Light Blue Stinger Elite

This boat was unwrapped and in a store showroom so it has some dust on it but is in great condition. Brand new. Never been on the water. $899



This boat has all the "Elite" outfitting, which provides superior hulls support, a stiff backband, drainplug, thigh wings, footsled. Normal retail price is $1400



here is a fun animation of the Stinger in action
http://www.100waves.com/TedStingerLoop.gif



and, if you check out the specs page with the Performance version of the Stinger, you will notice all the extras that you are getting included in the this Elite Stinger that you are buying.
http://www.100waves.com/specs/stinger.html



contact me at dragorossi@gmail.com for more info if you are truely interested in this exciting boat!

IR reggie backband in a Thruster

you have to get a little creative here, but then it's an easy install.
Just remove the stopper block from the ratchet ladder. Add the extender strap to the ratchet, then add the stopper blocks to the extender strap to make a super long strap/ratchet



(it sounds confusing, but just look at the photos carefully and you'll see it)
then you feed the entire thing from front to back, between the seat and the rail, between the two spacers, and lead it up, to the back of the seat.



that's where you will thread it through the ratchets on the back of the backband and crank it up to hold it in place



pop two holes in a safe part of the cockpit rim and install the bungee cords (here is where you might be voiding your kayak warranty, so be careful to not drill through the important part of the cockpit rim,and I recommend documenting the entire process)



this is not the only way to do it. It looks like all the IR backbands come with a few different installation instructions that give you a few options. I just put the Reggie into this Thruster and found that it worked really well.

Tville Ted

the level was not optimum, but Ted went off as usual anyway.

The Flume (Housatonic River)

Ok. I think that the photos will tell most of the story of this sunny day on a fun rapid. (there is much more downstream, but I wanted to put the camera away and get into the boat tooo......)



The Flume is a very nice 7' drop that is intimidating because it is not straight.



but it is also not difficult if you can hit the center of the horizon line



the sides are super shallow, and people have hit their heads and face



but if you can hit the center (about 10' wide) and have a reliable roll, then you can just chuck yourself over the drop (you WILL roll about 50% of the time)



Here is local paddler, Bonnie, in her EZ doing the right to left approach



Maurice in his new yellow Pintail XL showing us how it's done



Kenny in a C1 converted Fish hitting the last cross-bow needed to set up the move



and Kenny again showing us just how deep the hole at the bottom is (don't worry folks, he pulled it out like he always does)



Steven's first attempt at the low-water, crossing boof move. If you screw it up, then you get pounded on the rocks. He didn't quite nail it perfectly, but he was able to deal with the minor line adjustments he had to make rather well. Terrific first attmept. This kid is good.



Jeff demoing the Critical Mass with a beautiful boof into the eddy.



Maurice firing it up again in his Pintail XL.



Ted rocking the Pirouette old school style, showing that long boats can boof too.



Jeff in his Crux firing up the creeky line.



Ted firing up the Critical Mass to show that light dudes can paddle the big boats too.



Ted pulling into the eddy (the kick back into the hole is pretty darned strong...)



and one last shot of Jeff, who wanted to give the Critical Mass another try. He was amazed at how "small" the boat paddled. (I guess that means that it turns well)

Stairway rapid

Ted DeVoe, Housatonic local, often runs the most difficult lines on the Bulls Bridge section.



Here is a sequence of "Stairway..." rapid at a lower level that entices the uninitiated, punishes ignorance, and excites the locals



there is just something about his rapid, especially this first drop, that is odd



no other water acts like this. It looks normal, but just punishes those who are not on their game (I hate to admit it, but I've been among the punished)



the idea is to do a mini S turn through the first small 2' drop, then set up for the main drop and line up a boof off the right blade to get over the first curler



then immediately crank a boof off the left blade to get you pointed in the right direction, giving you momentum away from the flow that pushes you into mushroom rock



another angle of the bottom of the main drop. you can pencil in, but it's unpredictable how the hole will kick, so a boof is the best option



land flat and straight (as Ted did in the Gangster he was borrowing) and start heading right to get around mushroom rock. If you angle too much, you'll flip or get turned the wrong way. Hit straight, then immediately scramble right.



smooth sailing at this point. you have enough momentum to hit the eddy against the river right wall, or you can slingshot to the right of mushroom rock and head towards little niagra a low water (level shown)



at high water you want to keep going right down the main channel, through some curlers and a hole, threading the needle between two holes at the bottom (the one in the center is the worst one on the entire river)



but at low water you can run the slot in little niagra and be set up for the last little ledge.




Ted recently bought a Fish, had tried a Mafia, and wanted to demo a Gangster. He said he prefers the Gangster over the Mafia and will probably get one once his Magnum breaks again. I'll be happy to sell him another boat that he will be happy with.

Stairway Rapid at Bulls Bridge

Three things to keep in mind
1. Ted is a local who has been running this rapid for more than 12 years.
2. The potholes make the water act really funny
3. The level here is kind of low


the first drop has a tricky set up

the hole is a bit sticky if you don't get your nose up, but worse is the reactionary wave coming off the left shore

All the flow slams up against that poorly pillowed rock, so it's important to roll up quick and move around it. At higher levels it's a nasty pourover.

another view of the first drop. It can be treated as two mini boofs, one off the right blade then quickly another one off the left blade.

This is the second main drop called "little niagra" which, at low water, is run through the slot on the left. At high water this is not an option, and you must run down the right, through a breaking wave/hole, then move quickly either left or right to avoid the nastiest hole on the river.