Kayaks and canoe-kayak hybrids have outsold canoes for several years now. It's nice to see that canoe makers are taking advantage of technology to fight back. I'm old school. I learned to paddle a canoe when I was a boy scout. (You haven't lived until you've played capture-the-flag on the lake at Camp McKee. Someone ends up in the water instead of on it.) My canoe is a heavy tandem that once held two adults, two children, and a dog. Now it's just me and a dog. And when I think I've found the perfect replacement, along comes the Spitfire 13, a sweet carbon-fiber/kevlar canoe. It's a solo open-top with plenty of room for fishing gear and Champ but it has the stability and turning response of a kayak. And it's narrow enough to paddle with a double-blade paddle. Best yet, at 22 lbs (or 26 depending on how it's fitted out) it weighs half of what a comparable fishing kayak weighs and wouldn't give me a hernia lifting it from the roof rack and carrying it to the water.
Unfortunately no local dealer sells Placid Boatworks canoes and I'd really need to test paddle one before I buy it.
