Anyone paddle the new Old Town Koru? For fibreglass it seems very light for it’s size; what’s the trick? Looks pretty.
Koru paddlin’
My wife and I saw the the very distinctive Korus at Canoecopia and agreed that they were beautiful boats, in either the carbon or fiberglass layups. We paddled one at Rutabaga later in the spring and really enjoyed it: Good glide, nice secondary stability and very pretty in 'glass w/nice wood trim. Not too heavy, either (say 50 lbs +/-). When we asked about the carbon boats, we were told that they “aren’t ready for prime time quite yet” and to look for them “maybe next year.” This is the first really new canoe from Old Town in a very long while, so it is important to them to get it right. The basic design felt really good. If they can get the details down it should be a fine boat for lots of people.
Who designed Her?
who did Old Town have design the Koru? Most other Manufacturers will mention who Lofted the design. Looking at the specs it looks like a nice hull.
Charlie
Koru design
– Last Updated: Sep-09-07 5:22 PM EST –
The Koru is a modification of the older Canadienne, which was a nice tripping/touring canoe from the 80s-90s (you could get it in glass or kevlar). This is a great tracking canoe that flies when it has a load of camping gear in it.
for 2008…
…they’re only offering the carbon version with aluminum gunwales. Weight is speccing in at 50 pounds - MSRP is showing at $2995.
Nice traditional lines on the boat (and yup, it sure looks like a Canadienne to me…), but I’d be hard pressed to make the case for a carbon Koru over any 17 foot Kevlar/ultralight Wenonah boat. The Wenonahs will all be 7 or 8 pounds lighter and $600+ cheaper.
Makes me wonder what happened to the supposedly 49 pound fiberglass with wood gunwale version of the Koru they were touting a year ago.