Recreational Canoes Reviewed
This review first appeared in Canoe & Kayak August 2005
By Curt Newsome
A weekend camping trip, an afternoon of fishing, noodling around on the lake by yourself or with a friend—a good recreational canoe will let you do all these things.
If you're going to get just one canoe for your home, it makes sense to get a versatile boat that can be paddled tandem or solo. Versatility is the common denominator of the six canoes reviewed here.
They are are constructed of five different materials. Two, the Old Town Kineo and Mad River Explorer, are made of rotomolded polyethylene. The Clipper Tripper S is fiberglass, the Wenonah Kingfisher is made of Kevlar, the Ally 811 is a collapsible folding canoe, and the McFarland Cheemaun is a classic wood-and-canvas design.
In addition to the brief descriptions that follow, each of the boats was graded on a scale of 1 to 5 for speed, maneuverability, stability, and overall comfort (the general "feel" of the boat). Although the designs and construction materials vary somewhat, "recreation" is a broad category, and different paddlers may have different ideas as to what constitutes the ideal recreational canoe. Therefore, these ratings are not directly comparative but are instead based on how each boat would be perceived by the average canoeist.
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