[Pine]

I’ve been working on this design for a quite a while, through many challenges and tribulations. There were a couple of small misses on detail items, but the hull shape came out very close to the mark. I can’t wait to get it on the water. I think its going to be a game changer for everything from low technical water to multi-days on big, big water. I’m taking it to Zimbabwe in October for testing.

 

[nervouswater]

Specs?

 

[jsheglund]

custom all the way? cool! i've always said i should have been in the cardboard business.

 

[FloatNM]

Needs more grey

 

[Wallrat]

Needs more grey

And bigger tubes.That’s pretty awesome. It looks like a big water machine. It’s a Sotar, right? Where are the logos? I thought maybe you were some new guy coming into the market.

 

[SheepEater]

I wonder why a lot of manufacturers seem to put the valves right where the perimeter line will go. Is there any reason in particular? It seems like the perimeter line just gets in the way of using the valves, but maybe having the bowline over it is some sort of extra protection for the valve? Maybe just to have them out of the way and not be too much on top of the tubes? It's definitely not just your boat, I've seen it on all sorts of other rafts.

 

[Pine]

I wonder why a lot of manufacturers seem to put the valves right where the perimeter line will go. Is there any reason in particular? It seems like the perimeter line just gets in the way of using the valves, but maybe having the bowline over it is some sort of extra protection for the valve? Maybe just to have them out of the way and not be too much on top of the tubes? It's definitely not just your boat, I've seen it on all sorts of other rafts.

Its one detail they got wrong. The valves should have been higher up.

 

[Bigwaterforeveryone]

Ha! The perimeter line over the valves is a design feature, not a flaw. Once on a ‘Deadhead from Hell’ where we basically emptied the repair kit fixing a large floor rip in the sweep, we resorted to Macguyvering a tension/pressure “patch” over and into a busted valve on another f’ed up boat using the tension provided the perimeter line.

 

[Pine]

Specs?

16’ with 22 3/4 tubes, with some special sauce thrown in for rocker and template.

 

[Bigwaterforeveryone]

Nice looking boat, by the way

 

[Bsquared]

Needs more grey

Pine is secretly Adam Duritz hiding out as a boat junkie in Idaho

 

[Big_B]

Cool design Mr. Pine sir. Looks Avon-ish to my eye. Maybe a little extra kick?

 

[Blade&Shaft]

Nice ride

 

[Bigwaterforeveryone]

Cool design Mr. Pine sir. Looks Avon-ish to my eye. Maybe a little extra kick?

Perhaps a mash-up of Explorer (fat tubes and extra rocker) and Pro (bigwater handling and load capacity) with that good Avon tracking

 

[Pine]

Cool design Mr. Pine sir. Looks Avon-ish to my eye. Maybe a little extra kick?

Thanks, it's as close to an Avon Pro as I could get, and I went to a lot of trouble to get close.

I borrowed a late model year Pro from a friend, and had a lidar scan done on it that was accurate to about .3mm. That scan data was imported into Solidworks to make a pattern. Even then, it came out a little off here and there. I think I ended up with a little extra rocker because during the scanning process, I had the boat straddling the trailer upside down, and the ends were sagging just a little bit.

Even with all that technology, I was amazed at how hard it is to reproduce a design. The shape of a raft is more complicated than what meets the eye.

 

[Blade&Shaft]

Can you just make your own design? .3mm off?! Come on dude, what kind of craftsmanship is that?!?!?

 

[Pine]

Can you just make your own design? .3mm off?! Come on dude, what kind of craftsmanship is that?!?!?

Well, you need to start out with that kind of precision because boat makers introduce shitloads of error into the process, especially on custom designs that they’ve never built before.

 

[boatmusher]

Unsure how to PM.... Don't mean to get off topic.
Just wanted to say thank you for your bad ass website!

 

[Pine]

Unsure how to PM.... Don't mean to get off topic.
Just wanted to say thank you for your bad ass website!

Thanks, much appreciated.

 

[Coboatman]

View attachment 86275
I’ve been working on this design for a quite a while, through many challenges and tribulations. There were a couple of small misses on detail items, but the hull shape came out very close to the mark. I can’t wait to get it on the water. I think its going to be a game changer for everything from low technical water to multi-days on big, big water. I’m taking it to Zimbabwe in October for testing.

Looks very nice.
When does production begin and what is your projected retail value?