I was told that the royalex in the mad river explorer was thicker than most other boats, upon inspection at my local dealer it seems to be true, at least when compared to wenonah and old town. Heres my question; I was also told that the roayalex in the novacraft prospector was also thicker most other boats(the royalex, not the royalex light) can anyone please confirm or deny
this? I am looking to purchase my first canoe and I want a good all arounder I can use for fishing
camping, rivers and lakes. I roughly narrowed it down to the wenonah aurora, mad river explorer or
novacrat prospector. Do these seem like good do it all boats? I like the mad river but I kinda
don’t want to give my money to a large conglomerate (confluence) who cares more about the bottom line than anything else. Also I like durable things that’s why I’m looking at boats which have the thickest royalex content. My research tells me than many people think that the prospector design might just be the best overall configuration ever designed, so I am starting to lean that way (novacraft prospector in the heavy royalex layout). Thank you, all comments good or bad will be greatly appreciated. P.S. If anyone can recommend another good boat choice (with a thick royalex layout) that would be great too.
Mad River quality … ???
I stopped at Sun, Snow, and Paddle in Ann Arbor this trip. Got talking about quality with one of the older guy working there. I was shown a Roylex Mad River as an example of the quality going way down after their purchase by Confluence the move south. (Not one old employee moved with the company!)
The gunwales did not quite come together at the bow. When the hull was screwed to the gunwale it pulled the end of the bow over about half an inch or more out of true and the resulting space on the other side of the hull was filled with epoxy. The dealer was PISSED. I believe it was the only Mad River of the 30 or so canoes he had in the store.
Mick
Don’t forget Wenonah Prospector
I’ll echo the lack of QC on MRC and tell you I love my Wenonah Prospector 16RX. Mine has wood gunwales, very nice, and the optional third seat in the middle. I can take two of the five kids or have a nice picnic table. God Bless. Dwayne
hull type preference?..
There is a shallow-“V” hull on OT P16s and some MadRiver boats…with more rounded or tumblehome hulls on Bells and Wenonahs(in general). At least for the movements in flyfishing…a tumblehome hull is nice…but an OT P16 is also nice… Some MadRiver royalex boats are not slow barges…and have a deeper “V” than a P16, thus…may not stay entirely still if you move across that “V” centerline with any type of casting motion.
opinionated_$.01
Mad River
I recently replaced the gunwales on our 1983 Mad River Explorer. The differential thickness in the layup is quite evident at the ends - at the gunwale edge, approximately the last 12" or so is twice as thick as the rest of the hull.
I don’t think the differential thickness was as refined as on the modern Wenonahs. My wife’s Sandpiper has visible spots on the inside where you can see the reinforcing outline.