Swift Canoes Cruiser 16.8

Lightweight Performance Canoe

Swift Canoes favourite boat designer David Yost has taken two of his original racing canoes and developed a brand-new modern canoe and called it the Cruiser 16.8. At nearly 17ft in length, and narrow across the beam, this canoe is fast, efficient, has great acceleration and a high top-end speed. The Cruiser 16.8 is loved by casual racer’s, those that like to get from A to B quickly, cover the miles and expedition paddlers wanting to make long distances. The 16.8 is also a great platform from which to train from and is also enjoyed by paddlers looking to improve their fitness.

The Cruiser 16.8 Solo canoe has a strong tumblehome, and nicely rounded chines to help it cope with windier, choppy conditions. It also has a shallow arch hull, which provides the boat with a good secondary stability (unlike most racing canoes). The long waterline length provides exceptional straight-line tracking, but the very slight rocker does it mean it can be turned or the direction changed when required. The gunnels have been cleverly curved twice to create S-shaped gunnels. These give the Swift Cruisers a narrow paddling station, allowing the paddle stroke to be closer to the body, giving additional power and efficiency.

The 16.8 has a high carrying capacity, so well suited for taller/heavier paddlers, and can easily be loaded up with overnight kit if required. The 16.8 is the longest in the Swift Cruiser Series, there are shorter/smaller versions suited to smaller paddlers if required e.g. the Swift Canoe Cruiser 14.8. From the Cruiser carbon seat, the paddler can use either a long double bladed kayak paddle or bent single bladed canoe paddle such as the Grey Owl Sprite. For those that prefer a different seating system (e.g. kneeling or pack-boat), the Cruiser 16.8 can be fitted out with an alternative seat. Please contact us to discuss options available.

As is the case with all the Swift Canoes we import into the UK, the outfitting on the Cruiser Series of open boats is considered amongst the best available. With strength, lightness and careful thought being put into all the components and materials used during their construction. The Carbon/Kevlar gunnels are extremely light, yet durable and are infused into the hulls Kevlar Fusion material for superior strength. The Kevlar Fusion hull is popular due to its high strength to weight ratio, providing great abrasion and impact resistance (as far as composite boats go). Available in Swifts two-tone colourway- Emerald or Ruby over Champagne, which provides a smart look, and the Champagne coloured hull makes it harder to see scratches or character marks that the underside may pick up during it’s time on the water.

As with all the standard Swift Canoes and Pack Boats we import into the UK, the outfitting on the Swift Cruiser 16.8 is considered to be amongst the best in class. With strength, lightness and careful thought being put into the components used to outfit the boats. We import the best-selling Swift Canoes, based on UK paddlers requirements and these are displayed on our website. However, Swift do offer a huge array of material options, outfitting choices, and custom builds. If you would like to design you own ‘super canoe’ from Swifts many options, and have a custom-built boat, then we would highly recommend looking at the Swift Website. Here you will find a custom boat building tool, and some fantastic videos which clearly explain the many features, outfitting choices, and materials available:

SwiftCanoe.com

If you have any questions relating to Swift Canoes or Swift Cruiser Boats, or would like to discuss a custom boat build and how to pre-order one into the UK, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with of the team here at Manchester Canoes who would be happy to help.