show detailed PICTURES of your work. You seem obsessed with these CAD drawings- they're all over your website. This is a great article, but without showing the outcome with detailed pictures, who knows how well the product matches the CAD work? I think it's a right brain/left brain thing- but I have read here before of people's frustration with your website and the proliferation of this CAD stuff. Show PICTURES of your work- otherwise folks are making a huge leap of faith to order from you sight unseen. (Hey, you asked! )

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OK That is a big help. I will keep that in mind. I think some of the office staff agree with this. I tend to get too technical.

The main part of this blog is to educate potential customers on the possibilities of design collaboration. THis model is a something that a lot of customers would purchase.

If we are starting on a design before the project is built, then all of the CAD stuff makes sense because a visual model of what is going to be built is infinitely better that a napkin sketch.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[Osseous]

I understand- and those drawings have their value for sure. Great tool to help the client digest a design idea. To SELL things, people really prefer pictures. Close, detailed pictures. Show a typical drop stitch floor with wrinkles next to your design? Sold!



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[jpwinc]

So this is not just about selling rafts, but really about selling the idea of getting customers to help us with design what ever the product is.

I am also interested in knowing what everyone thinks about Saturn Inflatable floors, and if they are anything like this, or what problems they may have had with them. One of my customers thought that this design may be like the saturn floor design, and that was the wrong path to take on inflatable floor design. I am looking for feedback.

 

[Sembob]

All I have heard is how horrible that Saturn design is. Entrapment seems to be a huge concern. Even one guy posted in favor of his beloved Saturn by saying his leg only got stuck a few times and it was not a big deal since he didn't flip. I read your blog and I know you thought that issue was addressed by the tight fit of the floor but I wonder if that same tight fit would be an even bigger problem if entrapment did happen. I know you will have this figured out though as it is apparent you enjoy the R&D aspect of boat manufacturing. By the way, I enjoyed the blog a lot.


Jim

 

[Plecoptera]

Okay, you asked...
one of the reasons I like my Vanguard is I run into things, some days a lot, and it's built like a battleship. Maintainability, durability, reliability (mine's a 2008, and I have seen zippo problems with quality, tho I have heard stories from the past). Obviously, if you could come up with all that in a PVC boat price point plus shave off about 50 lbs it would more than compensate for doggy performance.


I read your stuff, by the way. People are a little weirded-out when I tell them about getting punched in the face for touching my boat with a dry strap, but it also avoids the problem so...

I wish ALL the boat builders (including Ms. Holly) would do what you just did, and post an open discussion of their design. Most people get that there are trade-offs, but it takes a while to grasp what different approaches mean in terms of living with them.