I too was there, and had a lot of fun! I attended in hope of doing the following:
- Try out as many different canoe models as possible
- Connect with other solo canoeists
- Participate in the freestyle clinic (and hopefully improve my paddling technique)
- Maybe buy some paddling gear
I succeeded at all of the above!
In addition to my own canoe (I brought my Bell Yellowstone Solo), I paddled at least 17 different models, of which 16 were ones I had not paddled previously:
Blackhawk
Zephyr
Curtis
Lady Bug
Nomad
Hemlock
Kestrel
Peregrine
SRT
Eaglet
Eagle
Lotus
Caper
Moore/Noel
Covenant
Northstar
Northwind Solo
Redfeather
Merlin III
Rockstar
Magic
Savage River
Illusion
Slipstream
Inspire 14
Swift
Dragonfly
Of all the canoes I tried, my favorite was the Hemlock Peregrine, followed closely by the SRT. The Peregrine gave me a feeling of confidence similar to that I experience when paddling my Mad River Independence—I felt the most comfortable and relaxed in it of all the canoes I tried—and the SRT felt like it would be the most capable solo for an extended trip.
Besides the above, the canoes I was most thrilled to paddle were the historic models, e.g. the Caper, Covenant, Dragonfly, Lady Bug, and Nomad. I’d’ve liked to spend more time in all of them than I did, but here are my quick impressions of the five I just mentioned:
- The Caper’s feel reminded me of a David Yost-designed canoe: it was friendly and fun to paddle, and its shouldered tumblehome made it feel secure when heeled. Also, it's so pretty!
- The Covenant was by far the strangest of all the canoes I tried. Having heard about how influential Pat Moore was in the development of freestyle canoeing, I expected it to turn well; in fact, however, it very much did not—rather than being playful and responsive, it felt fast, smooth, and hard-tracking (fun, but in a very different way!). The most similar other canoe I tried was the Magic—and the Magic turned better! The Covenant was also rather narrow and had very little initial stability—in these qualities, it was most comparable to the Dragonfly.
- The Dragonfly was the only model that I’d paddled previously—I tried one last summer at a Swift demo day and quickly became enamored with it, feeling like it was more an extension of my body than a boat. I didn’t get the same feeling in it at WPASCR, which I thought was curious; nonetheless, it was still exhilarating to paddle, and I felt a lot more confident/comfortable with its twitchy initial stability than I did last year. I am not sure how best to describe what the Dragonfly is like to paddle; in handling, it seemed to fall somewhere between my Yellowstone Solo (or a Wildfire) and the Illusion, but its depth made it feel more like the SRT. With the beginner's repertoire of paddle strokes I started the weekend with, it felt more responsive than the Yellowstone Solo/Wildfire or SRT, but after I took the freestyle clinic, I found those models more fun for practicing axles and posts because they are roomier at the paddling station and less tender.
- The Lady Bug felt nearly identical to my Yellowstone Solo. The differences I noticed were that the Lady Bug’s bubbled sides provide less firmness when heeled than the Yellowstone Solo’s shouldered flare (which seems like a good thing for freestyle, but a drawback otherwise) and that the Lady Bug turned just a little faster and tracked just a little less strongly (which, given its slightly shorter length, is unsurprising).
- The Nomad felt a lot like the Peregrine (as one would expect, given that they are related and very similar designs), but the two canoes were more different than I expected: the Nomad was quite noticeably more tender (though the one I tried had a rather high seat), and its plumb stems and large float tanks made it feel like it had somewhat less room for carrying gear. The folks at Hemlock claimed that the Peregrine has more bow rocker and therefore turns better than the Nomad, but if there is a difference in their handling, I either don’t have the skill or didn’t give the two hulls a thorough enough shakedown to say with any confidence that I noticed it.
Unexpectedly, after paddling so many canoes, I feel a new appreciation for the ones I already have. Going into the weekend, and knowing how widely praised some of the canoes I hoped to paddle are, I assumed that, while I very much like the canoes I own, I might come away feeling like certain other models would elevate the paddling experience and that I’d aspire to someday upgrade to them. It turned out, however, that the canoes I liked best reminded me a lot of those I already have—and in some ways, those I have now have qualities that I find more appealing than anything I paddled at WPASCR! Perhaps I have too much affinity for the familiar, and I can’t say for sure that I won’t wish for something different in the future—especially since I am hardly an expert paddler—but I don’t feel like I’m missing out by paddling the canoes I own now, and I’m glad about that!
In addition to trying out canoes, I was able to demo a few paddles, and I came home with a Grey Owl Fleetwood from
@NoelCanoeDad (who has just opened a new paddling shop and was there to represent it!). Although superficially similar in design to my Wenonah Cormorant—both have similarly-sized Sugar Island style blades—I feel like the Fleetwood gives me a little more “oomph” when doing a bow draw or stern pry, and it’s also better-balanced and wonderfully smooth for in-water recoveries—which all adds up to it feeling a little more refined, effective, and fun for practicing freestyle. It’s also incredibly lightweight, which I’ll appreciate when tripping!
Moving on to the freestyle clinic: I felt like I learned a lot in a short time, which I was very excited about! I now know how to do an axle, a post, a cross axle, and a cross post and how to accentuate a turn by doing a high kneel to weight the bow of my canoe—which, while all fairly simple, feels to me like a lot of progress for just an hour of instruction! I’ll need to do a lot of practicing to be able to do those things well, but even the progress I made at WPASCR affected how I interact with my canoe and made me feel more confident in my paddling.
Last—and best—I had a lot of really nice conversations with other canoe enthusiasts. For those of you who are on the forum (as well as those who aren’t, if you see this!), I hope I’ll see you again in future years—and let me know if you’d ever like to meet up for a paddle!
