Good day all, I have been looking for a beater river tripper and thought it would be great to find an old Old Town Tripper but, as you know OT stopped making the Tripper years ago (give your head a shake OT!!!) and now they are hard to find used in any condition.
A friend and I were discussing what some of the “modern day” equivalents of the Tripper would be. So, I thought I would post it here to see what you guys think, of the canoes made and available for purchase today, what canoe best matches the lines, specs and design of the good’ol Old Town Tripper?
I am not sure of the exact specs of the Tripper off hand is but, I am sure some of you know and can share. The first and obvious suggestion would the Prospector design but, I am not sure that is the closest.
Lets hear what you guys think and what conversation ensues.
@rnsparky said:
Ain’t none, it’s a classic unto to itself. Had one for 15 years, had to sell it sadly. It had a bad habit of getting heavier every year.
come on sparky, I know she’s a classic but there has got to be one similar out there these days! Sorry to hear you had to sell yours, I guess you know why I was looking for one. was that foam core absorbing water?
You might take a look at the Nova Craft Moisie. This is basically a rebranded Starburst, originally molded by Blue Hole Canoe and later molded in Royalex by Nova. Of course, no Royalex canoe is made anymore because no Royalex is made any more. The Moisie is now made in the TuffStuff expedition layup at a listed weight of 66 lbs.
The Starburst was long regarded as one of the outstanding whitewater tripping tandem canoes. The hull is 8 inches shorter and 3 inches narrower at the gunwales than the Tripper. It has a goodly amount of rocker and is very whitewater capable.
Specs on the Royalex Tripper: length overall 17’ 2", width 37", width at 4" waterline 35 1/2", bow height 25", depth at center 15", weight 80 lbs.
@pblanc said:
You might take a look at the Nova Craft Moisie. This is basically a rebranded Starburst, originally molded by Blue Hole Canoe and later molded in Royalex by Nova. Of course, no Royalex canoe is made anymore because no Royalex is made any more. The Moisie is now made in the TuffStuff expedition layup at a listed weight of 66 lbs.
The Starburst was long regarded as one of the outstanding whitewater tripping tandem canoes. The hull is 8 inches shorter and 3 inches narrower at the gunwales than the Tripper. It has a goodly amount of rocker and is very whitewater capable.
Specs on the Royalex Tripper: length overall 17’ 2", width 37", width at 4" waterline 35 1/2", bow height 25", depth at center 15", weight 80 lbs.
Great recommendation PB, thanks. I will look into the moisie but, its cutting it close on length. Looks like we posted the specs at the same time, does you know the rocker of the tripper, its listed as “moderate rocker”?
It is really pointless to compare rocker measurements between manufacturers because there is no uniform standard for measuring rocker. As for length, keep in mind that the Tripper had quite pronounced recurved stems and the Moisie has rather proud stems. Recurved stems look traditional but don’t really contribute much to either carrying capacity or waterline length. If you look at photos of the Tripper, you will see that at least 3 inches of hull stick out beyond the tip of the deck plate at both ends. That accounts for most of the length difference between the Tripper and the Moisie. My guess is the carrying capacity of these two hulls is pretty much equivalent.
Steve, I don’t recall ever paddling an Appalachian. But it is a 16’ boat and my impression is it has significantly less carrying capacity than either the Moisie or the Tripper. My guess is it was more geared toward being a whitewater day tripper, but I could be wrong.
I have paddled a Wenonah Rogue a good bit, but only on Class I-II and flat water. I don’t think it paddles at all like the Starburst (Moisie). It did not seem to have nearly the maneuverability. The Starburst has a fairly sharp water entry but enough rocker that it turns quite nicely. My impression of the Rogue is not very favorable, I’m afraid. It has a sharp prow that tends to cut into waves instead of riding over them, a thin bottom that oil cans like crazy, not as much maneuverability as I would like for whitewater, and way too much windage to paddle unloaded on flat water, or even with a moderate load.
Back in the days of Royalex when recommendations were made for whitewater tandem tripping canoes, three boats were consistently mentioned: the Dagger Dimension (a 16 footer), the Old Town Tripper, and the Blue Hole Starburst. The Old Town Appalachian seemed to get honorable mention.
Thanks again no trouble telling you know your stuff.
The Appalachian is classified as a tripper and it’s capacity is rated at only 100 lbs less than the Tripper.
Regardless, the moisie is a whitewater boat, along the lines of the Esquif Canyon, which is another boat I was seriously looking at as a used royalex version in great shape came up for sale locally. But, it’s dedicated ww style and healthy price made me walk and it still hasn’t sold. like Steve said, we are getting into whitewater trippers now and correct me if I’m wrong but, the OT Tripper was a little move “all around” tripper that performed well in class I and II apposed to the moisie/canyon type canoe’s. For the most part, I have a few bigger rivers around that have short sections of class II with large wide sections that gets windy. That being said, there are some others that would be perfect for the moisie/canyon.
I was thinking of today’s canoe’s comparable to Tripper would be the Swift Dumoine, possibly their temagami, Esquif Presage, Nova craft prospector 17… Anyone think of any others?
I have to admit Pete, the input you provided has me reconsidering that canyon and looking through my phone to see of I still have his number.
Be careful with the capacities listed by manufacturers as well because there is no solid standard for those either. Furthermore, makers are not even consistent with listed load capacities for a given model. As an example, I have an Old Town catalog that lists a capacity of 1100 lbs for the Tripper, not 1500-1550 lbs, with otherwise all the same specs you listed. The same catalog lists a capacity of 1700 lbs for the 20 ’ Tripper XL.
Manufacturers often listed a 6" freeboard capacity for their hulls, but unless they state this the listed capacity could be just about anything up to the point that the gunwales go underwater. And very few prudent trippers would paddle loaded canoes on rivers with any kind of rapids with only 6" of freeboard. So unless the makers specify exactly how they are determining capacity, comparing the listed capacity of two different canoes is hazardous. Even if two makers are using 6" freeboard capacity measurements, differences in hull shape will affect this measurement. Lets say you want a minimum of 9" of freeboard for your loaded canoe. The hull shape will determine how much water is displaced when you sink that additional 3" of hull (the part you really don’t want in the water) for the 6" freeboard determination. A hull with a lot of flare all the way to the gunwales will obviously displace more additional water than one with straight sides or tumblehome.
When I spoke of capacity I was talking more about the space available between the paddling stations for stowing gear.
Copy that! I am well aware of what a crock the manufacturers listed max capacities are. I might use them as comparison when looking at boats from the same company but, would never load a canoe anywhere near its suggest max load capacity! I just used it when we were talking about tripper vs Appalachian. However it’s a good point you made about flare displacing more water.
Anyway, let’s not to get hung up on capacity and get back on track. Any other suggestions?
Actually there is one that is close, the Old Town 169 is really a slightly scaled down Tripper.
They are heavy and made with Cross-Link materials.
I have rented a couple of these for some technical paddling on the Trinity River in California and they did really well hauling a load in rapids.