Not tandem canoes, not kayaks, not SUPs, not rowboats, not sailboats.
The topic is to get an idea of what dedicated solo canoes members here are currently paddling and what you think of them.
I have four dedicated whitewater solo canoes: a Millbrook ME (Kevlar/glass, 3 seat combi canoe), Perception Gyramax (poly decked C1), Whitesell Piranha (Royalex), and Dagger Encore (Royalex). They all have different handling characteristics and virtues. Overall, I like the ME best for its combination of slalom speed and acceleratability, highly rockered turnability, wave-spanning 15-2 length, and light weight.
I have five dedicated flatwater-ish CanAm open solo canoes: a Lotus BJX (Kevlar/glass), Lotus Caper (Kevlar/glass), Hemlock SRT (Kevlar/glass), Bell Wildfire (Kevlar/carbon), and a Rollin Thurlow reproduction of a wood/canvas B.N. Morris. Again, very different handling characteristics for different purposes. The one I like least now is the fastest and least turnable, the BJX, because I'm no longer into straight ahead speed. My favorite for lake or river, or lake and river, extended tripping is the SRT. It's deep, capacious, fast enough and very seaworthy in whitewater and waves. For short trips with little gear, or lots of portages, or just to play around with freestyle, I like the Wildfire because it's lightweight and turnable. The Caper used to be my favorite for day tripping, but I've now grown a bit too heavy for it to heel-spin effectively. The wood/canvas Morris makes me feel traditional, elegant, 1890-ish and proud, but it's too heavy at my age to be a practical tripping or portaging canoe.
I also have one specialized "open" canoe: a Huki V1-B Hawaiian outrigger canoe. Even at 22', it's probably my lightest canoe. It's my ocean canoe, fastest canoe, best canoe for paddling upstream, and the easiest by far to self-rescue. I haven't paddled it in a few years, but I'm not sure why. Probably because of my age and loss of interest in ocean and speed paddling.
I paddle everything and all conditions with a single blade. In whitewater, I use straight wood Mitchell paddles. In flat water, I mostly paddle with a variety of carbon and wood bent shaft paddles on lakes, and shorter-than-whitewater straight carbon and wood paddles on twisty rivers.
The topic is to get an idea of what dedicated solo canoes members here are currently paddling and what you think of them.
I have four dedicated whitewater solo canoes: a Millbrook ME (Kevlar/glass, 3 seat combi canoe), Perception Gyramax (poly decked C1), Whitesell Piranha (Royalex), and Dagger Encore (Royalex). They all have different handling characteristics and virtues. Overall, I like the ME best for its combination of slalom speed and acceleratability, highly rockered turnability, wave-spanning 15-2 length, and light weight.
I have five dedicated flatwater-ish CanAm open solo canoes: a Lotus BJX (Kevlar/glass), Lotus Caper (Kevlar/glass), Hemlock SRT (Kevlar/glass), Bell Wildfire (Kevlar/carbon), and a Rollin Thurlow reproduction of a wood/canvas B.N. Morris. Again, very different handling characteristics for different purposes. The one I like least now is the fastest and least turnable, the BJX, because I'm no longer into straight ahead speed. My favorite for lake or river, or lake and river, extended tripping is the SRT. It's deep, capacious, fast enough and very seaworthy in whitewater and waves. For short trips with little gear, or lots of portages, or just to play around with freestyle, I like the Wildfire because it's lightweight and turnable. The Caper used to be my favorite for day tripping, but I've now grown a bit too heavy for it to heel-spin effectively. The wood/canvas Morris makes me feel traditional, elegant, 1890-ish and proud, but it's too heavy at my age to be a practical tripping or portaging canoe.
I also have one specialized "open" canoe: a Huki V1-B Hawaiian outrigger canoe. Even at 22', it's probably my lightest canoe. It's my ocean canoe, fastest canoe, best canoe for paddling upstream, and the easiest by far to self-rescue. I haven't paddled it in a few years, but I'm not sure why. Probably because of my age and loss of interest in ocean and speed paddling.
I paddle everything and all conditions with a single blade. In whitewater, I use straight wood Mitchell paddles. In flat water, I mostly paddle with a variety of carbon and wood bent shaft paddles on lakes, and shorter-than-whitewater straight carbon and wood paddles on twisty rivers.