Anyone paddled both the Royalex and Kevlar models?
Aside from the Royalex's ability to slide off rocks and have a little give are there differences in the way they paddle and respond.. Are both boats of the same shape?
Wenonah sells this boat as a small river/stream canoe.
Has anyone taken Wenonah's Kevlar® Ultra-light into Royalex territory? How did the KUL fare? Argosy in KUL is listed at 31 lbs and Royalex at 46. Nice difference in weight for portaging but what about toughness?
Thanks,
Koach
Having both “glass” and Royalex boats, I don’t find a difference in how they slide off rocks. Royalex boats sometimes show too much flexibility for best performance, but this can be reduced by putting a thwart-supported minicell pedestal seat in the middle of the boat. The advantage of Royalex is its ability to take much bigger hits in whitewater environments. In mostly flatwater environments, composite boats are often preferable.
Wondering the same myself and have contemplated purchase of an Argosy. In general royalex is less performance oriented. Anyone paddle any of the Argosy layups? The specs look good.
Argosy My family owns two Wenonah Argosy’s both in royalex since most of our paddling is in shallow rocky streams and small rivers. Wenonah’s royalex layup seems to dent easier than other companies, but overall they are holding up great. There is some hull flex but nothing terrible, they have a natural glide that keeps you moving right along.
Peronally I think the Royalex weight is very light, easy to car top and cary with no problems. My only gripe is the typical Wenonah “bubble” in the hull shape’s midsection. It aids in easy paddle strokes, but sactrafices that extreme gunnel to the water secondary stability. Don’t get me wrong, the boat has great secondary, but if you go past the bubble get ready to swim. I paddle with a sit and switch style with the seat in the lowest possition. I get normally 3 strokes a side, more if going faster. It seems to track better the faster you go. I am sure you could do much more per side with correction strokes, but I prefer the straight ahead non “J” stroke. The canoe is very responsive to the paddle.
Sorry my experiance with this model is only in Royalex, but if you would like to know more about it let me know.
I agree about the denting & scratches I’m wondering if the material is Royalite instead of Royalex, because it seems there’s a vinyl skin that cuts easily, and the dents really show up and don’t heat out when left in the sun.
I went with the Flexcore I test paddled both and ended up with the flexcore layup. I thought the royalex was a little soft in test paddles; I liked the additional stiffness and quicker response with the kevlar. Time will tell about how the layup will hold up to some bigger bumps and bruises. I haven’t had it in really fast difficult water yet.
bstromberg said "“I test paddled both and ended up with the flexcore layup. I thought the royalex was a little soft in test paddles; I liked the additional stiffness and quicker response with the kevlar. Time will tell about how the layup will hold up to some bigger bumps and bruises. I haven’t had it in really fast difficult water yet.”"
Thanks for that piece of information.
How much more resistant is the FlexCore layup compared to the UltraLight?