I want to purchase a canoe for recreation. Looked from some solo canoes and found this one here: https://canoesurfer.net/best-canoes/#solo
They have listed this canoe as the best one for recreation. What do you think?
What do you plan to do with it? What type of water? How far do you plan to paddle? How fast? Do you plan to trip with it or otherwise need to carry a load? How far will you need to carry it? What is your budget?
“Recreation” is a broad category. I recently purchased a used 119 in like new condition. I love the canoe myself. I am mainly a quiet water paddler. Lakes and slow rivers generally nothing beyond class I and an occasional mild class II. I fish out of it. I plan to camp with it. It will carry more than enough payload for me. I mainly use a double paddle with it unless I am in tight places and not trying to move along. It is plenty stable for my old bones and I have no trouble paddling straight with it.
If you are wanting to do whitewater I would look in a different direction.
For a size reference I am 5’ 10" tall and about 170 lbs.
Most of the boats in the OP citation are not even canoes… If you are tripping with portages the 119 is a tub. If you just want to day paddle and float with not a lot of gear and don’t mind its insane weight ( most solo canoes are under 30 lbs these days) it might work…
I have many solos and no desire for the 119.
Its is an ok boat for twisty rivers… and best is subjective… You can have fun… Dont take it on big lakes though.
Excellent choice for an beginner/early boat as long as you limit yourself to flatwater. Something that small and short will not handle well in lots of wind and rough conditions. That said it’s not that big, it’s not super heavy and tough as nails and fairly maneuverable so you can take it in tight spots or some rapids. At 49lbs you won’t like to carry it very long distances but it can be done with one person. It’s a fairly common boat so in all likelyhood if you’re patient and keep an eye out you might save a few hundred bucks or more my keeping out for a used one.
I have an 11ish foot pack-canoe that weighs 24 lbs but it’s pricier and more fragile.
I recently sold one of those with a fancier seat, a Kay-Noe. It’s okay until the wind kicks up, and then it weathercocks like crazy.
Be careful how much credence you give these ‘best of’ lists, many of them are just filler for a page full of advertisements. This one’s an example: they’ve really said nothing specific or useful, and it isn’t even factually accurate. The text might as well have read, “Click this link so I can get paid.”
If this is the boat you want anyway, shop for a used one and save a bunch.