A MARATHON CANOE and EFFICIENT CRUISER

The Tandem Ashes Quick answers the need of those who wish to build a light and highly efficient tandem canoe. This design prioritizes speed and ease of tracking over maneuverability over load carrying capacity and as such will suit long day trips, marathon events, and light overnight travel.

At 18.5 feet this canoe is long. And at 32 inches wide on the waterline, she is relatively narrow leading to very good residual resistance curves and a Displacement/Length Ratio of 27.15. To put this in context a recreational canoe will have a ratio of 50 to 60 and a large tripper will be even greater. For more information on why this is important for those looking for speed, John Winter has published a well received article here – The Shape of a Canoe . In any event, she is fast!!

Those with a clever eye will note the recurved tumblehome and asymmetric design. The former abets paddle efficiency (the gunnels are tucked out of the way); and the latter helps by moving the centre of buoyancy rearward negating some of the “squat” power paddlers experience mid stroke.

Interested builders will also note her elliptical cross sections; a tried and true design feature that balances initial and secondary stability. Whilst seeming a tad tender at first, paddlers will soon appreciate her kindliness when the breeze comes up and the water starts to get choppy.

USCA COMPETITION CRUISER (4×32 SPEC)

Whilst well suited to recreational paddling the Tandem Quick has been designed to be competition compliant and if built to the designer’s specification will qualify for marathon events in the USCA Competition Cruiser (4×32) Class which also allows participation the Standard Class. Further information is available in Section 5 of the link below.

USCA’s Competition Rules, 2019

PORTABILITY and WEIGHT

The Tandem Quick won’t be your first choice for a tripping canoe … it’s not that she’s particularly heavy but even with careful adherence to best practices lay-up and minimal fittings she will come in at 50 pounds give or take. That said, she IS light for her length. Ashes’ weight calculator can tell you exactly how much she’ll weigh given various material and design choices.

How Much Will my Canoe Weigh?

Builders who are planning on portaging her are encouraged to install a yoke and have at it, but holy smokes, an almost 19 foot boat overhead is one hell of a thing. If it were me and I was planning on tramping through the bush with a partner and a canoe, I’d build a brace of Solo Days and go light and breezy, lemon squeezie. But that’s me and not you and really … ain’t choice grand.

WHY CHOOSE PLANS for the TANDEM QUICK

The Tandem Ashes Quick tracks straight, is incredibly efficient, and is one of finest examples of Ashes elegant minimalist aesthetic.
Choose this boat if covering miles is more important than carrying capacity or on-water activities.
Or just choose her because she’s beautiful.

Click Drawings to Expand …
 

 Before You Get Started

Plans from Ashes come complete with all the details necessary to build a canoe but they do not include building instructions. If you are novice builder you will save many hours and benefit immeasurably from an purchasing either of the following:

• For Stemless Construction, Building A Strip Canoe, by Gil Gilpatrick
• For Classic Cedar Strip Building,  Canoecraft, by Ted Moore

First time builders may also wish to review the series entitled, “It’s Easier Than You Think“.

• Introduction – Building a Cedar Strip Canoe
• How Long Does it Take
• A Place to Build
• How Much Does it Cost
• What Skills Do I Need
• Making it Easier

Materials

Start with 1/4 inch thick cedar strips. 3/4 of an inch is as good a width as any and full length clear stock will make stripping your canoe a whole lot easier. Her gunnels are either a hardwood, or if a builder wishes to reduce weight, laminated softwood strips (two outer and three inner) with an outer hardwood rail shaped to please the builder’s eye. Best results will be obtained if the builder can curtail the urge to use fancy marquetry, or exotic woods. A materials list is included with you plans, as are scaled drawings of the strong-back.

If you haven’t already done so, please visit the Materials Calculator to estimate the materials you’ll need.

Stations

Unless marked otherwise stations are laid out with the centre station placed in the middle of strongback, and each one thereafter is spaced at 12 inches on centre from the previous. At Ashes we cut our stations from 3/4 MDF. The bow and stern stations are trimmed for stemless construction, an easy and elegant construction method that contributes to her minimalist lines. Plans also have the outer stem profiles marked for those wishing to use hardwood stems.

Building Light

A careful builder may wish to reduce the weight of their canoe by starting with 3/16 inch cedar strips. Keep in mind that you’ll have less material to start with and if not careful when fairing it’s easy to sand too far! Builders who hope to keep her light will also laminate the gunnels directly to the hull and use mechanical fasteners only in the ends and at the thwart. Likewise, seats will be attached to cleats glued and glassed to the inside of the hull, thus reducing the need for hangers and associated hardware.

Fiberglass

The industry standard calls for 6 oz cloth. Builders wishing to match our advertised weights will start with 4 oz glass inside and out with a reinforcing layer laid inside and out in her middle third (on the bias). Likewise, her ends are reinforced both inside and out with two extra layers of 4 oz glass, 6 inches wide and also laid on the bias.