2005 CANOE Buyer’s Guide
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We’re confident that our 2005 buyer’s guide is the only canoeing buyer’s guide that has squared off pop culture icons Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne against each other in a gunwale bobbing contest. We’re equally confident that no other canoe magazine has sent writers down the lonely North French River, solo tripping in northern Saskatchewan or birding with a surfer named Lucas. No other magazine has gone this far to help you better understand the different types of canoes. The Canoeroots canoe buyer’s guide is comprised of seven fea-
ture stories, one for each canoe category: recreational, sporting, solo, whitewater tripping, lakewater tripping, performance and, new this year, exotic. Following each story, you’ll find canoes that the builders suggest are great for that type of canoeing. Out there in the real world of canoe buying there are more canoes to choose from than those listed in these pages, but our guide provides a sampling of what’s on the market and gives you an idea of where to begin. Whether you’re shopping for a canoe to bob with music divas, relax with the family, or line up against marathon canoe legend Serge Corbin, we wish you luck and hope our buyer’s guide guides you from inspiration, to purchase, to paddling.
by Elements of Canoe Design Understanding which canoe will work best for you
The dimensions and shape of a canoe define its per- formance. Every canoe design blends innumerable variables to produce a canoe with specific character- istics such as stability for birding, manoeuvrability for whitewater or speed for marathon racing. Complicated? On a designer’s drafting table, yes. The basics, however, are not.
DIMENSIONS
Length, width and depth are the rough indicators of a canoe’s speed, stability, capacity and seaworthiness. Changing any of these dimensions will have a corre- sponding effect on performance.
Length = Speed Length is the primary factor in determining speed. Given two canoes of different lengths, with all other specifications being the same, the longer canoe will be faster. It will also track better (tracking means going in a straight line) and carry more gear. Shorter canoes will be lighter and more manoeuvrable. The longer-equals-faster equation is only helpful up to a point, beyond which a hull’s optimal cruising
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speed gets faster than most people can paddle. Lengths of 16 to 17 feet are standard because this is the hull length that cruises most efficiently at tandem paddling speed.
Width = Stability The boat’s width and cross-sectional shape are the primary determinants of stability. A wider canoe will generally be more stable. Width, also called beam, is given in two measurements: gunwale width and waterline width. The waterline width has the greatest influence on performance because this area forms the footprint of the boat—the width of the boat actu- ally in the water. Wide-beamed canoes offer great stability, but also present greater resistance to the water. Narrow canoes may be less stable, but are more efficient and faster.
Depth = Capacity and Dryness
Depth refers to the distance between the bottom of the hull and the top of the gunwale. Depth is typical- ly measured at the bow, centre and stern of the boat. The amount of depth influences the freeboard—the distance between the waterline and the gunwales.
Greater depth allows for increased carrying capacity and better water-shedding ability. Deeper canoes, however, can be harder to handle in windy conditions and will be heavier.
LxWxD = Carrying Capacity Taken together, the basic dimensions add up to a canoe’s volume—the total amount of internal space. Carrying capacity is measured in different ways, but typically refers to how much weight the boat is able to displace while maintaining at least six inches of freeboard. Carrying capacity can be increased by making the boat wider, longer or deeper. Widening without adjusting the length increases drag, reducing efficiency. Increasing the length is usually the best overall solution, while increasing the depth can help as well. This is why cargo-hauling tripping boats are long and deep but not excessively wide.
SHAPE
After the raw dimensions of length, width and depth, canoe performance is determined by hull shape. Front, side and overhead views of the boat give you
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