I'm looking to buy a canoe, and I have two choices at the moment. In your opinion, which would suite BWCA better. A Royalex Madriver Eclipse 16' or a 17' Smokercraft Aluminum canoe. I've done all the research, but haven't canoed either of them and was wondering if there was a prefered material for canoes along my route or just a better choice. The portages are not very long and weight is not a factor because of the large stature of my canoeing parter (6'5"-280 lbs.)
Let's see your partner is 280, I'll guess you weight about 200 lbs, BWCA gear and food another 100 lbs, that's 580 lbs and I bet there wouldn't even be 7" freeboard in a 16' boat with that load. Then add 20" waves to this equation. If these boats are your choices, go with the 17' for safety.
weight aside The MR Eclipse is a great boat and about a gillion times better then any aluminum designs. The Eclipse is royalex version of the MR Malecite.