A married couple team paddler friend of mine have a GRB Monarch with wood gunwales that they race and apparently like very much. I was in the market to get a nicely performing stable boat for my daughter a few years ago and I knew that my good friend Brian at Mac's Canoe Livery had one like it for sale. So when Brian was not home the day I went to his livery, his wife Grace (also a good friend) took me with a load of boats to try them on a nearby pond, I did not care much for that GRB Monarch, as it seemed to sit too low for me, was not as responsive as I wished, and it had those wood gunwales. I don't think it would have been the right boat for my daughter. with where she had to store it. But soon Brian soon showed up at the pond with a Wenonah Outfitter model Monarch for me to try. I liked it much better for how it responded and it sat higher, plus it had aluminum gunwales. So that is the one I bought from Mac.
