Northwind

I originally reviewed the Northwind 16 in 2010, giving it a 9. I've changed my opinion after five years of heavy use.

The canoe is one of my favorites and I also own a Mad River Explorer,and a Wenonah Prism.

Rather than repeat much of what has been said about stability and toughness, I will add a bit on capability. I just paddled 200 miles of the Yukon River in the canoe that was certainly overloaded. (I love to over pack on week long trips)

The boat performed perfectly, albeit with less free board than I would have preferred on thirty-two mile long Lake Leberge. My spray deck made that possible.

The Northwind is back in production by Northstar Canoes, which is owned by Ted Bell. I would recommend the Northwind as a great family canoe. The current versions are composite canoes that are much lighter than my Royalex version, making a good flat water canoe even better.

My stomping grounds have been the Magnetewan River in central Ontario. Having a cottage in Dunchurch made it possible to regularly run a fun day stretch of river with class 1, 2, and 3 rapids. For twenty years I've gradually become more confident to navigate this stretch of river in a old smashed-up rotten orange fibreglass cottage canoe. I'm sure there was a time this beast of burden was surely a 75 pound wonderful canoe, but has since gained about 25 pounds, or more, of amateur patchwork. It is important to regularity bail her out on flat stretches of water as it seems to seep in from several different new holes.

So my initial review of the Northwind would be a hands down 10/10. It was dry! Also faster and handled much better then my old flat bottomed no rockered orange canoe. I'm tall and strong and have been solo canoeing my old canoe all my life, so switching to the Northwind was an amazing improvement. It sits on its side so comfortably that it is no longer a circus act, like before. I put a foam pedestal and knee pads in it and tackled the locally famous three snye rapids In low level conditions. And failed miserably... my fault not the canoes! I then took the Northwind down a small local creek during a major flood and came to the obvious conclusion that the Northwind is not in fact a 9 and not a 10.

For a canoe that fits somewhere between a tripping canoe and a river canoe, having the key features of both types, the Northwind is perfect. Definitely worth every penny. Without having tried one, however, I would assume the perfect canoe for me, would have maybe been the 15 foot tandem Yellowstone, outfitted for solo canoeing.

I love this super-stable and beautifully made boat [Royalex]! But sadly, it is not the perfect boat for me because I'm searching for a boat for multi-day Class III Wilderness trips (Esquif Prosp 17?). This boat feels like an elephant with a load of 700 lbs and ships water if you hit waves head-on. When I had less experience I swamped it, as did my buddy on the next rapid downriver. Still it felt stable, full of water!

Now I have more skills and can avoid swamping in Class III and I can dig deep to harangue it to maneuver with a big load, but it isn't ideal for either of those tasks, as Bell freely admits when they say "favorite for flatwater tripping." The differential rocker and asymmetry mean that it will never be able to spin like a top, and isn't the best for Bill Mason style back ferry.

Working as a guide for a livery, I regularly paddle this boat solo down a mellow, shallow, Class I river and it is perfect for that. It withstands years of abuse from clients and still looks awesome. I've seen clients zigzag backwards hitting everything imaginable all the way downriver and still not go for a swim. At the takeout, it lifts easily onto my back to portage 1/4 mile up a scree slope to trailer and it can then be lifted up onto higher trailer racks, i.e. it is well-balanced and has a nice yoke. I've had more trouble with lighter canoes (like badly designed Wenonah Rendezvous, see review).

I'm still searching, but right now if I had to commit to only one canoe for life, this would probably be it. An excellent boat.

Purchased the royalex version in Dec. 2010 based on reviews here and other sites without test paddling (normally not advised). We replaced a 1989 Oscoda family 17 which we purchased new and loved but it became too heavy for us to lift onto the car now that we are approaching our mid 60's.

The Northwind royalex is not the lightest canoe available but is a good compromise between weight and price, since budget was an issue. We have been paddling flatwater in canoes and kayaks for over 20 years and, although not experts,we have acquired decent skills and knowledge. The Northwind purchase is working out great and we are impressed with the design.

Some have said initially it feels a little tippy--we did not find that to be the case. Yes there is movement which is normal for a quality canoe and the secondary stability seems to kick in fairly early which makes for a very secure feel. We have encountered power boat wakes and are impressed with these handling characteristics as well--it seems to cut through the wakes more than riding over them, which makes for a smoother transition. The differential rocker seems to transform into a good tracking canoe that also turns with ease. While my wife gently controls our path from the bow I have casted for bass from the stern with great comfort and security--a great fishing platform.

The only complaint and reason for a 9 rating is the seats. Although the quality is decent the comfort is not great. The cane seat surface is only 11" wide and not enough for my 240 lb back side. My wife is a fairly small person but she was not happy with the seats as well. Those will definitely be replaced by Ed's contour seats in the near future.
Once we get the seats replaced this will probably be the perfect canoe for our needs.

Having paddled the Northwind more both tandem and solo (loaded for camping and just added wight for trim), I can say it is forgiving canoe. and the learning curve is decent. the more experienced paddler will adapt quicker than i did. the seat i installed for solo paddling is decently placed. but a little more centered would help. as a tandem with a good partner it does great. plenty of room with the solo seat installed, for the normal placed rear seats leg room. moves along nicely and both tracks/and turns nicely. loaded for camping it does well to. skill level and load distribution being the factor in my case. over all a good canoe for my needs that will just improve with more time. for the more skilled paddler a even better canoe. just center the solo seat a bit more than i did.

With limited amount of time in this canoe i can say i love it. using the kneeling thwart to paddle solo it feels pretty nice. with the new seat in the same relative spot it feels real nice. can switch from kneeling to normal sitting pretty well.(that's just with slightly over one hour in it) still need time to get all i can out its abilities. but the learning curve is pretty friendly so far. will update when i have more time but expect mostly good things to say.

Took my Northwind Rx for two outings (Keuka Lake, NY) and thought it prudent to give my INITIAL impressions:

Think I may have found as close to a 'Perfect' canoe as reasonably possible. The stability on this canoe is absolutely unprecedented. As an experienced canoeist, I can appreciate a boat that bespeaks stability at every wave. Secondly, even though we were using a beaver-tail paddle instead of the faster, larger poly-paddles, you could tell this was an excellent boat - the genius of David Yost really is something!

One of the previous reviews spoke about how fast the Northwind was, once you've got it up to speed-I know now what he was talking about! This boat isn't quite as fast as the Sundowner by Wenonah, but it's got the stability and maneuverability you want when heavy-laden in the Adirondacks with tons of camping gear and your novice buddy... and your son. The only thing I feel it is negative is the fact that the Rx version doesn't have sliding bow seat.

For what you pay vs. what you get, I think I've finally found the perfect match for canoe-camping and lake water tripping: Bell Northwind in Royalex. One thing I feel confident in, make it two: this boat IS what others say it is on this excellent website and you will not regret investing in a Bell Northwind in Royalex. Found a winner, finally!

Well, here I am, shopping for a new canoe and end up commenting on my 16'6" Royalex Northwind I have had for 8 years.

There are many canoes built to "do it all" and they all aim at that goal from a slightly different angle. The Royalex Northwind is relatively light for a royalex boat, making it much more manageable. If you look around, there are several high quality 16'6" fiberglass or kevlar boats that approach this royalex boat in weight. I have found the make-up relatively stiff, never noticing any oil canning, unless I'm rolling over a big rock!

I have used this boat on 5-10 day prairie streams and found it a bit tight for glutinous touring (this includes carrying 10 days of water, musical instruments, dutch ovens, etc) just give a slight nod to traveling light, and it'll go fine for up to ten days tandem. On one semi-gluttonous trip, I paddled it with a buddy, the pair weighing in @ around 450, on a river with several class II rapids and days worth of technical rock gardens. I found it easy enough to maneuver buts found it takes on water fairly easily, you'd want it w/ at least 8" inches of freeboard in waves, we probably had 6".

I frequently use it to paddle upstream solo on a fairly swift river outside my front door as a way of avoiding getting air conditioning during the summer and getting a little exercise. I have found it is more efficient to paddle solo than tandem in this way. I'd say it performs admirably at this task, tracking well and moving upstream as fast as you'd expect.

I've also paddled this boat loaded, solo, down a river with about 40 mile an hour headwinds and standing wind waves three feet tall. I could do it, but I'd occasionally get pushed sideways. I was surprised how well it handled in these horrible conditions. As an aside, I've recently learned if you are in a stiff headwind and having a hard time keeping the boat straight, get in the front of the boat and keep paddling, you'll act as the flag pole and the boat will fall out in line behind you like a flag in the wind. Looks a little funny, but keeps you moving in the right direction.

I've recently outfitted this boat with float bags (end and center) for doing up to class III whitewater. Also, I changed to kneeling seat drops and a full yoke for portaging. This boat is outfitted to handle an incredibly wide range of conditions in both solo and tandem. I look around and only think of getting a dedicated solo whitewater tripping boat to broaden my ability on the water. If I did it again though, I'd get a black gold version, just for the ease of portage and the pure beauty.

A quality canoe in every respect! I bought this canoe from Jersey Paddler, and the people there are great: they all displayed great patience with me over a two week period, during which I bought and returned 3 other canoes!!!

My Northwind is the 16'6" Royalex version, with wood trim. It doesn't feel as light as the Old Town Charles River I briefly owned, but it also doesn't oil can the way that beast did. The Northwind is much faster, easier to paddle due to the tumblehome gunwales, and glides forever. The cane seats are hung from walnut boards, and the ash is much more substantial than the Old Town's seats (which drooped quite a bit).

The amazing thing is that the Royalex Northwind is very affordable when compared to other manufacturer's canoes in the same material! The Northwind has tracked great solo and tandem, and doesn't rely on a keel to help stiffen the bottom. My wife and I flyfish from our canoes, and the Northwind is the most quiet boat we've owned. Maybe it has something to do with the wood gunwales.

An excellent boat at a great price!

This is to go along with my previous review on the same boat now that I have had it for a while. The boat paddled well in all kinds of conditions and once on the Colorado really did well with 2 ft waves and lots of wind causing other canoes to capsize. It was also easy to manage solo. The problem is with the structual integrity when transporting the boat. While on a back road at Lake Meade my rear cam strap slipped off the end of the bar and when I hit a did the canoe shifted foward and tipped down then back up. This snapped the gunwale and tore at least a foot into the hull material (Black Gold) Bell said it was going to cost nearly as much as a new boat to ship it back and get it repaired and returned.I had to make an insurance claim and unfortunately I had a $1000 deductable. Needless to say this was not a good experience for having the boat only a couple of month's. Bells workmanship was first class and the boat was a jewel but if I got another composite boat it would have hard anodized alunminum gunwales. Bell canoes are great and so is their customer service but wooden gunwales and BlackGold need pampering to last.

I've owned a Bell Northwind Royalex for a couple of years now. It's a well built, capable canoe. The cane seats are comfortable on long trips, and more versatile than tractor seats (Wenonah stock option) when fishing and moving about. Bell slopes the seats down to assist with a kneeling style of paddling, but if you prefer to sit, you'll want to level them out a bit. This requires a bit of reaming on the seat holes and power sanding of the seat drops to get everything just right. You could just level it by throwing in some washers in for a lower albeit sloppier look. Since this is really a recreational canoe, it seems to me that most people will be sitting and that it should come stock in a level position...who fishes from a kneeling position?

The Northwind Royalex is more nicely appointed than the competitors. The gunwales are full and nice to handle, with the rivets hidden, and the thrusts are all stained hardwood. The location of the yoke on my boat makes the stern heavy when portaging, but with paddles strapped in the front, it rides level.

Although Royalex boats in general do not have as fine an entry as Kevlar boats, this seems more pronounced with the Northwind Royalex. Bell says the blunt entry and exit is a design feature (a la Dagger, whom they acquired, and who specialized in river canoes and kayaks), and that unless you are paddling very hard, you won't notice that the entry isn't as narrow. I agree somewhat, but kevlar boats with a fine entry paddle much more smoothly and provide more glide.

The flip side of the blunt entry is that the canoe excels when you are doing anything but going fast in a straight line on calm water. And if you run into something hard, the blunt end is less apt to crack, which is why many Royalex canoes have blunt reinforcement on the ends anyways.

The hull has a rounder tumblehome than many other Royalex boats (some Mad River boats I've seen are very flat) and is VERY stable on large (30 mph wind building over an 8 mile lake) chop and waves. For example, to avoid taking water from large waves when paddling crosswind, I can lean the boat (loaded with kid, gear and dog) nearly to the downwind rail - and feel very stable doing so.

The day I dropped it 6 feet onto concrete while putting it away in my garage, I knew I'd made the right choice choosing Royalex over Kevlar. After paddling it on calm lakes, rocky rivers and large windblown lakes in the boundary waters, I knew I'd found the perfect all around boat. At a price under $1000 on sale, I don't get all freaked out when it gets hung up on a rock or bangs into something. $2000+ for a Kevlar boat would have taken some of the fun out of canoeing for me, because I would have been too worried about damaging it.

I guess that's the most important thing when choosing your boat - don't spend so much that you'll miss out on fun because you're fretting about the hull. If that means a banged up aluminum canoe for a couple hundred bucks, then that's the best boat for you.

My wife and I bought our Bell Northwind a few weeks ago and I wanted to take it for a few trips before I gave a review on it. We bought a Royalex because the Blackgold was a little too expensive for us. At 63 lbs. it’s one of the heavier boats that we tested. However, a few pounds compared to the competition, is not a huge deal. We’ve had it out on a number of lakes and rivers.

We had concerns about how “tippy” the boat was before we bought it. It seemed to turn very easily, almost too easily. So, I called Bell Canoe in MN and talked to a guy named “Bear.” He told me that weight distribution may not be equal since my wife sits by the bow and I the stern. He told me to balance out the weight discrepancy, to carry a large jug with us and fill it with river water every time we went out to balance out the weight. I may be new to canoeing, but I thought this was the strangest/most ridiculous suggestion I have ever gotten in my life. Well, we worked out the weight/balance issue with some self taught lessons.

However, we noticed that if we got anything over a three+ inch wave, we were rocked like we were in a hurricane. On the Bell web site it reads that it’s a “joy in currents and choppy conditions”. I don’t know if a three inch wave is a “choppy condition”, but I can tell you that it wasn’t a joy. It almost seems too flimsy, but it hasn’t really affected us ...yet.

Other than these issues, it’s been a good boating experience. It looks great and I do, for the most part, enjoy paddling it. There are some days that I’d tie some boards together just to be out on the water.

Also, I don’t know if spending two times the money on a Kevlar boat would change the experiences that we have or not. If you're looking at one, take the Kevlar out for a test drive too.

My wife and I bought our Northwind from the Kansas City Paddler. We are both active kayakers and wanted to add a canoe to our collection for fishing, photography and future planned BWCAW trips. Previous to paddling the Bell we have had limited experience in Royalex and Aluminum canoes. We have spent this last year enjoying this boat. It's fit and finish is excellent. The wood trim is warm and aesthetically pleasing. The Kevcrystal material is light yet has proven to be strong for our purposes. Its stiffness allows this canoe to track well with little flex. Two paddlers can really bring this boat up to speed and cover distance. Solo paddling is not this boat's strong point-it makes a better tandem.

I have tested the stability of the Northwind this summer by using it as a bass fishing boat. No problems landing fish or casting. Nothing like the quietness of a well designed canoe to sneak into small coves. It also handled larger lake waves (wakes) with poise. Overall, we have been very satisfied with the Northwind. We look forward to taking this boat on longer trips. All boats have strong and weak points. I have listed strengths. Areas to consider would be: Kevcrystal would be more easily damaged by rocks; wood trim requires maintenance, higher cost. It is noteworthy that this boat is also available in Royalex w/o wood trim. That being said, I feel that this Northwind has been a good balance of low weight, quality and performance.

My wife and I have been paddling a Grumman 18’ standard (which we affectionately call the tank) for 26 years. This year we decided to go to Isle Royale. I knew I couldn’t handle the portages that we had in mind with the 90 lb. tank, so we began looking for a lighter tandem. We eventually settled on the Northwind in Black Gold. We averaged 3-5 days a week throughout the late spring and summer working out on local lakes and rivers. We are absolutely delighted with the speed, handling and secondary stability of the Northwind. Loaded, and one thing we AIN’T is minimalists, the Northwind simply amazed me. Running, the first day on Isle Royalle, the 10 miles of Rock Harbor in the afternoon we experienced considerable chop. This wasn’t even annoying. As we passed the Middle Islands passage we got the full force of Lake Superior whitecaps into our side for half a mile. That was work, but we took no water. On our return we had to pass a ship which sent 4-5 ft waves to greet us. Again we took no water. As flatwater paddlers we feel the Northwind is the finest canoe we have ever used. (Did I mention how nice the 52 lb. weight is on a 2.5 mile portage?)

I really enjoy the Northwind, it is everything I need in a tandem. I would suggest this model to anyone looking for a well made, good preforming, reasonably priced, and good looking canoe!

I started my search for our new canoe at Canoecopia in March. I had an open mind to any brand and model that would best suit our needs. I was looking for a top performing canoe for my wife and I for day tripping and a once a year week long trip. We are an athletic 50 years old. I wanted a center seat for an occasional solo or three person outing. After attending several demo days and trying any canoe that would be a good choice from Bell, Mad River, and Wenonah, I came to the following conclusions.

There are major differences in models. The canoes must be tested on water to see these differences. If you can not demo a canoe, do not buy it. Bell and Mad River had several demo days that we were able to attend. We also did demos at the different dealers. The dealer’s recommendations were a start, but I often liked a different canoe better. After the demos, we decided on a Kevlar canoe over Royalex for performance and weight. The Wenonah dealers recommended the Spirit II. I liked the Wenonah Escape the best of the Wenonahs. The Escape was fast, but it could have turned easier. It had good load capacity and handled rough water. The fit and finish of the Wenonahs did not compare to the Mad River and Bell. Wenonah’s weight advantage vanished when a gel coat and wood gunnels were added. The aluminum gunnels were hot to touch and noisy.

The Mad River Explorer was the Mad River model recommended by the dealers. I did not like its performance. I felt like it was a Volvo station wagon. Getting into a Malecite was a night and day difference. The Malecite was fast but stable. Its down side was its limited load capacity, and it did not handle rough water as well as the Escape. The fit and finish of the Mad River canoes was very good.

The dealers recommended the Bell Northstar. The Northstar was very fast and turned well, but was very unstable. It was the only canoe the I paddled that had a stability problem. I always felt that any wrong movement would put us in the water. We then tried the Northwind. The Northwind had it all. It had the speed of the Escape and Northstar. It turned much better than the Escape. The Escape has no rocker whereas all of the other canoes have some rocker. The Northwind had the stability that the Northstar did not have. The Northwind had the load capacity and could handle rough water that the Malecite could not handle. The Bells had the best fit and finish of all of the canoes we looked at although the Mad Rivers were almost as good.

We purchased the Bell Northwind in the Black Gold Kevlar Graphite material, wood gunnels, sliding front seat, foot brace, and removable center seat. We chose the almond color as it does not show scratches like darker colors. It weighs 52 ponds without the center seat. Our testing was fun and essential in finding the best canoe for our needs. We are very please with the canoe and feel that we made the best choice.

Note: Royalex version is 16' 6". I think I am one of the first around to own a Bell Northwind in Royalex. The royalex version is a foot shorter than its counter parts at 16' 6". It only weights 63 LBS and is a dam good looking canoe. I have only paddled it on moving water thus far and I have been very happy with its performance. Both days of paddleing have been very windy(25-30 MPH with gusts around 35 MPH). The canoe handled as well as I would expect in those heavy winds. The canoe was surpringly fast and very manuverable. Tracking was good, even with the high winds, but not great. Stability, primary and secondary, was great with just two paddlers and very little gear. I would assume that stability would only get better as weight is added. I am 6' 1" 210 lbs and I fit in the bow and stearn with ample room to spare. I am looking forward to really loading the canoe up with gear and my wife and son for an extended trip. From what I have seen it only seems that every thing will get better as it is loaded. Two brief notes in finishing. First, I rated this canoe an 8 not for any specific deficiency but because I can only say for certain that this canoe is better than 80% of the canoes ever made. I really like this canoe and would recommend it to anyone looking for a great general purpose tripping/family/fishing/moving water canoe. And lastly, if anyone out there is thinking of buying a Royalex canoe make sure you get vinly trim so you don't have to worry about cold cracking.