love2paddlemore wrote:
I'm thinking of the toughness required for poling, and the example of the Millbrook poling boats, reportedly with 6 layers of S-glass and 5 layers of Kevlar. I was even thinking of the Souhegan as maybe a good all-purpose boat till I first I saw them at the National Poling Championships a month ago: very blunt stems and kind of hard chines.
To make a long story short, it seems that the DY Swift Prospector 16 might be the best choice for me.
L2pm, I'm not a poler but I'm familiar with Millbrook and have paddled the Soughegan and a Novacraft Prospector.
I think you misread the Millbrook lamination schedule. Kaz uses 6
oz S glass cloth and 5
oz Kevlar, not 6 and 5
layers of each. It's probably more like two layers of each with some reinforcements, but you can just call or email Kaz and ask.
http://www.gis.net/~johnkaz1/construc_order.htmThe Souhegan has a lot more initial stability than a Novacraft Prospector, which is wider than a slenderized Swift Prospector. (There are currently at least 31 different "Prospectors" on the market.) The Souhegan also turns more easily, and without heeling, than the Novacraft Prospector because of it's flattish bottom and rocker.
The Souhegan's blunt nose helps it to rise over and shed waves in whitewater. It seems to me like a very stable and maneuveraable poling boat and a satisfactory whitewater paddling boat, but I don't think I'd choose it as a flatwater touring canoe. The correction requires too much attention even for the proficient.
TommyC1 and Steve-in-Idaho, who I believe are members here, pole and paddle Millbrooks along with Prospectors, Explorers and Penobscots among other hulls.
As to what is the "best" lightweight hull material, that requires a definition of "best". I suppose a thin lamination of carbon-only would be the lightest -- sort of like the Hornbeck Blackjack, which also has carbon gunwales and thwarts -- but that uber-light layup may not be "best" for considerations other than weight.