I assume the Northstar Polaris hull is simply a slightly stretched version of the Bell Northstar hull. One reason I assume this is that the webpage description of the Polaris says: "Skilled paddlers raved about the performance of its predecessor and we named our company after it."
The second and convincing reason is that, other than three inches more of LOA, all the geometric specs of the Northstar Polaris (beam, rocker, sheerline) as well as the load range are exactly the same as those of the Bell Northstar (catalog HERE). The displacements at the 2", 3", 4" and 5" waterlines differ by an inconsquential 10 lbs. because of the three additional inches of length. The overhead photos of the two canoes show a foam football floor of a very similar shape.
(This is rank speculation but, to create the Polaris, Northstar may have extended the Bell Northstar canoe LOA by three inches simply to avoid a (frivolous) "copying" claim by ORC, which had bought the Bell company assets and molds in 2006. ORC later sold to Redfeather, which also now markets a tandem that looks like the Bell Northstar and Northstar Polaris.)
The 31" waterline of the Polaris is also touted as a feature allowing solo paddling of the hull: "The Polaris is the narrowest of our tandems, making it an ideal canoe to paddle solo from a center seat."
In sum, I suspect the paddling characteristics of the Northstar Polaris are the same as the Bell Northstar, which sometimes can be found used at prices far less than a new composite build.
Except: The weights of the Northstar Polaris layups are less than the Bell Northstar weights, which makes me wonder how, since Northstar uses wet bagging instead of resin infusion, which is how Swift, Savage River, Placid, and (defunct) Colden produce such lightweight canoes. Another obvious way to lighten, of course, would be to use less cloth than Bell did. I have no idea whether Northstar does that. What they seem to do, however, is to eliminate gel coat (both colored and clear) in favor of skin-coated hulls. That will save weight but subject the vinylester resin to UV degradation.
To avoid degradation of their proprietary epoxy/vinylester resin, Swift (and Savage River) can apply for a price something Swift calls UV shield (and Savage River calls clear coat), which in my lingo I interpret as a clear UV protective coating that is much thinner and hence much lighter than the classic clear gel coat that Bell put on its layups.
Just some more info I've dug up, as the history of these DY canoes interests me.
The second and convincing reason is that, other than three inches more of LOA, all the geometric specs of the Northstar Polaris (beam, rocker, sheerline) as well as the load range are exactly the same as those of the Bell Northstar (catalog HERE). The displacements at the 2", 3", 4" and 5" waterlines differ by an inconsquential 10 lbs. because of the three additional inches of length. The overhead photos of the two canoes show a foam football floor of a very similar shape.
(This is rank speculation but, to create the Polaris, Northstar may have extended the Bell Northstar canoe LOA by three inches simply to avoid a (frivolous) "copying" claim by ORC, which had bought the Bell company assets and molds in 2006. ORC later sold to Redfeather, which also now markets a tandem that looks like the Bell Northstar and Northstar Polaris.)
The 31" waterline of the Polaris is also touted as a feature allowing solo paddling of the hull: "The Polaris is the narrowest of our tandems, making it an ideal canoe to paddle solo from a center seat."
In sum, I suspect the paddling characteristics of the Northstar Polaris are the same as the Bell Northstar, which sometimes can be found used at prices far less than a new composite build.
Except: The weights of the Northstar Polaris layups are less than the Bell Northstar weights, which makes me wonder how, since Northstar uses wet bagging instead of resin infusion, which is how Swift, Savage River, Placid, and (defunct) Colden produce such lightweight canoes. Another obvious way to lighten, of course, would be to use less cloth than Bell did. I have no idea whether Northstar does that. What they seem to do, however, is to eliminate gel coat (both colored and clear) in favor of skin-coated hulls. That will save weight but subject the vinylester resin to UV degradation.
To avoid degradation of their proprietary epoxy/vinylester resin, Swift (and Savage River) can apply for a price something Swift calls UV shield (and Savage River calls clear coat), which in my lingo I interpret as a clear UV protective coating that is much thinner and hence much lighter than the classic clear gel coat that Bell put on its layups.
Just some more info I've dug up, as the history of these DY canoes interests me.
