​Which Royalex canoes will you miss most?

[Guest]

With the apparent demise of Royalex as a construction material I was contemplating which RX hull I would miss the most. I’m thinking of canoes that do not have a readily available composite sibling.

In tandem probably the OT Penobscot, which was a wonderful do-everything canoe. And an even better big boy solo. Fortunately used Penobscots are not exactly unicorns.

In solo maybe the Mohawk Odyssey 14. Great moving water daytripper, especially on shallow rocky rivers. That flat bottom hull would float across a dewy lawn if lightly loaded.

What will you miss in RX?

 

[Guest]

Mohawk solo 13. I'm thinking of of buying an extra to back up mine. Its a higher volume Flashfire.
Turtle

 

[yellowcanoe]

Nothing. I have a Raven and a Penobscot and and Argosy and none are leaving

 

[pblanc]

For non-whitewater use I found composite boats to be preferable in just about every aspect other than cost. There were, however, some nice non-whitewater hulls not available in composite form, the OT Penobscot and Mohawk Odyssey 14 certainly being among them.

When it comes to whitewater hulls, many longer solo boats and tandems will be missed. They are too numerous to list but include most of Esquif's production line, the Mad River Caption tandem, Mad River Outrage solo, Nova Craft Ocoee solo (previously made by Dagger and Bell), Nova Craft Moisie tandem (previously the Blue Hole Starburst), as well as most all of Mohawk's line. The Probe 11 and 12 and Viper 11 and 12 (previously made by Mohawk) are available in composite form from Clipper, but boats like the Probe 14 (an excellent whitewater tandem) are gone.

 

[Canotrouge]

None... Sorry!

 

[Will Derness]

Old Town Cascade. A 15' tandem it makes for a great solo WW canoe, with enough volume for over nighters. I have one but it has been ridden hard and put away wet. Many layers of Dynel on its bottom to hold it together from years of hard use. I'd love to find a pristine Cascade.

Most of my fellow WW canoeists view it as somewhat a barge, but they are usually in 12-13 foot highly rockered play canoes. The a Cascade makes a for great down river canoe, playing is possible but it cruises as well.