I was checking out the Alpacka site and came across the following:
"Minimalist & 2-person boats on the way! We're doing the final touches on two new boats now, for spring: a minimalist river floater / lake boat (about 3 lbs.)"
Does anyone (Ryan? Roman? others?) have the inside scoop on this? A 3 lb packraft!
Edit: I just found some info on their forum:
"Minimalist Boat Report
Another initiative we've got going is to develop a more stripped-down, light boat: basically, a craft with the durability of our other boats, but with a slightly lighter weight and for those who don't need the whitewater function, and are more interested in negotiation river floats, crossings, etc., including in remote environments & cold water.
The working title for this boat is the Scout.
Scout Specs:
Outer length: 64", inner length: 41".
Outer width: 33", innner width: 13" (similar to our other boats).
Weight: Slightly over 3lbs.
Paddle Weight: Looking at a 24 oz. (1.5 lb.) paddle right now.
Torture Testing: We've been putting this guy through the wringer. It's not meant for whitewater, but to compress abuse, we've been running ( w/ safety-boater & proper gear) C-III and even C-IV whitewater (if anyone is familiar w/ Boulder Drop, Skykomish river, we ran Boulder in it), scraping over rocks, ramming logs, sealing-launching off sand, skidding down concrete stairs, [ouch, that hurt] dryland drags, freezing it & jumping on it, etc… Yeah, our philosophy is "test by overkill." Basically, trying to combine peak stresses caused by unfortunate, unforeseen events with the rigors of a long service life. So far, this boat is doing really well.
Intended Role: As we really look at it, this isn't a "lightweight" Alpacka: it's a minimalized, stripped Alpacka, as it is right now, for boaters who need the reliability and function of our boats, but would like a lighter pack weight and smaller package instead of whitewater capability. The Scout has no seat, and is configured for kneeling-paddling and – actually – lying back & lounging. We keep wanting to go out on a lake and test napping performance. It's set up for your pack to be carried in-boat, with you, and perhaps used to sit on, instead of strapping across the bow.
Overall Report: From the design & testing standpoint, the Scout is doing really well. The question for us is really "what's best role of this boat?" Our experimenting has really led us to feel this is a good boat for those who want the toughness & reliability of an Alpacka, but want to paddle-from-kneeling and/ or lighter weight, but aren't going to do whitewater. Those design changes incidentally lets us bring the cost down a little bit, too. It's really not an 'ultralight boat', though, in the sense of being built to our mainline spec."
