I owned a 15' Penobscot some years ago. From old photos, I see its first trip was in 1995, so it must have been available by the mid-90s. Mine was in Royalite with aluminum gunnels. It listed at 49 lbs, max beam 29", a fairly deep boat at 14" midships. It would carry a good load. It cruised well, and fairly quickly, but turned not so quickly. I thought my friend's 16' Penobscot was more manoeuvrable, since being beamier its stems would lift more when it was leaned. Initial stability was a little twitchy empty, but it firmed up when loaded. No sign of oil canning, empty or loaded. I think they also made a composite version, at 15'6" (with sharper stems) called the Northern Light, but I never saw one of those.
As goonstroke commented, it came equipped with a sliding seat/yoke combination. The back crosspiece of the seat was shaped like a yoke. To portage, the seat was slid all the way forward, and the canoe portaged stern first. I didn't find this useful - the seat frame interfered with carrying a pack with the canoe, and the yoke sat deeper in the boat than a standard yoke supported on the gunnels. I replaced it with a conventional seat and yoke.
That Penobscot served me well on a number of 2 week plus northern trips. I hope you get as much enjoyment out of yours.
-wjmc
