I am not talking about racing and neither is anyone else.
I have a friend who paddles a beautiful Burgundy Blackhawk Zephyr and another with a lavender one. They’re really sweet boats. I had a chance to get the lavender one, but I think its really better suited for someone who is smaller than I am - especially if carrying gear is something that I might want to do with it. ( Also true of the Bell Flashfire and Mad River Ladyslipper, IMHO) The gal who owns the burgundy one I believe could be a competitive freestyle paddler with it. She used to amaze me - she’d land it on a steep shore by turning 90deg between waves, letting a wave lift her on to shore and set her down, and then step out and haul it up before the next wave came in. Takes a very good paddler in a nimble boat to pull that one off.
I’m not a racer nor am I especially interested in becoming one. I have, however, raced the Ariel in the Callie Rohr race to support a friend who holds that race. Its a 26 miler (or something close to that) on a very twisty upstream bit of the Wisconsin River. I had thought of taking the Starship for that because I do believe it has a better top speed, but I thought the Ariel’s turning ability would be better suited to that particular course. I was wrong.
Push those adventure series Blackhawks past their hull speed and the stern hunkers down and throws a wake that is hard to believe… takes a LOT of strength to push up a wake that large for 20 some miles. And after expending all that energy pushing a wake to pass other paddlers it all gets thrown away when someone ahead of you screws up and gets stuck crosswise in a twisty turn. Everyone you passed catches up and you have to do it all over again - until you can’t. A longer sprinter boat would have been better at out accelerating the gathered hoards even if some speed was lost in the turns. The adventure series Blackhawks, I believe are simply superlative cruisers and you can out last most other solo canoes if you can just cruise at hull speed and the course is long enough, though. That last little bit of speed costs a LOT of energy. (I did, BTW, win it once in a Bell Mystic with a bow paddler who could have out-worked a small Evenrude.)
I agree with ppine about how light a person wants to go - unless acceleration or portaging is what its all about for you. That’s another thing I liked about Blackhawk. While most other builders would use the strength of kevlar to make their kevlar models much lighter, Blackhawk made theirs a little lighter and much stronger. A wiser choice for me and many other paddler, I believe.
Fun comments. My comments about Zephyr and Shadow 13 were just about my perception of their unique characteristics in a sprint. I had an Ariel at one time and it always seemed to me like it wanted a load in it’s tummy; I liked it better with my black lab on board than empty. The front thwart was pretty far rearward so it limited her space and mobility but put the weight in an ideal place. My Combi 15.8 is the only Kevlar Blackhawk I’ve owned and it’s not light but I imagine that it’s the most bulletproof canoe I’ve owned since it seems to have many layers of fabric. I remember hearing that someone had bought the Blackhawk molds maybe 5+ years ago and I think they were on Facebook briefly but then nothing happened.
Its complicated. FreeStyle boats require fast acceleration. This involves less skin surface and hence shorter boats. You want to get to hull speed in three strokes max. Now over distance you may lose that advantage and its kind of not worth studying…except for my friend who writes the Science of Paddling.
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TomL, I’ve heard such rumors about the molds as well - one about a guy in St. Louis buying the molds and another about a guy buying up Blackhawks to make new molds from them. I’ve even heard about a large herd of shiny new Blackhawks being seen on the Current River. I’d love it to be true but for now, anecdotal evidence, I’d say. If any of these folks are actually out there, I sure wish they’d get down to it and start producing some.
I’ve heard similar talk about Saywer solos also. I’ll believe it when I see it.
BTW, I hadn’t thought about that race in years, thanks for reminding me. I recall on several occasions, while I was pushing that wake, seeing a group of cedar waxwings, maybe an otter, and a little side channel that led to… what, a sphagnum bog maybe, pitcher plants?.. and then the phrase “note to self: It’s a race” would leap to mind and the moment was gone.
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Seen what those gators can do…I’d been traveling like I heard banjos!
TomL,
RE: Shearwater “…just scoot the seat back, lay down and stretch out and relax.”
I do something similar with the sliding tractor seat in the Advantage. I’ve almost fallen asleep while resting in the shade of overhanging cedars on a warm day. As for leaning it to the gunwale; not gonna happen on purpose. 
The most versatile boat I paddle is probably my Hemlock Kestrel. At one time I thought that if I had to keep just one boat it would be the Advantage but as I get older I’m realizing the Kestrel is the better boat for versatility. I’d miss the all out speed of the Advantage but the Kestrel moves right along with a bent shaft paddle. Plus, you can heel the Kestrel to the gunwale and have a bit of fun spinning the boat around.
Most solo canoes are a lot of fun to paddle if used in the element they were intended for.
spiritboat, All Day IPA is one of my summer staples. 
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Kestrel is an awesome boat. I’m a big fan of Dave Curtis and Hemlock canoes.
But I can’t drink any beer all day unless there’s a serious nap in there somewhere.
Solo boats are always in demand around here in southern New England. You don’t see a lot of them, so they go quick. People buying new boats tend to be buying the pack boats and using a double blade.
I bought my first solo - 2004 Bell Yellowstone Solo - in 2005. It’s a great boat, but I always wanted a composite WildFire, so I bought 1997 White Gold WildFire off of TommyC1 (also mentioned by Spiritboat above) in 2016. They are both great boats. I had the Wildfire out this weekend.
Its probably still here somewhere, but if you are interested in the story of the development of the WildFire and Yellowstone Solo by Charlie Wilson from a 2009 post on P-net you can find it here:
http://eckilson.blogspot.com/search/label/Wildfire
For whitewater I have paddled an Encore for years, and just bought an Outrage.
As much as I like paddling solo, as I grow older I seem to be gravitating toward tandem paddling a lot more. Having two engines is nice - especially on long flatwater runs. There is nothing like paddling tandem with a good partner, and the best tandem partners are also good solo paddlers.
In the days of COVID it doesn’t look like I will be paddling tandem anytime soon - oh well…
I am happy to see someone with a Hornbeck! I am about to purchase the 10’ 6" one from them. They are just next door in the Adirondacks. I am feeling nervous about the price, though I know that the $1600 for the canoe and paddle is much less than some solo lightweights, it’s still a big purchase for me.
I noticed that I very rarely, and my rarely I mean never, see a used Hornbeck for sale. Says something
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I think you’ll be very happy with your Hornbeck. Their boats are great and their customer service exemplary.
Not sure I’ve ever seen a used one for sale, but I’ll never sell mine; I’m trying to wear it out but I think I will wear out first. Once in a great while I’ll go a full week without paddling this boat, but it’s rare that I do, usually paddling it two or three time a week, year round.
If you’re on facebook, be sure to join the Hornbeck Boat Lovers group. I post a lot of photos during the winter when so many Hornbeck owners are ice bound, and I really enjoy seeing their photos this time of year. Very different scenery from down here in Florida.
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Not a lot of used pack boats in general are on classifieds
Placids are very hard to find too
Hornbecks in all kevlar best suited for gentler paddlers that would not be me😀
Havent seen the New Tricks up close.
I think having the selection of pack solos you find in the ADKs is great
Couldn’t agree more. In spite of my earlier jocular “Divorce Boat” comment, it’s DEFINITELY about finding the qualified partner, especially when it comes to expedition canoeing. For some, it is their spouse–Lucky them. My wife is great in a canoe with me for short duration quiet water trips. Multiple overnight camping expeditions with sometimes challenging mileage, either on swift or flat water–Well, even she concedes “You and the guys go and have a good time.” I may solo my canoe and use my kayaks a great deal, but I did my very first tandem canoe trip as a teenager way back in 1976(Algonquin Provincial Park). So I like to believe after all these years, I have some idea of how a “Dynamic Duo” should go. Trying to find an experienced tandem partner these days(with more people getting into tupperware kayaks and SUPs, than they are canoes) is something of a challenge in itself. Even soliciting strangers off the net, if you throw in who can get away and when, It’s proves quite the trick.
A year ago, a local neighbor expressed an interest in going tandem with me. He claimed he paddled a “couple times” and even did some ww rafting. As a qualifier with hopes of doing more serious trips together, I took him down a local 12-mile stretch of the Catskill Creek with me taking stern of course. This is a run I’ve done a dozen times and know like the back of my hand(No brag, just fact.) He was doing just fine up in the bow for three-quarters of the way down as we bumped along thru easy Cl. I-II and wave trains. Then I pulled over and told him we’d soon becoming to the main rapid set of the whole stretch, and we’d have to scout it first. It was maybe a 2+ on that day, but it did have a serious technical gradient to it. I reassured him that I was confident in navigating our way down. So we got out, scouted it, nodded to each other and put our helmets back on. “Ready?” I asked. “Yeah. Let’s do it!” He replied. “Great,” I said… “All you have to do is pour on the power on one side up front there, and paddle like our lives depend upon it.” (Which of course, they did;-) We were no more than 10 feet into the set when he grabs hold of the gunnels and tries to STAND UP! --Like someone who just decided to leave a roller coaster ride at Six Flags… My brain screamed WTF??? I would’ve had to have been Hercules to stop us from going over. We washed out okay, but he was shook up and left me to retrieve the boat alone. Not to mention, right it and get all the water out by myself. We finished the trip without another word between us or further incident. Then I told him, “Sorry, but you’re not the partner for me.” He said he understood perfectly. We’re still friendly when we see each other in town now and then. 
PS - And Eck, if you’re in the neighborhood post-Covid, and need a reasonably strong bow man–Message me. I won’t hold it against you if we swim
It’s a deal, but I’d let you take the stern - I’d rather be in the bow. Who says you do all the steering from the back! 
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