RichardW2 wrote:
When we weighed the P16 she was genuinely baffled it was so far out of spec and said she was going to make note of it. Here are the weights for the canoes we weighed:
P16 regular: spec 56 lbs actual 62.5 lbs
P16 regular (red): spec 56 lbs actual 56.8 lbs
P16 expedition: spec 62 lbs actual 61.8
The salesperson even checked to make sure the first canoe wasn't an expedition grade canoe incorrectly labelled regular.
To be clear all of the canoes I’ve seen/weighed that were significantly overweight, with the exception of one UL kevlar tandem, were Royalex boats. The only explanation I can think of for the weight variance is the thickness of the RX sheets, which were speced by the manufacturer for reinforcement in specific areas.
Old Town was reportedly infamous for accepting RX sheets that did not meet their specifications, and their Royalex canoes were frequently overweight. A friend had a “33lb” Old Town Pack that weighed 45lbs; the most rugged Pack ever made.
On a composite canoe, if the layup schedule was correct, with the right number of fabric partials in the right places, ie the difference between “standard” and “expedition” layups, the only explanation for being 6 lbs over spec weight would be too much resin and/or too much gel coat. Neither of those really adds strength.
The mis-badged canoe was one a friend bought, a Mad River “Legend 15”, the onetime Dagger model:
15’ long ,14.5 deep, with 2 inches of symmetrical rocker
It was badged a Legend 15, but when we got to talking about some outfitting he wanted to do things weren’t adding up. He did some measuring
15’ 3” L, 13 ¾” deep, visually just “slight”rocker
It was a Mad River Intrigue. For a couple of years in the late ‘90’s MRC was producing both models. It was not the “Legendary” downriver canoe he was looking for. Fortunately he had bought it used and was able to recoup his money selling it, with the honest proviso “It is an Intrigue, not a Legend”.
I still wonder if maybe the overweight Prospector might not have been an Expedition model; 6lbs is a lot of excess resin and gel coat.