Hi folks,
I'm new around here, so please forgive me if this has been hashed over
before:
I'm intending to buy a Wenonah Spirit II for general multi-purpose
use with the family -- mostly day trips on fla***er streams and
lakes, with some extended outings of a few days, and also (here's the
important part) occasional mild whitewater. Generally Class II max,
but I know that eventually this canoe is gonna find itself in some
Class III rapids.
So my question now is: what hull material? My preference is Kevlar,
but the cost is prohibitive for me, so I'm down to Royalex and
Tuf-weave (Wenonah's name for their fiberglass/polyester composite).
I was strongly leaning towards Tuf-weave because of the stiffness and
sleeker hull lines than Royalex, but the sales person I was talking to
was trying to talk me into Royalex because it's a lot stronger. He
made it sound like one crack on a rock and my hull would be cracked
with Tuf-weave.
This is counter to what Wenonah says about Tuf-weave: "There's little
difference in toughness (between Kevlar and Tuf-weave), only in weight
and cost." And also "It has greater durability than any grade of
fiberglass used for canoes. ...plus Kevlar reinforcing in the ends."
But that's marketing. I'd like to hear what someone besides Wenonah
has to say about it. On that day when I do take a Tuf-weave hull into
a Class III rapid, is the first big cruch on a rock gonna make me
regret not getting Kevlar or Royalex? (Just for the sake of this
discussion, we can assume some fair degree of competence among the
paddlers... ;-)
Cheers,
--
Dave Guertin