Hi,
I am looking for a solo canoe for river use…light whitewater and river touring / tripping.
I want something that is very manueverable and royalex and that will offer good stability in rivers.
This seems like it may be a suitable choice. It is described as filling this niche and has a reasonable amount of rocker; however, it seems fairly long for a boat that fits into this category.
Seems that most boats that fit this role are in the 14 foot range…Bell Yellowstone, Wenonah Argosy, Novacraft Supernova…the Raven is about 15.5 feet long which is pretty long for a solo with this amount of rocker.
Seems that the extra length would limit maneuverability…but on the other hand my Novacraft Prospector is 16 feet with about the same amount of rocker and I find it spins on a dime so maybe I am too quick to judge.
Can anyone comment on this boat…particularly on its maneuverability?
I currently have a Swift Osprey solo which I plan to keep for most touring uses. Really like it but for WW i would want something more maneuverble and that handles differently than my Osprey since there is no sense in having two boats that are nearly the same. How much differently does the Raven handle than the Osprey?
thanks
Matt
Raven
Matt,
Sent you an email.
Joe
I had a Swift Raven. Always got
complements on it, even from the NPS. I was new to the sport and didn’t know what I had so I sold it on Pnet. The guy came 300 miles to pick it up. If I ever get another on, I would never sell it.
Raven VS Osprey ? Anyone?
I’d be very interested to hear a comparison.
Love my Osprey but I sometimes wish it was royalex.
Tommy
only an impression
but from a short test paddle (against an Osprey)
http://www.xs4all.nl/~dbarends/images/draven.jpg
_ surprising speed for such a canoe
_ outstanding stability
_ good maneuverability
And it is not a bigger Osprey, as you can also see on this picture:
http://files.homepagemodules.de/b61606/f17t2297p9945129n4.jpg
Different hull shape
different rocker.
Completely different boat… need to flip em over side by side.
Have Raven have paddled enough Ospreys to see the difference.
Raven is wider enought to make the difference noticeable for smaller paddlers.
This is another case where a hull shape drawing would make the difference plainer to shoppers.
The block coefficient of the Raven I suspect is much higher making it slower than Osprey…but the Osprey is a wetter ride on the river… The Raven just bounces down class 3 happy as a clam…However its tough to hit a micro eddy or play.
Whats better? Its all up to what the user wants.
can’t compare to osprey, but l love my
raven!
never really paddled an osprey so can't compare them.
but, the raven does excel at river running and mild white water - it doesn't do bad on lakes or flat water either, although it will be slower than canoes designed for those conditions....
as far as river running though, i absolutely am happy with it. it is very stable - i can stand up in it for scouting what's ahead, or for some poling. it can haul some serious amounts of gear also.
the wind will push it around when empty on a lake, but put some weight in it and it steadies right down.
i have found it very maneuverable - although, as an above poster stated, micro eddies can be tough - otherwise, it has very good secondary stability and a decent primary stability. you can heel it over to a certain point, then it pushes back - much farther and over you go.
i use mine for river tripping and will take it out on lake ontario or lake erie several times over the summer. Again, the raven excels at moving water, and can do most anything else reasonably well. It's been proving to be a very versatile canoe for me.
watch your trim with it though, this can make a big difference in how it handles...
its probably not the best canoe if you are looking to play a lot in white water, or do a lot of surfing - but, it will definitely run just about any rapids out there, and get you down the river. it's not a white water boat though, but a river runner - you can have fun in the rapids and not work too hard on the flats...