Wanted: Opinions of Little River Sea Shell

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I would appreciate the input of anyone who has experience with the Little River Sea Shell single. I'm new to the sport and I'm looking for an entry level shell that will continue to be satisfying as my skills improve. What can you tell me about this boat ? Thank you in advance for taking the time to help. Michael Fabricante

-- michael fabricante (mfab@optonline.net), June 22, 2004

Answers

Hi, Michael,

I expect you've got your boat by now, but I used to do delivery and instruction for LRM so know their line very well.

The Sprint is ok if you want to haul a passenger, but very heavy, top heavy by comparison due to the set-in row station, and otherwise, price excepted, suffers by comparison to the Cambridge.

The Cambridge is actually more stable, weighs quite a bit less, is longer (faster) and easier to row.

Dang. I think I've responded to the wrong question. Since these aren't threaded, I don't know who else might be seeing them.

The Sea Shell single is a very old design. It was the predecessor to the Cambridge, which has been out for many years. It's more stable than the competitive shells, but not a tub. Assuming it's in good shape (does it have the wooden ribs?), you should get a lot of pleasure out of it. OTOH, as old as it is, if it's been rowed a lot, likely the structural stuff is getting soft, and in particular, if you have trouble with the riggers, they're simply not available, and you'd have custom fabricate the fix - very expensive.

However, there *are* LRM shells which have been sitting, covered, perhaps almost never used, out there. If you're looking at one of those, it would be a good boat.

L8R

Skip

-- SKIP GUNDLACH (skipgundlach@earthlink.net), March 14, 2005.


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