Re: [Paddlewise] Royalex Repair

Mark Lane "Sailboat Restorations, Inc." wrote:
> 
> ...<snip>...
> Some of you I know paddle canoes, as well as kayaks.  I have a three or four
> year old Mad River Eclipse canoe made of Royalex.  Unfortunately, I believed
> the hype about Royalex being a good material for white water paddling.
> Result: rips in the outer fabric. ...snip>...
> I can't determine from what I
> have seen what the resin is that they use in these kits (could be they don't
> want you to know?)....

First, please note that Royalex is an excellent material for whitewater
boats, and is capable of withstanding extraordinary abuse, but only when
it is used in sufficiently robust layups. The Mad River Eclipse is made
with what Mad River calls a "Royalex Lightweight" construction, which
they do NOT recommend for whitewater use. They state this explicity in
their literature, in which they point out that the Eclipse is
"better-suited for flatwater use"; it uses "Royalex Lightweight" and is
"intended for recreational rather than whitewater use."  In short, you
should not be surprised when your Eclipse fails to hold up when used on
significant whitewater--don't blame advertising hype for your problems.
I have several solo whitewater canoes constructed with Royalex
(including one built by Mad River) and have found their heavier Royalex
construction to be very well suited to whitewater use (and abuse). 

As for repairs, I have never had to repair hull rips in my Royalex boats
but I have added skid plates using epoxy resin.  This works quite well
for skid plates because the ends of the boat do not flex much. If your
rips are in an area subject to significant flexing (which can be quite a
problem with lightweight construction) then the patched area might crack
off due to the flex of the boat. Information on the repair of Royalex
canoes can be found at the following site:

http://www.noc.com/store/rphelp.htm

I would also call Mad River.

Good luck!

Dan Hagen
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