Old School all the way!
The Bob Foote video was from the early 80s. Don’t know about whitewater-video posting other people’s old videos but whatever. Bob was paddling a Dagger Genesis. The Rival came out in1994. Ovation also not out yet. Yes, that was a Mad River ME.
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Yikes! Truly amazing. River gods were definitely smiling.
I haven’t seen anyone paddling an ME for years. Here’s the last guy I knew who paddled one.
That’s a big boat but he did fine in it (nothing like your video of the Grand Canyon). The picture above is from 2013 - about the time that Blackfly started. Within a couple of year’s everyone was paddling 8’ plastic boats. Same guy, same rapid, different boat, 3-years later.
I stuck with my Encore for a while
But eventually even I downsized to an Outrage.
That’s about as far as I will move in the small boat craze. All of these pictures/videos are the Ledges on the Pemi in NH. (I don’t do the real big stuff).
We’re also fortunate around here to have Millbrook Boats - alot of open boaters around here paddle composite Millbrooks . I’d love to get a composite Outrage. He also makes a composite Rival. Maybe an option for the OP, but a long way from the southwest.
Good to reminisce about old school boats, and see some amazing paddlers in them. Too bad people don’t paddle them more (at least around here).
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Yes, the Rival I was paddling in the GC Hermit video is a Millbrook boat. We aren’t paddling much so eventually our 2 rivals, a nexus, Bob’s Genesis (now outfitted for tripping), a phantom, a couple of mad river trippers, and whatever else we have under the deck, will be available again. We may take them up to Mikey as he is already asking about them 
Oh yeah - I don’t notice that when I watched it the first time - Millbrook with Mike Yee outfitting. A classic. I still can’t believe you stayed in the boat when that wave shot you up in the air - never seen anything like it.
That is wild. Impressive control.
Ah, you think I’m a good paddler. Not really. When the top of the wave decided to put me into a back surf, I went with it (not really any choice) and just tried to keep the boat aligned with the really fast current. Getting kicked up then landing upright was just due to the river gods being in a good mood. Nose over tailbone and let the boat move is all I did. But it was super fun.
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I looked on AW, and Hermit is rated class III - that’s the biggest class III that I have ever seen. I know, I’m just a wimpy east-coast paddler. They do it different out west.
https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River/view/river-detail/114/main
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Oh no! You opened the rapid rating box! It’s best just to leave that one alone.
Eastern river scale, Hermit would be a I, moving water, no maneuvers needed, no consequences (except your boat in that powerful water can really beat you up). But it is a river where the swirlies after a rapid can suck a whitewater rigged tandem boat with 2 paddlers completely underwater and hold it there. You have to change your low brace into a high brace because the water lever is above you. Ask me how I know.
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Tessthetaz,
Sorry to go off on a tangent. Bob brought a couple Bell Progidys on one of our GC trips. He co-developed it and lost the battle on giving it more beam and rocker. He fitted a prodigy with a longer thwart and it submarined less than the unaltered one in the GC rapids but still did a lot of tunneling. For a big water boat, go for blunter ends, softer chine, a bit wider beam, adequate rocker. That shape will ride up and over waver and be drier. Something with more defined chines will catch the edge in turbulent water and flip over faster than a paddlesnake move.
Pete (pblanc) has paddled an ME for years on our Ozark 'vous. Last fall he paddled sloopsailor’s old supernova though. He’s hard to predict… he has a lot of arrows in his quiver to choose from, although he seems quite fond of the ME. I doubt the ME has enough free board for big western rapids though.
The MRC ME has become one of my favorite canoes. Although it is over 15 feet in overall length, it paddles like a much shorter boat and its extreme rocker allows its bow to ride up over big waves with aplomb. Despite its rocker, it is actually reasonably efficient paddling in a straight line (for a whitewater canoe) and on Class I rivers I don’t have much trouble keeping up with other folks paddling more efficient hulls. It could definitely handle the Grand, assuming the paddler was up to it. Kaz, at Millbrook molded a composite ME for many years, although I believe he has now stopped taking orders for the ME.
The ME is a rounded hull design. If you wanted something edgy I would consider looking around for a Mohawk Viper 12, a direct descendant of Frankie Hubbard’s Edge. That is a hard chine design that is actually 12 1/2 feet in overall length. The Viper 12, and the foot shorter Viper 11 have been made in composite by Clipper Canoe in prior years, and I assume they still are although they might have to be special-ordered. Although It would not be an issue on a raft-supported trip on the Grand, the Viper 12 has enough capacity and width to put a 30 liter blue barrel in front of and behind the center pedestal with a little room to spare between the barrels and the stems which could be handy for downriver trips without raft support. The photo below shows a Clipper Viper 12 taken during a December 26th downriver trip on the Current River in Missouri.
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This might be a silly question, but is it my imagination or do some MEs seem to have more rocker than others? (Perhaps I’m confusing older/newer models? Pictures don’t always make it easy to tell.
Reason I’m asking: I’ve been looking to get one and I’m highly comfortable paddling classic 16 footers but want a little more rocker(just don’t desire anything smaller in the way of canoes, 'cause I already own play yaks out the wazoo). And since this one’s for sale not too far from me, seeking opinions before I go look(or spring news on my wife I’m dropping dough on yet another boat😜)
I believe that all of the Royalex MEs made by MRC came from the same mold. At least, I haven’t seen one that suggested they did not. I have never seen one of John Kazimierczyk’s composite MEs. Composite boats are always a bit different than the Royalex models they are based on but I have not heard that the rocker is different.
The ME has a lot of rocker as the photo below shows. On the other hand, it has quite decent directional stability for such a rockered hull, and the hull carves very well. But there is a lot of boat sticking up out of the water and in most cases the length overall is considerably greater than the waterline length so it can be a real handful in an adverse wind.
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Thanks, pblanc!
A canoe…A REAL handful in adverse wind???
I can’t believe that!
(But if true, I have a solution for it…)
.
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Amazing skills
You want rocker? How about a Howler? 5" at the bow & 10" at the stern in a 15’+ hard chined hull.
(Note the proper Charlie Wallbridge ribbed PFD here)
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Hmmm… Interesting. And if it were a matter of just being me all the time, yes. What’s drawn me to the ME is the versatility aspect, with it’s moderate rocker, of not necessarily being a full-on solo ww boat. (Understanding like all of us who’ve been in the game for awhile that every boat is something of a compromise 
) Also, hoping to find it on the"certified pre-owned" market and not shelling big bucks on something new. (Did I mention that I too would like one in red?
)
Then there’s the fact that I do a lot of loaded-up overnight tripping, with a passenger who I’m hoping to get a lot more out of as bow person…
But thanks, rival!
Depends on if you are out for the day with float bags and your local paddling club, or tripping over night with a load of gear.