Ted and Graeme. Credit Donna Lind

Ted Van Dusen, famous Olympic Kayak and Rowing Shell designer living in Concord, Massachusetts, wanted a flat water boat that was comfortable, safe, stable and fast to suit his paddling needs.  Ted came up with the Mohican in 2006 that fit the mold.  The Mohican was ahead of its time as most of  Ted’s boats were. Since paddling the Mohican in 2006, Ted  has dominated the New England Canoe and Kayak Racing Association Flat water series by finishing first 5 times and  2nd once.  I have raced against Ted several times over the years as has Chris and many other flat water  paddlers like Bill Baker and Dave Van Dorpe.  Ted typically starts slow but you know he is only a few boat lengths behind with his slow deliberate stroke using his owned designed paddle.  His closing speed is excellent!  Ted most  recently paddled a K2 with Kate McElroy(USA Olympic paddler) in the local Potato Race placing second. Ted can be found most days paddling on flat water or rowing open ocean.  Below are a few articles I copied for this post that speak to Ted’s contribution to Olympic Rowing and Kayaking.  

Ted at finish of Blackburn in his Van Dusen Zephyr

Visit Composite Engineering Web Site

_____________________________________________

Reprinted from 

The Shell of Champions

Ted Van Dusen, the heart and mind behind this sublime shell and the man who changed scull design forever, began making boats in the 1970s, not long after he graduated from the prestigious Webb Institute of Naval Architecture on Long Island. At that time, all racing shells were made of wood, singles weighed between 32 and 40 pounds, and there were no restrictions on a boat’s weight at international rowing regattas. Van Dusen felt that the use of aerospace composite materials could create a lighter, stronger shell, so he built a prototype, founding his own company in 1976. By coincidence, that was the first year women were allowed to compete in Olympic single sculling, and an American, using a revolutionary 26-pound Van Dusen, won a silver medal. For the next decade every member of the U.S. Olympic single sculling team—male or female—qualified in a Van Dusen shell.

___________________________________________

Reprinted  from Epic Website

Ted at 2010 Nationals Portaging

 _____________________________________________

Reprinted from Composite Engineering (Ted’s Site)

Composite Engineering Inc.

E-Mail: customerservice@vandusenracingboats.com

Phone: 1-978-371-3132   ·   Fax: 1-978-369-3162

History

For more than 30 years Composite Engineering, has been helping athletes all over the world capture medals in international competition.Our carbon composite rowing shells and flatwater sprint kayaks are custom designed by naval architect, Ted Van Dusen, Ph.D, who is a recognized worldwide as a leader in the design, engineering and production of elite racing products. The latest kayak creation is the Mohican, an unlimited class, open and flat water, racing kayak. The Mohican is a hybrid design combining elements of ICF Olympic flat water designs, and open water surf skis.We are also a custom builder of triaxial carbon spars, stayed, unstayed, or semistayed, including circular, oval, D-shaped, complex furling, and wing masts.

Design

The idea behind the Mohican K-1 was to create a kayak that was as fast as an ICF racing K-1 with its powerful and efficient paddling position, but more stable and seaworthy. After two years of intensive design work using our design codes, towing tank test data, and all that we had learned making medal winning Olympic boats, the result has exceeded even our expectations.

Mohicans

_______________________________________________

 My thoughts on the Mohican

My desire for a stable, yet fast flat water boat, was a process similar to my quest for the  perfect ocean surf ski. Fortunately the  journey was not as long  as my surf ski quest, due to the invention of the Mohican.  Having owned many K1’s and Doug Bushnell’s Westside boats: EFT, Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt X, the Mohican has found a niche as an excellent pure flat water surf ski.  Why? First of all, it fits virtually everyone from the wide hipped like Ted and Chris Chappell (Chris has 2 Mohicans) to the narrow hipped paddler like myself with some padding.  Unlike the K1’s, no need to worry about capsizing and swimming to shore, the Mohican can be remounted, and has one of the first surfski to my knowledge to use an Anderson bailer and have a partially enclosed deck over your feet.  Once you are confident it will fit you and capsizing is not a big deal,  the real fun begins!

Start of 6 mile Rotc, Wesley SES, Chris Mohican

Over the years, I have owned (3) Mohicans, though there was a span of time I did not have one in my garage due to my quest for ocean skis and my limited flat water racing.  The Mohican is one boat I always regretted selling.  My first Mohican was around 29lbs and later Ted would get the weight down to around 25lbs so I sold my first one to Dave Granger.  My second Mohican, I traded my Kirton Tor plus cash. I met a fellow paddler on my way to the Beverely Race to make the swap. When I got to the race, I swapped out the over stern for the under stern rudder and lined up with all the other surf skis for an 8 mile ocean race around Misery Island.  I was confident in my abilities and excited to have another Mohican. I discovered in that race, that the Mohican was not an Ocean Ski by any stretch. While competent paddlers can keep it upright and do well in ocean conditions, it offers no advantages in conditions over 8 inch wavelets. That day it was 2 foot seas. Other paddlers including Ted, have raced it in ocean conditions. Ted got around the Blackburn Course in 2007 as did Erik Borgnes. Erik come in 4th that day with a time of 2:37:54. I remember watching Ted from behind at that race while we were on the 3 mile flatwater  Annisquam River leg prior to getting to the ocean. At that point I knew the limitation of the Mohican for ocean conditions, and thought to myself, I am glad I am not in my Mohican.  Another example of truly competent paddlers testing their resolve in the Mohican was Kate McElroy racing a Mohican in the Mayors Cup. This was the year they cancelled the race after an hour of racing in huge conditions. Tim Dwyer, Mike Tracy, and I drove down to do the race. On the way back to the start line, paddling against a massive current, I helped Kate remount her Mohican and then watched her self remount another time before she got to calmer water.  I also remember Dave Grainger paddling the Mohican I sold him with an over sized  rudder one day as Tim, Mike Tracy set  off for Comorant Rock  which is one mile off shore noted for very sloppy true ocean conditions.  I suggested to Dave, he was going to be unstable.  Dave turned around after 15 minutes. Since then, Dave has put many miles on that Mohican as well. In fact, Dave most recently had an excellent time at this  year’s Narrow River Race.

Wickford Race in my 1st Mohican

Wesley,Chris at Holyoke

Often innovation spawns new ideas, competition, resistance and different ways of viewing things. The business of designing, building and selling boats is no different from other businesses.  Innovation does not stand still and if businesses and people are stuck in the past, they are certainly not moving forward.  The Mohican was a boat ahead of its time and it took sometime for paddlers to catch up to it.  Case in point when Tim, myself, and Ted decided to race Mohicans at the 2007 Essex River Race. Minutes before the race, I was asked by the  Race Director what class of boats should the Mohican be in. I told him just put us in the Unlimited Class to avoid any controversy. At that time we divided the classes of boats as Unlimited or Surf Ski, unlike now, where surfskis and other fast boats, are grouped together in the Unlimited class. Tim won the race that year and I came in 4th overall with Ted finishing 8th overall. So three of the top 10 places were in the Mohicans. The debate among some surf ski paddlers ensued discussing what is the definition of a “true surf ski”. Can a ski be partially decked like the Mohican, can it have a bailer, does it have to be paddled in the ocean, does it  have to be able to go downwind? All good questions.  At the core of this debate was  whether Tim, Ted and myself  be awarded points in the NE Surfski Series based on the definition of a surf ski. Much later we were awarded points for the series. Looking back, the Mohican, was one of the first flat water surfskis. With skis becoming more popular for everyone,  we now know that light weight skis with small rudders are wonderful boats to paddle on rivers and in flat conditions. In the last few years, many surf ski manufacturers have specifically designed skis for flat water paddling listening to their customer base.  There are many surf skis that are purchased solely for paddling flat water. You don’t need big water to enjoy the benefits of surf skis.   

Got Speed?

While the Mohican is limited in ocean conditions by design, it excels in pure flat water. Once you know this, your expectations become real and you can truly enjoy the Mohican for what it is: an amazing flat water surf ski. Keep in mind though for the novice and intermediate paddler, it still requires some bucket time.  While sitting in the Mohican, you quickly realize the  superb seating ergonomics with your feet well  below your butt and no hump similar to a K1’s.  This ergo design cockpit facilitates leg drive, rotation, coupled with a rock solid adjustable footplate and very narrow catch that translates into a superb paddling platform.  The Mohican is one of the boats, while I can be sitting at my desk, and visualize how nice it  is to paddle.  Not only do I visualize how fast I will be, I also know at any flat water race, I don’t have to worry about conditions like I would in a K1. My only consideration is what rudder to use: over stern, under stern 8 inch or 4 inch. No boat fatigue in the Mohican like you get in K1’s. To put it simply, the Mohican gives you the confidence that you can just go for it. GOT POWER? Let the Mohican deliver it! 

Chris leading Oleg Panchenko, former Nationally ranked ICF sprint paddler from at 2012 ROTC in his Mohican.

 So how fast is the Mohican? While it does not accelerate as fast as the Level 1/2 K’1s or turn as quickly, for all but the elite paddlers, one can generate better speeds out of the Mohican especially over marathon distances for  all the reasons I mentioned above.  The cut off generally speaking is if you can generate speeds consistently above 7.5-8 mph over distance, than you would be faster in a K1. However,that is not most paddlers. So how fast is the Mohican compared to ocean surfskis?  It  is noticeably faster.  No doubt. It is faster. I broke my 4 mile record a month ago in my newest Mohican and it consistently holds most of the top places in on this course.  Race times in the Mohican by Ted, Chris, myself and others demonstrate this.  The other speed advantages the Mohican holds over other skis and flat water boats is that it leaves almost no wash to ride.  If you are not in the tiny sweet spot paddling along side the Mohican, you get no advantage wash riding like you would off other boats.  The other clear advantage is the Mohican loves suck water. It does not get bogged down like most other boats.  This is a significant advantage since most flat water races have portions of shallow water. 

Profile of Mohican, McCorrie Point

Stability wise, I  found the Mohican ideal for flat to 8 inches of chop. If the chop is over 8 inches, the Mohican becomes too much for most paddlers. Conditions above this, the Mohican offers no advantage due its instability in this much chop.  So for this reason the Mohican is not as versatile as ocean designed skis. However, if you paddle predominantly flat water or can own a Mohican and  an ocean ski, you then will have the very best of  both worlds.  

Mohican

I mentioned the interchangeable rudders the Mohican offers which is nice. Ted’s over the stern rudders are now retrofitted on many skis. He also offers pedal or tiller bar steering system. My current Mohican has the pedal system that I actually prefer over my previous tiller bar Mohicans for enhanced leg drive.  A few months ago I went with Chris to Ted’s shop and got a tour.  While Chris has been there many times as a friend of Ted’s, it was my first time. It was fascinating for me to see all the raw materials(carbon fiber), molds, and autoclave and what goes into making high quality boats.  Chris got to see his Mohicans being built. How cool is that!  By the way, Chris, living on the Sudbury River has well over 345 hours (2,171 miles) in his Mohicans, many more than I have.  Once Chris got his first Mohican, I new I had to get another one, realizing selling my second Mohican was a great mistake. As I have mentioned before, it is very nice to paddle with training partners in comparable boats whether flat water or ocean.  I had a blast racing Chris and Michael at the Holyoke and Potato Races all in our Mohicans.  Good designers, good boats, good training partners, make paddling, training, and racing Fun!  

Chris at Potato Race

Start of Essex, Chris in Mohican

Ted and Chris at Essex