Paddling Mag: Best Whitewater Canoes for 2022

[Glenn MacGrady]

So You Want To Buy A Whitewater Canoe? Read This.

Whether you're looking to get started or upgrade, this article will help.

paddlingmag.com

They list their supposed 10 best overall, and then have links to the best by type, material and brand.

 

[Mason]

Wow, what garbage! They say the Jensen WWII is one of the best WW boats?? Maybe if you're racing (30 years ago?), and there are no rocks. I know it's won a lot of races BITD, but for today's (clueless) modern paddler? Their specs say : "Intended Waterway: Lakes, Ponds & Inshore, Whitewater (Class III+)". Yeah, Class 3+ in a WWII. OK. I've done a lot of WW in the solo version of the boat (WWC1), and while it's deep enough to keep some water out, it's not what anyone (other than DR racers) would consider a WW boat. And then they include the PakBoats. I've spend a lot of time in WW in PakBoats, and while they are very capable there, I wouldn't recommend them as a WW boat other than for fly-in expeditions (where they really excel)--bouncing off rocks is not their forte. You'll be replacing a lot of parts. Including such boats with Esquifs, which actually are designed for real WW, is absurd. Especially without adequate justification. Ok, maybe I had too much coffee.....

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Old Town, Mad River, Dagger, Perception, Blue Hole, Mohawk . . . "those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end."

No mention of the brand that has dominated open canoe whitewater slalom for 50 years, and of course is used by many river cruisers: Millbrook Boats.

Millbrook Boats

Composite whitewater canoes

millbrook-boats.business.site

MILLBROOK BOATS

MILLBROOK BOATS， Richmond, NH. 1,784 次赞 · 277 人在谈论. Your source for the lightest, highest performance, most affordable composite whitewater canoes in the entire world.

www.facebook.com

 

[pblanc]

Wow, what garbage! They say the Jensen WWII is one of the best WW boats?? Maybe if you're racing (30 years ago?), and there are no rocks. I know it's won a lot of races BITD, but for today's (clueless) modern paddler? Their specs say : "Intended Waterway: Lakes, Ponds & Inshore, Whitewater (Class III+)". Yeah, Class 3+ in a WWII. OK. I've done a lot of WW in the solo version of the boat (WWC1), and while it's deep enough to keep some water out, it's not what anyone (other than DR racers) would consider a WW boat. And then they include the PakBoats. I've spend a lot of time in WW in PakBoats, and while they are very capable there, I wouldn't recommend them as a WW boat other than for fly-in expeditions (where they really excel)--bouncing off rocks is not their forte. You'll be replacing a lot of parts. Including such boats with Esquifs, which actually are designed for real WW, is absurd. Especially without adequate justification. Ok, maybe I had too much coffee.....

Well, the WWII like the WWC1 is a downriver racing design. Very unlike whitewater river runners or whitewater play boats. The priority for downriver boats is to get downstream as quickly as possible. They require significant depth to help keep water out as much as possible because water in the boat slows you down. But they are not built for quick eddy turns or other maneuvers because eddying out is the last thing you want to do in a downriver race.

But that is part of the problem with this list. It is a complete hodgepodge of solo canoes, tandem canoes, whitewater play boats and down river boats. And as for whitewater playboats goes, it leaves off some very serious contenders including designs from Silverbirch, Blackfly, the composite Ocoee now offered by Northwater Canoe, and others. If you want a T-formex whitewater river runner or play boat these days you are pretty much limited to Esquif.

 

[Alan Gage]

I'm guessing this article is like nearly all the other "best of 2020, 2021, 2022, etc" articles that proliferate the web. Other than the initial intro I don't think they're even written by actual people but are rather done by some sort of algorithm that searches out reviews and manufacturer info. There's never any indication the "author" has any experience with whatever he/she/it is recommending.

One thing is for certain about these articles - They're very good at getting forums worked up.

Alan

 

[Mason]

Well, the WWII like the WWC1 is a downriver racing design. Very unlike whitewater river runners or whitewater play boats. The priority for downriver boats is to get downstream as quickly as possible. They require significant depth to help keep water out as much as possible because water in the boat slows you down. But they are not built for quick eddy turns or other maneuvers because eddying out is the last thing you want to do in a downriver race.

Right, that's what I said. DR boats. Do people even do that anymore?

 

[pblanc]

Right, that's what I said. DR boats. Do people even do that anymore?

Sure they do. Whitewater open canoe downriver racing and wildwater racing is still alive and well.

 

[Mason]

Sure they do. Whitewater open canoe downriver racing and wildwater racing is still alive and well.

Good to hear. I've been out of the racing scene for a long time, and never see reference of the boats used for DR anymore. The last DR OC race I saw (2016) had two entrants, and one was paddling a MR Explorer solo. I figured OC was on its last legs.

 

[ScottS]

They left out Coleman?

 

[Woodpuppy]

Most of the “best of” “articles” are utter refuse. So many read like boiler plate in which you can switch the subject from one object to another without changing the meaning (or utter lack thereof) of the “article”. It’s bad enough you could sub “canoe” for “skillet” and it would read comparably badly for both products. I blame this on the proliferation of Amazon associate websites. Buying the product through the link on an associate site makes the page-owner some small amount, so the more offal sites they grunt out the more money they make off the unsuspecting.

The net is very much caveat emptor. Anyone can “contribute” to the wasteland. But thankfully, islands like CanoeTripping.net exist as well!

 

[DougK]

No mention of the brand that has dominated open canoe whitewater slalom for 50 years, and of course is used by many river cruisers: Millbrook Boats.

Kaz has stopped taking orders for new Millbrook boats sadly.. these days the OC slalom scene is just full of MT Canoes, aka Empty Canoes, from Montana.. as I understand it they are basically the good old hull designs, Ocoee and Caption, made in composite.
Here's John of Empty Canoes at the Arkansas OC Nationals in 2018..

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Kaz has stopped taking orders for new Millbrook boats sadly

Thanks for the info, Doug. I hope it was because he's in a good enough position to retire, rather than because of some sort of unfortunate situation. It also sounds like he couldn't find anyone to sell the business to.

I remember Dave Paton, Kaz and Harold Deal dominating whitewater racing in the early '80's, before Kaz bought Millbrook from my whitewater teacher, John Berry. There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of Millbrook canoes in the country being unpaddled, like my deteriorating ME.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Kaz has stopped taking orders for new Millbrook boats sadly

Thanks for the info, Doug. I hope it was because he's in a good enough position to retire, rather than because of some sort of unfortunate situation.

Seems like Kaz's retirement is postponed. The following is now pinned on his Facebook page:

My retirement update, in case you're curious.

I originally hoped to start winding down at the end of July, but with SO many boats on order, that ain't happening. Thank you! I do appreciate your business.

Update: As of 8/1/22, I'm not taking any more orders until I get caught up.

There will come a time when I limit boat orders to 1 or 2 per month. When that happens, you'll read about it here.
As mentioned before, I'm not shipping boats anymore, too many hassles. Other transport will have to be arranged. By the way, New Hampshire is a nice place to visit.

And as always, once you have a deposit on a boat, your price won't change, unless you add something else. Raw material prices keep going up and I adjust my prices once every 6 weeks or so, usually $25 at a time.

After close to 35 years of building canoes at Millbrook Boats, I still love my job. Most times it doesn't even feel like a job, but I guess it is and it's what I do.

No gold watch, No retirement party. No regrets.

 

[GeoBoy]

I stopped by Northstar Canoe in Princeton, MN and their Ocoee white water canoe looks pretty awesome.

 

[DougK]

thanks Glenn, good to know he's still going..