Also Clipper.
-
Happy U.S. Constitution Day (1787)! 📜✍🏻
The New Swift/DY Redesign of the Dragonfly
- Thread starter Glenn MacGrady
- Start date
Also Clipper.
Wenonah has been featuring skin coat resin finishes for decades. From what I see at Wenonah's web site, the only build option that uses gel coat is the Flex-Core layup.
I didn't realize that - but for some reason I have never paid as much attention to Wenonah as I have some of the other brands - so my bias has suppressed my knowledge it would seem!
Wenonah is often forgotten, I think mainly because they're known for sleek, fast canoes, not the turny boats often discussed here. But they do offer some nice all-around models.
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2026
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 12
I just did this video review which might be of interest:
Reading through your comments after the fact, I think we concur on a lot of points. The Dragonfly 15 is the closest thing to a holy grail, do-everything solo tripper that I've found to date and it checks all of my paddling boxes.
A couple of points not in the video:
1) Running with a tripping load (200 lb paddler + 75 lb gear), she loses some nimbleness but gains even more stability and predictability. Very confidence-inspiring when playing with ferries, eddy turns, and surfing while loaded or unloaded. The secondary stability has already saved me a couple of times when I was caught off guard and was sure I was going for a swim. Extremely dry in waves and the additional depth opens up the possibility of aggressive leans to make tight moves.
2) The expedition kevlar layup feels more than robust enough for normal river use, up to and including bouncing off unseen rocks in a rapid. I would just be careful to avoid abusive situations like pins, wraps, or very high energy impacts. Other than that, I have no qualms about using the layup as it is intended - and already have plenty of scratches to show for it. I'm just a bit more careful about abrasion without a gelcoat bottom, but it should be easy enough to refinish the hull with epoxy if it ever gets to that point.
Reading through your comments after the fact, I think we concur on a lot of points. The Dragonfly 15 is the closest thing to a holy grail, do-everything solo tripper that I've found to date and it checks all of my paddling boxes.
A couple of points not in the video:
1) Running with a tripping load (200 lb paddler + 75 lb gear), she loses some nimbleness but gains even more stability and predictability. Very confidence-inspiring when playing with ferries, eddy turns, and surfing while loaded or unloaded. The secondary stability has already saved me a couple of times when I was caught off guard and was sure I was going for a swim. Extremely dry in waves and the additional depth opens up the possibility of aggressive leans to make tight moves.
2) The expedition kevlar layup feels more than robust enough for normal river use, up to and including bouncing off unseen rocks in a rapid. I would just be careful to avoid abusive situations like pins, wraps, or very high energy impacts. Other than that, I have no qualms about using the layup as it is intended - and already have plenty of scratches to show for it. I'm just a bit more careful about abrasion without a gelcoat bottom, but it should be easy enough to refinish the hull with epoxy if it ever gets to that point.
Richard, thanks much for sharing your impressions of the Swift DF 15 and your video. And welcome to the site.
Feel free to ask any questions and to post messages, photos and videos, and to start threads, in our many forums. Please read Welcome to CanoeTripping and Site Rules! Also, because canoeing is a geographic sport, please add your location to the Account Details page in your profile, which will cause it to show under your avatar as a clickable map link. Many of the site's technical features are explained in Features: Help and How-To Running Thread. We look forward to your participation in our canoe community.
