Luke Vaughan tests Eliminator for speed on the RDR

Towards the end of Luke’s second RDR testing visit, I asked him to do the unthinkable – paddle my demo Eliminator over the same 700 metre course. It is not often that a ‘beginners-boat’ gets paddled by a conditioned body and sound paddling technique!

All of the testing on that day had been done at the totally aerobic level of 130HBPM. Luke had been taking his own times using his heartrate monitor gizmo – and I had been backing up the timing using my IPhone stopwatch – and some brisk MTB peddling along the stopbank.

When Luke yelled “go” I assumed a cruisey bike ride with lots of time for a photo finish taken with my camera. This stupid belief shows you how – my own ingrained sub-concious had been corrupted to believe that “The Eliminator is only just fast enough not to be laughed at” (quoted from M Jacques) may just be true.

Sadly for me, the peddling on the bike was still bringing on leg  pain I had endured with the Omega testing.- My attempt to fire up my camera had to be abandoned just to deal with (in panic mode) the IPhone timing cutoff.

In the end the only way to photo Luke with the Eliminator was after he had changed.

Evolution Omega at 130HBPM over 700 metres of RDR in moderate flow (average) 2 minutes 48 seconds

Eliminator at 130HBPM over 700 metres of RDR in moderate flow (one run)    3 minutes 5 seconds

Only 17 seconds slower – no wonder the camera photo-finish resulted in the camera being dropped.

Weather conditions were clear and calm.

This testing confirmed  a 1992 test that I conducted using Steve Gurney as the motor. We had a HR monitor – but had to make our own speed ‘pressure-guage’. The actual speeds were 11 graduations (Evo) and 9 graduations (Eliminator). It seemed too close. But was correct.

And when Nathan Fa’aave lived at Anakiwa he found little difference in his paddling time to Picton – in his Evo Classic or his Arctic Raider. The Eliminator hull was ‘stolen’ off the Arctic Raider.

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