- Joined
- Nov 22, 2021
- Messages
- 221
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- 93
I own a North Wind 17 and a North Wind solo. I got to take both on river trips in 2023 and here's what I think about them.
With the North Wind series, Northstar decided to sacrifice some speed in favor of seaworthiness. I knew this when I bought them but I expected them to be faster than they are. On the plus side, they handle easy whitewater better than I expected, especially the tandem. If you got a North Wind 17, in their IXP layup, you could easily do class II with it. The solo would handle the standing waves with no problem, but it doesn't exactly turn on a dime.
One other thing I'd say about the solo's handling, unloaded it isn't very good for paddling sit n' switch. It does turn too easily for that. I had to switch sides about every two strokes. Loaded it would probably work better.
To sum up, if you expect it to be as fast as a Wenonah, you are going to be disappointed. If you expect it to be as good at whitewater as a prospector, you'll probably be less disappointed, but still disappointed. If you want a reasonably fast canoe that can handle some rough stuff, this is a pretty good choice.
With the North Wind series, Northstar decided to sacrifice some speed in favor of seaworthiness. I knew this when I bought them but I expected them to be faster than they are. On the plus side, they handle easy whitewater better than I expected, especially the tandem. If you got a North Wind 17, in their IXP layup, you could easily do class II with it. The solo would handle the standing waves with no problem, but it doesn't exactly turn on a dime.
One other thing I'd say about the solo's handling, unloaded it isn't very good for paddling sit n' switch. It does turn too easily for that. I had to switch sides about every two strokes. Loaded it would probably work better.
To sum up, if you expect it to be as fast as a Wenonah, you are going to be disappointed. If you expect it to be as good at whitewater as a prospector, you'll probably be less disappointed, but still disappointed. If you want a reasonably fast canoe that can handle some rough stuff, this is a pretty good choice.
