Boat of the Week - Hydra Duet

[Sir Adam]

As there has been some recent discussion about this boat, I'll post it up this week.

For those of us that have paddled a nice glass slalom C2, the Duet is an absolute pig. BUT LOTS of fun has been had in these boats over the years, and with the number of them still going strong after all these years I suspect that will continue. Of all the plastic boats from the 80's I think I know of more of these still around than anything else (certainly Sage's!). Great for taking inexperienced paddlers and kids down easy WW for an intro, and as you can see in the images we already have more challenging water has been run too.

https://www.cboats.net/c_db/list.php?ty ... &name=Duet" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[PAC]

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7967669" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fun boat to get newbies out...

[clt_capt]

The Duet certainly didn't handle like a good slalom C2, but it certainly handled better than a berrigan end-hole C2

It was pretty stable, and was very solid for taking an inexperienced paddler down the river. It really came down to how well you outfitted your boat - the stock outfitting was pretty poor.

[ezwater]

We'll have to get the Centaur in sometime soon!

[icyone]

Hydra duet: Remembered as a classic boat for bro's to take landlubber chicks out riding on the riv.....

[Jim Michaud]

I absolutely love the Duet. I've taken 29 different ladies down the Dryway in one, most of who never paddled anything over class II or anything at all. I've also paddled it down the Upper Gauley, Upper Yough, Grand Canyon and countless other rivers and creeks. I've got two of them in my cellar all set to go but it's getting harder and harder to find a C-boat paddler that wants to paddle one. You can call it a pig boat all you want but I'll just smile. I call it a boat that can be bashed around and is very stable and forgiving. I sure wish that I still had a good C-2 partner that likes to paddle class IV.

[Bruce Farrenkopf]

You could count me in as a C2 partner, Jim, IF I still lived in the Northeast. I would really enjoy Class 4 in the Duet. I should have taken your crazy offer to run C-3 in my Duet on the Tohickon (my Duet is a 3-holer) many years ago . I completely agree with Jim's assessment of the Duet's merits.

A little story illustrates the attributes of the Duet: My wife Paula and I were paddling our Duet down the Hudson Gorge from Indian Creek access. We got to the Narrows and everyone is going left, I suggested to my bowman to go right. We ended up punching three BIG holes in rapid succession - just squeaking out of the third hole. The Duet was stable, predictable, comfortable and could PUNCH HOLES! The boat allowed Paula and I to paddle together in Class 4 with only minor trauma .