Ok. T-Formex canoes are manufactured from multi-laminate sheets, painstakingly designed specifically for each model. . The Spirit II's initial stability with two large paddlers in it and no other gear is reliable, then you can feel secondary kick in and firm up a bit, but you can go past secondary very quickly and roll the boat. Their Spirit IIs weigh in at 57#s. The Spirit II was beyond my expectations, once again. We got the Spirit II in Tuf-weave Flexcore. Good paddling in any weather and water condition up to class II whitewater.. the boat felt really comfortable and easy going and whenever correction were needed my 6 year old boy in the front seat helped with a draw and a pry here and there. Neither has countless encounters with Alligators and manatees. class two adults and kids a 2 and 4 year old I was only worried about tipping a few time but never did. The Spirit II is a wonderful all-round canoe that easily paddles rivers and streams with its 1.5 Rocker yet tracks nicely on an open lake with a breeze. We had at least 12 inches of freeboard and were drawing about 5 inches (not bad considering how much weight we had on board!). The price of the base model, a 68-pound plastic boat, is $1,199 and includes shipping. After moving to Alaska three years ago. It went on to become the most successful canoe model in Wenonah's line. The bow seat is on a slider with a quick release clamp so you can easily adjust your trim while underway, should the wind change. But, after they got in they went out and fully loaded tried to find something that would challenge them and didn't get a drop. 450lb weight capacity. That said, I've sold the J-18 and I really need to demo a Solo-Plus Back to Spirit II and stability. Well, I decided to keep the Grumman but after paddling several canoes, I decided on the Spirit II in Royalex. Mar 5, 2018. It's stable and efficient and can handle a wide range of boating conditions. canoes we wanted something light, tuff, and staple being a family of 4 with 2 dogs and all. Aurora 16' Touring Model + Weight Tuf. She is, perhaps, spoiled in that respect. A new paddler fearful of tippy boats? this great site and online community alive by contributing your financial support. I t is a great canoe. "Balanced" is the best word to describe the Spirit II. Primary stability is acceptable, but secondary is amazing. Like a swiss army knife, the Spirit II does everything - and if you needed one canoe to serve your needs for the rest of your life, this would be a top contender. The kevlar layup is light and tough. Going from the car to the dock? Although if I had an extra 2k lying around I might spend it on some Kevlar. I spent 100s of hours in the boat taking very close care of it, always stored inside, and waxed it every other year. Don't have an account yet? Plus countless outings around home. . It is a dream come true for those who canoe lakes and moderate rivers and who need light weight, 42#. Aurora Description. Handles well solo from bow seat. I opted for sponges on the front and a hitch rack in back for our Ford F-150. No wonder Canoe & Kayak Magazine said, "if you could have only one canoe to serve all your needs for the rest of your life, the Spirit II would be one of the very few candidates.". In our Ultra-light construction a structural-foam core and ribs are laminated into the hull and sides. It wenton to become the most successful canoe model in Wenonahs line. weight: 57 lbs. For us it was between the Adirondack in Royalex or this boat. The 17' Spirit II Royalex layup is known for durability, stability, comfortable seats, and load capacity. tripping capabilities after that trip, but I am expecting to be just as pleased Today, we look at the 2010 designs of the iconic canoe company, Wenonah. Keewaydin 16 Combi - Swift Canoe & Kayak - People Who Know, Paddle Swift. Results for "wood spirit" in All Categories in Canada Showing 1 - 40 of 72 results. Discover and compare the year's best canoes from 30+ top brands like Old Town, Pelican and Wenonah. Other than having a difficult time making forward progress the boat performed way better than I could have ever imagined. I bought one last year and it is about the same as my Sundowner tuf-weave. Mine came from a bwca Outfitters. [ Read more: Esquif Canoes T-Formex Is Real ]. First off I have to say it is an awesome hull design! I have had the boat out in a local bay, Tomales, and on one occasion it got very rough, 25 knots of sustained wind and a brutal 2-3 foot wind chop. The other thing that we've found is that compared to my parents Minnesota II the capacity on the Spirit is far greater. Wenonah 17 . All of the reviews are created and written by paddlers like you, so be sure to submit your own review and be part of the community! I'm throwing in a bunch of accessories that we accumulated for it, including a couple of oars, a center foam seat, oar locks, and a wheel-truck to help move the canoe around. Most of mine were in that weight range. if you do go through with the purchase, i'd suggest getting some extra thick portage pads a must for the longer portages. After much research, I bought a Wenonah spirit 2 in tuff weave, kevlar ends and bucket seat. Outfitting . Paddled well loaded and unloaded while fishing. Needlesstosay, the contrast between the two boats is severe. I learned canoeing in Grummans and have spent hours kneeling, so I know that This boat does everything we need it to and does it very well. Ive even done some wake jumping when the powerboats got too thick. 17 Wenonah 17' 0" Spirit II 17' 0" Champlain 18' 0" Seneca 19' 4" Compare All General Touring; . I've just finished a 130 kilometer paddling trip three days ago, spent a week on flat water, around one of the biggest islands in Finland. CANOE RATINGS. I have three other tandem canoes also, all various brands. It tracks well but also turns easily. It's big enough for . A 68-pound boat made of plastic material known as Royalex costs only $1,199 as the bare minimum. Wenonah designed it to be pretty good at everything. It accelerates to speed with just a few strokes and will maintain a cruising speed with moderate effort. This is a plus when paddling with a novice or child in the bow seat and all steering must be done from the stern.My Spirit has the tractor style seats which I find comfortable.My only complaint with the canoe is the fact that it does not come standard with a portage yoke.To install a yoke you must drill out the pop rivets holding in the thwart and then pop rivet brackets into the gunwales.This isn't to hard but time consuming and nerve racking since you are having to drill holes into your new canoe. When I get older (& have more money), I will probably replace it with a lighter Kevlar canoe. Front seat slider option which I would insist upon. I dont live or work in Missoula where the rivers run long and free of portages. width: 34 1/2" I have a Kevlar hull with red gel coat and wood trim. This site has grown since 2002 from a few visitors a day to up to 10,000 We-No- Na company very nice to deal with. I was also impressed with the ease with which the Spirit II rolled over rocks on which I typically would have at least paused. 5 Pieces of Gear to Help You Sneak a Hike Into Your Non-Hiking Trip, This Lightweight Daypack Can Handle a Dunk in the Ocean, These 20 Pieces Of Gear Changed Backpacking Forever. but I would be hard pressed to believe there is better. On one camping river trip, I had roughly 700 pounds in it between the 2 paddlers and gear. I've matched it with a classic composite Old Town Canadien, and the Spirit II was faster and less twitchy, but turned just as well. Spirit II 17' Touring Model/Weight Options: Tuf. Tuf-weave Flex-core canoe shown with Standard Options, may not be . Thank you Wenonah for your Ultralight Spirit II. I have one of the first dozen Royalex Spirit IIs, and it's proven to be a wonderful boat. There are lots of specialized canoes available that will do different tasks better than the Spirit II (straight line speed, load carrying, turnability) but none will do them all as well as this boat. Its literally fused with the hull and therefore stronger than aluminum. Its refilling a hole that over the last couple years was somewhat of avoid, he says. I have the kevlar bow and stern layups. Wenonah Spirit II Royalex Canoe - $1,100 (Eureka) Wenonah Spirit II Royalex CanoeCanoe purchased in 2002. Its carefully contoured hull paddles easily and performs reliably in wind and waves. Makes it nice to solo. I found the boat to be a true pleasure to paddle, has a nice glide, easy to turn, and very stable even with my weight, The boat is not too heavy. Last summer we had to dry dock our 1964 Moore Venom Racer for repairs and a very special face lift. Easy to fix as it is three separate layers. Of course, there are other factors that apply. Unloaded there is a tendency to oilcan just a bit (between my wife and I we make about 400 pounds of cargo, thus increasing the likelihood of oilcanning). Privacy Policy. When my husband said he wanted a canoe, I did my research again. Wenonah's most versatile, all-around canoe, the Spirit II finds that balance between tracking across lakes and maneuvering through whitewater. We have rocky streams in pennsylvania and I have paddled my tuff weave Spirit II for 2 years, I am returned to canoes after 40 years of kayaking. Bow chair is adjustable for balance. needless to say we had all our camping equipment in the boat with us which was another 100lbs or so. When loaded light, it skips across the water, but loses some tracking. It also had to look good to the eye. February 17th, 2006. Handled powerboat wake with no problem at all. With three The Aurora, puts the wide versatility and superb performance of our best-selling model, the Spirit II, into a more-compact package. You will have to WORK Id also go for black anodized gunwales. Your consideration of a 17 foot Wenonah Prospector (no Royalex availability listed for the 17 footer) for more speed and . Cookie Notice comes without a carry yoke which I didn't like and bought a clip on yoke. Easy to turn and tracks great. It is probably a fine canoe, but I found the seats too high. My wife and I use the Venom Racer like most serious canoeists use a touring canoe. The 50-year-old canoe company has plans to produce seven of its models in T-Formex in 2017. 16% X 15' = 28.8 (minimum width at 4" waterline using 16% rule) . Like a Swiss Army Knife, the Spirit II does everything. This article originally appeared in Canoeroots Early Summer 2017 issue. Seats, footbraces, and all hardware is then riveted into these plates. I have had my Royalex Spirit II for 1 year now and it is a wonderful do everything boat. A Wenonah Spirit II Roylex with a center portage thwart. Last Visit: 03/23/2023 09:26AM Sort by. I picked up a Northwoods in Whitegold for a song early this season. I will continue to use this canoe as long as I feel comfortable portaging it up to 1 mile. This one can be packed down and loaded . This canoe does everything and that's exactly what I need. 2 vote down. We-no-nah Spirit II in Royalex. I am 6' 215lbs and have been kayaking for the last 9 years. After all this drama it turns out that our T-Formex Spirit II looks andperforms just like a Royalex one. Their initial stability is almost as good as a flat bottom, but they retain a good secondary stability. The Spirit II tracks beautifully, and manages to be steady and stablewithout being sluggish. Efficiency. I would buy another if I lost this one. So if you are looking for an incredible canoe, with attributes listed above, get a Spirit II, or another Ultralight of suitable size. This is the one that my kids and I used to crab in Winchester Bay and fish on the Chetco River and lower Columbia. . Ultra-light hulls are stiff and incredibly light. We lost two plenty of room for extra gear. Still a nice boat and very well made except for the oil canning. I was extremely impressed with the Spirit II's maneuverability and tracking (for a royalex boat), even agains strong headwinds at times. Find the perfect canoe in seconds. It was equipped with a third seat which I thought to be a little funny at first. It's just cosmetic. Clearfield to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this May. As for running waves. Over 10,000 Spirit IIs have been built since 1988. the Spirit II is faster, nicely stable, and also pretty maneuverable. I've I finally got my Spirit II in royalex out on the Buffalo river in NW Arkansas this weekend for a 10-mile float after some heavy rains. This after 40 years of Old Town Oltonars, 16 and 18 foot, and a Pack 12 which was horribly tippy and tracked bad. Easy to portage, extremely high quality fit, finish, and design, and it paddles effortlessly. At 54 lbs, it's not the lightest canoe for long portages, but for a guy in his 30's it's definitely doable. I am totally happy with the boat. Northwind is 16'6". Tuf-weave canoes offer improved impact resistance and are a great compromise between light weight, performance, and price. Still, I have to say, it can back up all of its claims. . But at the same time it tracks great and is very stable. Paddled approximately two weeks per year on the Mississippi, St. Croix, and other MN/WI rivers and lakes. It's a very bright green. Complete Canoe Outfitting Packages; . very good condition for its age. ; wenonah.com. So new to us, we haven't put the vessel to any "real" test yet. There's so much room for gear that, when going solo, I don't even need to remove the front and back seats, I just slide my most buoyant sacks underneath for added safety. - room for center seat and it moves right along. Spirit II 17' More Details. Broke a wood gunnel at the yoke. We have been able to continue our canoeing at ages 60 and 80, respectively with the right canoe. It's is tough, light (under 60lbs. Wenonah builds the inside of the gunwale right into the hull while it is still in the mold. Hull Material Royalex Length 17' Weight 65 lbs Gunwale Width 35" Capacity Excellent Stability Excellent Manueverability Excellent Speed Average. This gives a very secure connection and eliminates rivet heads on the exterior. It does tend to catch and be turned by crosswinds, but all keel-less canoes do that. If you only have space or the budget for one canoe, then this is your boat. The Spirit II is great for the Canadian style as well. We also add extra fabric layers to strengthen specific targeted areas. Price: $ 1,350.00. First, it doesn't feel like a Royalex boat. Even in whitewater chop, the boat was so stable. After decades in ocean kayaks, I added a canoe to the fleet. Sure, its not as fast as the Wenonah Escape (176) or the Minnesota II (186), but it feels snappy and accelerates easily, even with a weeks supply of equipage. ; wenonah . Im in my late 40s and have been in canoes since before I could walk, as have our kids. do you get a class ring for associates degree; hoja santa leaves substitute; institute of scrap recycling industries title v applicability workbook The canoe is just barely light enough for me to load it on the top of my full-sized truck by myself. While it's a foot shorter, the Aurora is as deep in the center as the Spirit II, and is also deep in the . The origins of the Spirit begins in 1981 when Wenonah sales and distribution representative Kurt Renner was sitting with a Wenonah dealer from Missoula, Montana. Because the local shop had a 15% sale, we upgraded to the Tuf-weave and longer boat. I've canoed quite a bit with my father as a kid and now decided to make a purchase on a quality canoe so I can share it with my wife and kids. The Spirit II glided efficiently through the Main Branch Susquehanna's flatwater, and took the few ledges with aplomb. So my two cent summary: if you're larger paddler(s) and want the best canoe to fish for a few hours from or one you can easily stand up in, get one with a flatter bottom (like the Kingfisher). Model in Wenonahs line other thing that we 've found is that compared to my parents Minnesota II capacity. Not be but never did as a flat bottom, but all keel-less canoes do that and sides I need. 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