Does anyone know about the quality of the canoes, how they handle, etc?
I believe what you are thinking of…
… is an Allagash model of the Old Town line.
If so, they are stable, fairly heavy compared to many others, tougher than most (some say indestructible,but thats pushing it). Good bang for the buck if not looking to win races.
I believe they replaced the Discovery line for Old Town.
The Discovery line is current
Has not been replaced.
I have seen in the Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race several canoes marked Allagash. They are not marked Old Town…they are marked in the center of the top of the side.
Other than they look like general family canoes and these looked beat up and old I dont know of their lineage.
Stowe Canoe and Snowshoe company
The Allagash line was the premium line of canoes produced by the Stowe Canoe and Snowshoe Company. They are much better paddling canoes than the Stowe Mansfield line and their budget line whose name i cannot remember.
The Allagash canoes resemble the typical “Vermont Canoe” (Mad River, Rainbow, Ranger, Vermont, etc). Have similar hulls, ash trim, yokes, cane and woven seats. Think variations of the Mad River Explorer and E.M. White Lightning.
Well made, a bit heavy, not particularly fast, but no bad traits.
Tell us what length and width and i can tell you more about that particular model.
Bill
Allagash
My father bought a used Allagash 15 years ago. The company was in Main. I am not sure if they still exist.
It has ash trim and is forest green. I know it is claimed it can be bent in half and come back. He loves it. It is 70lbs and 16’-6".
Au Contraire
"“They are much better paddling canoes than the Stowe Mansfield line.”
Mansfield was a subsidiary of the Stowe Ski & SNowshoe Co…and built a number of different models. They made my first Prospector, and it is a dream to paddle. Beautiful to look at as well, with mahognay ribs & ash trim.
However, Mansfield, like many a small canoe comopany, went belly up. The milds were purchased by another guy who maufactured the models uner the Allagash name.
WHile similar to the Mansfield line, they never really had the sharp looking fit & finish found on the Mansfield models.
BTW- The first canoe of the Stowe company was called the “Mansfield.” It came out in the 1960’s and had a 42" beam and a keel. I guess thier primative focus groups did not want a “tippy” canoe.
Even more contraire. Allagash was,
at one time, its own canoe company. It was bought out by a guy named Ed Kiniry who purchased Tubbs Snowshoes, owner of the Stowe line of . He first bought Tubbs, then purchased Allagash. The canoe lines were sold when it became obvious that snowshoes were more profitable.
Catalog Archives
Joe,
Those floppy bottomed, keeled, recurved ended, Mansfields, were the ones referenced when i said the Allagash were better paddling. I did not remember Stowe producing a Prospector. Knowing your honesty, i will dig into my catalog archives and sift thru the dust till i find my Allagash Catalog. I can still picture in my mind the cover shot; will see if the memory is valid or corrupted by too many years.
Bill
from the dusty archives
A mid 80"s catalog of the Stowe Canoe and Snowshoe Company shows both the Mansfield Line and the Allagash line.
The Mansfield line had their signature wood ribs laminated into the fiberglass hull, like Merrimack. They show a 13’ & 15" Classic model at 40" wide. A 16’ & 17’ Champlain model at 36 1’2" and 37 1/2" wide and the Prospector that Joelillydipper mentioned.
Four models show in the Allagash line, a 13’x 39" Nomad, a 16’ x 36" Nomad, A 16’ x 33" Endurance, and a 17’3" x 36" Endurance. The Nomads show as flat bottomed and the Endurance as shallow arch. all had ash trim. The Endurance models were available in Kevlar, vacuum bagged at 53 and 57#.
Bill
Stowe may have had an Allagash line,
but Allagash Canoe Company was a separate entity until 1989 when they were bought. Allagash and Stowe were sold in '93.
Last know address for Allagash Canoe
company:
ALLAGASH CANOE CO INC (DUNN FARM RTE 4 in SOUTH BERWICK, ME)
This is from 2000 Census information, probably obtained in 1998-9. No record of manufacture and may have been running a canoe guide service only at that time.
Allagash Canoe Co
– Last Updated: Oct-20-07 12:25 AM EST –
Early 80's out of Francestown NH made a couple of Royalex boats one at 17Ft and one at 15 1/2. Also made a couple of glass boats. Don't remember how long they were around but they show up in the 1983/84 Canoe magazine buyers guide.