Adirondack guideboat
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
It was in the guides' best interest to make their craft both lightweight and easy to carry over the typically unimproved roads and trails between the lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s and stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
s of the Adirondack region. While the boat is known as the fastest fixed seat rowing boat, the stability
Stability conditions (watercraft)
Stability conditions is the term used to describe the various standard loading configurations to which a ship, boat, or offshore platform may be subjected. They are recognized by classification societies such as Lloyd's Register, American Bureau of Shipping and Det Norske Veritas...
of the Adirondack Guideboat has often been described as merely adequate for the sporting purposes (hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
) for which they were originally built. The New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
craft were famous for their on-center tenderness, a trade-off from their remarkable speed.
Although these boats resemble canoe
Canoe
A canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
s, they are not. They are built in the same manner as a skiff
Skiff
The term skiff is used for a number of essentially unrelated styles of small boat. The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" comes from the Middle English skif, which derives from the Old French esquif, which in turn derives from the Old Italian schifo, which is itself of...
and rowed, not paddled, except for short distances with a "sneak" paddle
Paddle
A paddle is a tool used for pushing against liquids, either as a form of propulsion in a boat or as an implement for mixing.-Materials and designs:...
. The boat is more stable than a canoe because the occupants are sitting lower, almost on the bottom of the boat. The oar
Oar
An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Oarsmen grasp the oar at the other end. The difference between oars and paddles are that paddles are held by the paddler, and are not connected with the vessel. Oars generally are connected to the vessel by...
s are pinned and aligned so that if the rower stops rowing and lets go of the oars they will stay with the boat and trail behind such that they do not change the direction of the boat. Adirondack guideboats have won open water rowing races in some very challenging conditions.
Modern reproduction Adirondack guideboat hulls are made of kevlar
Kevlar
Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...
, fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
or wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
strips. Some hulls use both materials, with a wood hull and a fiberglass laminate applied to the outer surface for greater durability. The boat can be fitted with either a fixed or a sliding seat and outriggers for racing.
Since 1962 the annual Willard Hanmer Guideboat & Canoe Race has been held in July in Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Lake is a village located in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,406. The village is named after Upper, Middle, and Lower Saranac Lakes, which are nearby....
; it is a 10-mile canoe and kayak race on Lake Flower
Lake Flower
Lake Flower is a lake in Franklin County and Essex County in the Adirondacks; it was created by damming the Saranac River in 1827. It was originally called Newell's Pond, but was later named for New York governor Roswell P. Flower. It is the only lake within the village of Saranac Lake. The...
and down the Saranac River
Saranac River
Saranac River is an river in the U.S. state of New York. In its upper reaches is a region of mostly flat water and lakes. The river has more than three dozen source lakes and ponds north of Upper Saranac Lake; the highest is Mountain Pond on Long Pond Mountain...
. Willard Hanmer was a master guideboat builder. There is also a Guideboat class in the Adirondack Canoe Classic
Adirondack Canoe Classic
__notoc__The Adirondack Canoe Classic, also known as the 90-miler, is a three-day, canoe race from Old Forge to Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks of New York, USA. The race has drawn as many as 500 competitors from California to Florida, New Zealand and Canada paddling 250 canoes, kayaks and...
, the three day 90-Miler from Old Forge
Old Forge, New York
Old Forge is a hamlet on New York State Route 28 in the town of Webb in Herkimer County, New York. Old Forge was formerly a village that dissolved its incorporation, but remains the principal community in the region. Old Forge forms an extensive business district, primarily directed at tourism...
to Saranac Lake
Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Lake is a village located in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,406. The village is named after Upper, Middle, and Lower Saranac Lakes, which are nearby....
.
The Adirondack Museum
Adirondack Museum
The Adirondack Museum, located on NY-30 in the hamlet of Blue Mountain Lake in Hamilton County, New York, is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Adirondacks...
has several classic examples in its collection.
www.adkguideboat.com
