In 1986, the United States Canoe and Kayak Team (USCKT) invited us to design and manufacture a new fleet of flatwater kayaks and canoes for the 1988 Olympic Games. Our first kayak designs, the Eagle and the Falcon, helped Greg Barton and Norman Bellingham win the first World Championship and Olympic gold medals in US paddling history. Our kayaks and canoes have been raced by competitors from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. We are proud that our products help these athletes achieve victory on the race course. We hope your new Van Dusen racing boat will help you achieve your own competitive goals. | Success in building racing boats, like success in paddling, is the
result of hard work and dedication to excellence. We believe our kayaks
and canoes are the best-designed and best-constructed racing boats
available anywhere in the world today, and we believe they offer you a
substantial competitive advantage due to their sleek design,
responsiveness, light weight, and strength. Hydrodynamic tests conducted
for the US Olympic Sports and Technology Committee and other
organizations repeatedly confirm the superiority of our boats over other
models. The success of our boats on the race course, and in the
laboratory, is the result of several important factors. Hull Design - Our hull designs represent the culmination of two
decades of intensive research, scientific testing, consultation with
top-ranking competitors, and our own paddling experience. Designed by
naval architect Ted Van Dusen, our hulls are designed to hold frictional
drag, wave drag, and aerodynamic drag to an absolute minimum. Hull Construction - Van Dusen racing boats are manufactured using
advanced composite materials and space-age manufacturing technology.
All our boats start with a pigmented polyurethane gel coat that bonds
into the laminate during the curing process creating a strong, durable,
and UV resistant outer layer. Depending on the hull laminate, we use
pre-impregnated fiberglass and/ or carbon fiber cloth; custom-braided
graphite and fiberglass parts; Nomex honeycomb, and syntactic cores. We
were pioneers in the application of gelcoat, pre-impregnated laminates,
vacuum-bagging and autoclave curing techniques to the manufacture of
racing boats, and we have maintained a considerable technological lead
over other manufacturers. Our kayaks, canoes, and racing shells are
simply the lightest, stiffest, strongest, and most durable boats
available today.
Paddler Ergonomics - In order to paddle
at maximum performance, you must be in a comfortable relaxed posture
with a solid connection the boat and without anything limiting your
range of motion. All our boats are first designed around the paddler and
then optimized for minimum resistance through the water. Our foredeck
is narrow for an effective catch, the cockpit is roomy, the seat is
comfortable and fully adjustable, and the footboard is adjustable in
small increments and very rigid so all your power is transferred into
moving the boat. Everything works well so that you are not distracted by
irritating little details. Our formula for success is simple: maximize
propulsive power and minimize drag. |
