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Backpacker Magazine – May 2008
Canoes: All Aboard!
Some of the country's best wilderness is accessible only by boat. To help you get there, our testers picked the top canoes in six key categories.
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Tags:
- Gear |
- Paddling |
- Kayaks |
- Gear Guide |
All-Purpose Bargain | Solo | Expedition | High-Performance Cruiser | Portable | River Runner | Bargain Boats | Canoes, Deconstructed
[High-Performance Cruiser]
OLD TOWN KORU
Meet the canoe equivalent of a 1966 Shelby GT: fast and sexy. The Koru is a head-turner with traditional, pleasing lines, a hull made with a lightweight Kevlar/carbon composite, and a performance that's totally modern. "This boat slices through the miles," said one tester. On Yellowstone Lake, the sleek boat cut easily through the water, held a straight line, shed choppy waves, and seemed immune to crosswinds. A shallow vee-shaped hull provides solid tracking, and an ergonomic hull shape makes for easier reach and more efficient strokes. Flotation chambers add buoyancy, and the sliding bow seat allows easy weight adjustment (though it shifted a bit when we paddled hard). Caution: A flat keel line reduces agility in swift currents. Capacity is 1,000 pounds. $2,999; 17' 5"; 50 lbs. (800) 343-1555; oldtowncanoe.com.
All-Purpose Bargain | Solo | Expedition | High-Performance Cruiser | Portable | River Runner | Bargain Boats | Canoes, Deconstructed
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READERS COMMENTS
Recently, I returned from an 80 day, 1300 mile canoe trip from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay. The Wenonah Champlain was the perfect canoe for the trip! The boat tracked like a dream across Lake of the Woods and Lake Winnipeg and was agile and maneuverable in the white water on the Hayes and God's Rivers in Northern Manitoba! Keep making a great boats, Wenonah!
Recently, I returned from an 80 day, 1300 mile canoe trip from Lake Superior to Hudson Bay. The Wenonah Champlain was the perfect canoe for the trip! The boat tracked like a dream across Lake of the Woods and Lake Winnipeg and was agile and maneuverable in the white water on the Hayes and God's Rivers in Northern Manitoba! Keep making a great boats, Wenonah!
All the canoes reviewed are fine boats for their class, but what about a backpacking boat. Several friends and I go up to the Adirondacks a couple of times a year for some backpacking and trout fishing. The ponds we head to are miles from the trailhead and carrying a 50 lb canoe on top of a 40 pound pack is unbearable (especially for some of the older guys in our group). The solution is a lightweight solo canoe that can be packed into the woods, like a Hornbeck canoe (among others). Their bestseller only weighs 14-16 lbs and can carry up to 300 lbs.
Check them out here:
http://www.hornbeckboats.com/
Albert
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