Bear Mountain – Racing Canoes
The C4 and C15 racing classes are very active in Canada. Many local clubs find these to be wonderful racing boats for youth and adults as they build both community spirit and personal development. It requires balance, power and superb technique to excel in these craft. Ted Moores at Bear Mountain builds the boats in cedar strip construction with a fiberglass layer outside and in.
The 30 foot C15 was designed in 1999 while the 20 foot C4 was designed in 2002. Both classes permit freedom in hull shape with the restrictions being maximum overall length, minimum beam and minimum weight.
Bear Mountain – Canoe Plans
This photo of master builder Ted Moores (photo by Joan Barrett) shows the Freedom 17 and the Resolute kayak on the lawn of their boat shop in Peterborough. It is a pleasure to design for Bear Mountain for no matter what I draw the final product is superb.
Ted began building canoes in 1972 and has written the bible on fine woodstrip construction, Canoecraft. Under the name Bear Mountain Boats he and partner Joan Barrett sell plans for others to build their own boats, teach classes to boat building enthusiasts and create custom boats.
After they had seen one the composite Freedom 17 canoes I designed for Bluewater they approached me to see if I would like to re-design and/or re-draw some of their plans and perhaps design some new canoes for them. That casual start has led to a host of canoe plans including:
13’ Rob Roy 1999
15’ Cottage Cruising Canoe *
15’ Bob Special
15’ Ranger
15’ Hiawatha 1999
15’ 9” Huron Cruiser
16’ Champlain
16’ Canadien
16’ J.G.Brown
16’ Prospector
17’ Nomad
17’ Solo Day Tripper *
17’ Freedom *
17’6” Redbird
17’ 9” Freedom *
Many of these canoes are traditional designs or Ted Moores designs, re-drawn and re-faired for the home builder. Plans with an * are original designs.
Canadian Canoes
Ron Frenette of Canadian Canoes and Ted Moores of Bear Mountain have done so many projects together it’s hard to keep track. Ron has initiated many of the Bear Mountain plans and in particular my design of the Cottage Cruiser and Ted’s design for the Nomad were Canadian Canoes projects. Ron also teaches classes and sells kits of material and computer cut mold stations for the Bear Mountain boats.
Chaa Creek
Chaa Creek is an eco-tourism resort in the jungle of Belize. They have participated in the Ruta Maya Challenge, a 170 mile canoe race down the Belize river that spans 4 days.
Wanting to fair better in the
race they contacted Bear Mountain Boats in Peterborough and in turn I was asked to design the boat. A simple but unusual set of rules include a crew of three and an overall maximum length of 20 feet. Three in a canoe is a bit awkward for the middle paddler, so we created a boat with more than average tumblehome in the centre. The boat was built with local woods (Spanish cedar) and was built under atarp in the rainy season. Since boat number one we have designed two other boats as their paddling skills have increased – narrower each time for more potential speed, with more tumblehome amidships. An exciting offshoot of the program is that after Ted Moores introduced them to woodstrip construction techniques, they have started an industry of their own building wooden canoes and kayaks.
Bluewater Canoes – Freedom 15,16-6,17,17-9
Gary Barton of Bluewater Canoes led me into the world of modern canoes. I had been a keen canoeist and was thrilled to begin designing these seemingly simply shapes. The Tripper 17 was designed for my family as we are typical – keen on the outdoors with two youngsters. The Freedom canoes are designed with more vertical stems, less freeboard in the ends and asymmetrical hulls (bow and stern are not mirror images). Construction is fiberglass, or Kevlar/carbon. The Freedom 15, 16/6 Scout, 17 Tripper and 17-9 Explorer and the traditional
Saugeen 15 were all designed for Bluewater.
Marathon Canoe – C1
Originally designed for Mr. Gord Cole (not shown at left), the C1 is a marathon canoe with specific design requirements. The wings just aft of the middle of the boat are now commonplace on most C1 designs and are there to meet the beam requirement of the rule. Forward and aft of that point the hull narrows quickly to reduce weight, wetted surface and beam. The narrow beam just forward of the wings provides an ideal location to finish the paddling stroke. Plans for this boat are available from Bear Mountain Boats.