I am looking for a used light weight tandem 17 foot aluminum canoe.
What brands would be light weight and fast ?
Jack L
The
Alumicraft …the lightning model, 63 pounds {has a decal under the gunnels for the entire length …
Best Wishes
Roy
Beaver
jack,
The 17’ AlumaCraft is lighter and used by more people around here who race in the aluminum class than the reliable Grumman. For super aluminum with an 18’6" length limit the boat to find is a Beaver. They are an aluminum copy of an early Jensen USCA cruiser. No rivets, welded skin, internal airplane like truss bulkheads. Weigh around 50#.
Grumman models in O.O37" T6061 are around 60# for a 17’ and close enough to the Alumacraft that you and Nanci would be very competitive. I would rivet in Wenonah bucket seats and foot braces if the rules allowed.
You trying to give Charlie and Red Cross Randy a chance at beating you by going aluminum?
Bill
Alumacraft Voyageur if you want light
– Last Updated: May-01-13 9:54 PM EST –
We owned one for a while - 17 ft, 56 lbs actual weight, same general lines as the standard Alumacraft but thinner (.35 gauge) aluminum and I believe it had a lower sheer line. Probably hard to find now. Didn't seem especially fast but then I was comparing it to a Royalex NorthWind. I have no idea how it compares to a Grumman.
my favorite was the grumman eagle
what can I say, I like to cheap boats. Its light for a grumman but I think it came up short of 17’. I’m sure there are faster (longer and narrower) boats but it was a really fun boat to heel solo. It had great secondary stability. My first choice for running whitewater in an aluminum canoe solo but probably not the best speeder.
Grumman Eagle 17
I had one many years ago. It was easy for me to stand in. Probably the nicest boat Grumman ever made. It didn’t have those high recurved ends to catch the wind that all the other Grummans have.
Grumman Eagle
The 17’ Eagle was Grumman’s answer to the Coleman canoe and the Old Town 174 Discovery. It was a kit boat designed to lower shipping and handling costs to the big box retailers. No recurved stems, no tumblehome and a very strong hull. The gunwales were riveted on at the factory and all the trim(seats, thwarts,end caps) were shipped inside the stacked hulls. Lots of flare in the ends and continuous flare along the sides. Very dry canoe in waves, but a long reach to the water for short paddlers due to the wide spread gunwales. Speed was good for an aluminum canoe since the hull tapered very gradually from the bow to amidships. And as mentioned above great secondary stability.
Bill