Thoughts on Burgashell?
ROGER CARTER
Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on Burgashell hulls (good or bad experiences), in
particular the 1X shells. Durable, fast, etc?? Any info appreciated.
Email to Roger Carter ska...@sprintmail.com
Kenneth Cooperstein
I tried their Thames Tracer -- an open water/trainer boat 24 ft long
with 13" beam. Rowed nicely, finish was good, hull was light and
stiff, rigging was impressive and fully adjustable.
Ken Cooperstein
Ken Hastie, Tyneside UK
In article <326D58...@sprintmail.com>, ROGER CARTER
<ska...@sprintmail.com> writes
>Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on Burgashell hulls (good or bad
>experiences),
We had some bad experiences with the singles 12 years ago. Two boats
which broke their backs in rough water. However, I have followed the
progress of Burgashell (in Ely, Cambridgeshire UK) over the years and
they now produce good value for money boats. Bill Burgass and Clive
Burgass are the main men, with Clive now championing the cause, and they
produce single skin glassfibre hulls re-inforced with carbon, as well as
composite hulls using honeycomb/kevlar.
I have the glassfibre hull and it weighs in at 30 lbs all-up which ain't
bad for a 15 stone boat. This hull is very stiff. I bought it 18
months ago and am delighted with it. My son sculls for GB Juniors, uses
an Aylings and he also likes my boat which he says feels lighter.
Burgashell bigger boats (such as eights) I think are not so rigid, and I
don't have the wealth of experience to comment on this size of craft,
but my own personal opinion is that you will be hard pushed to get
better value for money.
I would be interested to know other people's opinions on Burgashells.
--
Ken Hastie, Tyneside UK
Kieran Anthony Coghlan
My pair partner and I rowed a brand-new Burgashell 2- this summer at
Candian Henely. It was not bad, but I suspect that had a lot to do with
the fact that it was brand-new. The hull was stiff, but it seemed that it
wouldn't last incredibly long. We rowed it because it was a slight
improvement over our '89 Vespo 2-, which was a little small for us anyway.
One big gripe I had with the Burgashell was with the riggers. They were
stainless steal, rather than alumnium. I couldn't understand this --
unnecessary extra weight without much cost savings. Also, the adjustment
for picth was non existant. I supposed you're supposed to use CII
inserts these days to adjust pitch, but I am used to Vespoli 8's 4's and
2's that had the swivel adjustment for pitch. We were stuck with 7
degree inserts, when we were used to rowing at aout 4 degrees. We had the
backstay tightened so much to adjust the pitch that the pin was visibly
bending.
As far as rowability, it felt pretty good. Not too heavy, but definately
could have been lighter (it also had all stainless steel hardware for the
footstretchers.) It was not an uncomfortable boat, though, and ran out
pretty well.
I liked the hull shape, but the construction seemed less
than top-notch. The hull was seamed with the inside plastic shell along
the gunnwhale.
Overall, I guess it would be a good training/occasional racing boat, if
taken well care of, and especially if the riggers and hardware were
aluminum. They are quite inexpensive, which for many people would offset
many shortcommings. I think the owner of the boat we rowed (a one man
company called American Sculling) wanted something like $5000.00. Which
for a brand new straight pair, is not bad (an Empacher would go for about
$12,000 new, I think.)
I know you were interested in a single, but I figured any info is better
than none. We were trying to find out about Burgashell in July before we
went back east, and got very few responses.
-Kieran Coghlan
UC Irvine alumnus
William Wadsworth
Burgashell are reasonable boats at a very low price. The weight and
stiffness of the 1x and 2x- good, and they row well. I had a 2- for a
few years and loved it and won lots. One caveat is that they need care
in handling. Being cheap, certain things can tend to come loose. If
looked after they seem to go well for many years.
/ / . / / . _ __
(/\/ / ( ( / (/ /// .
"Everything for me now is a bonus. I can't beat them for power
- but I can at least show them how to scull well." Peter Haining