anyone here have any experience with nova craft canoes? i’m looking to purchase a solo canoe capable of running up to class lll water. i’ve been eyeing the supernova in royalex lay-up and just wanted opinions on their quality and durability.
If you mean to run the NRG, it will be
a challenge in any of the Novacraft boats. But then, the gorge itself includes some class 4 and 5. Some would say that the middle Ocoee, at normal levels, does not go above class 3. Even there, any of the Novacraft boats would be hard-pressed, though with full bags and a sense of judgement, you could do it. Maybe we need to know whether you want to do occasional class 3, like Lesser Wesser on the Nantahala, or frequent class 3 like the middle Ocoee.
quality and durability
Novacraft makes good, solid boats. Quality is very good and the Royalex is pretty beefy.
hmm
i own a ot appalachian and i think it’s capable of doing the nrg when i get floatation installed… i just want a good solo canoe to paddle flat water with the occasional class ll/lll rapids that most rivers posse. nothing too extreme…
i’m also debating whether or not to purchase a play boat for ww paddling… i’ll make a thread about this later on, lol…
c2g, do you own a supernova? from what i have read they seem to be a good solo… the only bad thing is i live in va and the nearest dealer is in pa. that’s a long haul just to test paddle a canoe.
thanks,
D
I own one,
Although I don’t really feel qualified to answer your question. I know my Supernova has kept out of some trouble when I screwed up. For occasional class II, class III it is a great boat.
Did you see the one for sale on the Pnet
classifieds?
…
sloop, why do you feel like you aren’t qualified to lend your .02 cents? if you own and paddle the supernova that’s reason enough to chime in…
yeah, i seen the add, but it’s in canada… a LONG ways away from me…
I know a guy with one who’d disagree
A guy I know has one that’s fully bagged, and he’s very confident in that boat in class III. He takes it on some of the tougher parts of the Wolf. I’ve heard some really glowing accounts from a couple other people regarding the boat’s ability to ride out surprisingly rough stuff.
I ordered one last spring for camping trips on rivers like the Flambeau (the Flambeau has just a couple Class III drops, but I figured the extra volume would be an advantage in Class II when carrying a load of gear), and it just arrived. I haven’t had the chance to do much with it yet, except to be really pleased with the maneuverability. It also seems pretty heavily built, because unlike my other Royalex boats, I can’t oilcan the sides to any noticable extent just by pushing from the outside with my hand or foot (that might be due simply to the fact that the boat is “all curves”, which resist oilcanning more than flat surfaces). Mine weighs 62 pounds, which is a bit more than the catalog says, but I bet that’s within manufacturing variation.
The Wolf is not the Ocoee, much less
the New River Gorge. I’m sure a bagged Novacraft could do the Ocoee, or even the NRG, but it would not be my choice. To my knowledge, Novacraft does not make an all-out whitewater boat. For that, you have to go to Esquif, take the leftovers from MR, or older designs from Mohawk.
Missing the whole point, it seems to me
– Last Updated: Jul-05-05 12:11 AM EST –
The original poster was looking for a boat that would be suitable for rapids "up to class III", which I didn't see as crying out for a whitewater-only style of boat, nor does it bring up the need to name specific rivers which are a whole lot rougher than "up to class III". My first post was an attempt to deal with his actual question, not your Class-IV/V extrapolation. To do so, I addressed your comment that this boat would be "hard pressed" for the job even if one limited their paddling to class III as he intended. No need to point out how much more rough water those other two rivers have than most of the Wolf if we really *are* talking about nothing bigger than class III.
Nice boat
The Supernova is a nice boat. Surely you could run Class III’s in it. It would be reasonably comparable to MRC’s Freedom Solo (Guide) and Mohawk’s Odyssey. But with flotation could run Class III’s
But I tend to agree that they sure wouldn’t be my first choices for boats to run Class III’s. These longer whitewater capable hulls are at their best when used as wilderness tripping whitewater hulls. Where you might or might not run a Class III because of the remoteness, but you want a boat that will paddle well on long lake crossings, or in strong winds on flat sections of the river.
But, If I lived in Virgina and planned to run local Class II’s and III’s… I’d buy a dedicated playboat. I find that the longer boats get to be frustrating on Class II and III’s when playing the rapids. The playboats are alot more fun and allow your skills to continue to develop.
Go paddle a playboat, and then decide whether you want a longer tripping boat for your Class II’s and III’s
PK
…
I still consider myself a novice paddler. I have done some light whitewater and one heavy loaded trip but I don’t have a lot of experience in other canoes. I have only paddled 3 different solo boats for any length of time.
I really like my Supernova, it seems to do exactly what it suppose to do–a wildeness tripping boat.
I can comment on the build quality–top notch!!
I have the Kevlar/CP cap model–very nice glass work.
Profile
Guideboat Guy, If you go by Swift Waters post only I think you have a good point. But if you read Swift Water’s profile he say’s he’d like to run the NRG in W VA. Assuming that’s the New River Gorge and it’s anything like the video I’ve seen I think g2d is right on.
I guess only Swiftwater knows for sure what he wants to do.
Paddle Hard!
Tommy