Rob Roy

A good versital rec kayak. I have camped out of it. Mine is over 15 years old. Installed grunge pads because I dragged sometimes and made a leaking place in the stern.

It's hard to believe that I've had this canoe for six years. It just came back from the Boundary Waters where it performed admirably. If you plan carefully it will hold a ton of gear and still paddle well. I was really glad for the deck and the low center of gravity on the last day when the wind and waves really kicked up. Paddling it in this kind of setting requires either tall boots or a commitment to wet feet as some portage landings are just plain awkward. No fault of the boat.
Still a winner after all these years!

Compared to my Capella and Epic 16: The 15 ft. length and 43 lbs. makes it easier to to lift and carry, turn around and drop in the water off a dock. The larger cockpit allows me to easily enter it from a dock and exit standing up at a beach. No hatches to deal with, easy to slide a set of wheels in the back. I don't think it handles at all like a kayak. I miss edging and kayak like handling but it is much more useful for bird photography because it is very stable, has lots of room and is easy to get out of. Also, when not moving I can rotate it easily because of flat bottom. Wind pushes it around more when sitting still because no V-bottom. Tracks straight in wind with a needed correction stroke. Speed is just a hair slower than the Capella but not much. I call it my Canoe-ack.

This is a wonderful boat if you're into nature, camping, taking stuff with you, exploring, convenience, accessibility, you get the picture. You might compare it to the old Chevy El Camino a car like pick-up truck. They are just so darn handy that they are kept and cherished for years and years. Wood trim is a nice touch.

A couple of years on and it's still a winner! I replaced the original seat pad/backband with the newer one-piece unit for a vast improvement in comfort.

The canoe is a bit small for tripping but Ostrum's 2-piece solo pack system will fit fine under the decks and a Duluth "Rambler" fits perfectly behind the seat. It can be done, and the low, decked profile lets you slip under the wind on big lakes and rivers. I sometimes miss using my single paddles but with a good double we really fly. A keeper!

I am surprised with all the 9 and 10 ratings for the Bell Rob Roy which is completely different from my experience. I bought a new fiberglass Bell Rob Roy about 10 years ago and become very unhappy with both the Rob Roy and the manufacturer.
I've owned about 15 kayaks, several high performance canoes, and many years ago a Bart Hauthaway Rob Roy (Sugar Island). I paddled the Hauthaway Rob Roy for about 10 years, was familiar with its limitations/strong points and thought the Bell Roy would be a higher performance version of my earlier Rob Roy (and I was seduced by the Bell's wood trim).
After a short test paddle I bought a new Bell Rob Roy and discovered that the Bell Rob Roy is very much a compromise, being neither a good canoe nor a good kayak. It is too wide to lean or brace with your knees to control like a kayak and with too low seating for a good canoe paddle stroke. I called Bell about adding a kneeling thwart to paddle canoe style as their website site suggested and they recommended this option. After buying and installing the overpriced kneeling thwart, I found that it was too low to comfortably lean on and could cause entrapment if you dumped the Rob Roy, so the kneeling thwart was worthless. The original backband was very poorly designed so I upgraded to a better backband design. The Rob Roy was very stable for fishing and had a lot of accessible room for tackle, but not much fun to paddle as a kayak, if you are experienced and used to better designed kayaks.
The final straw was that the seam connecting the top and bottom of the Rob Roy was covered by cheap vinyl tape that came off in the first month when I bumped a dock piling in landing. It exposed a rough ugly gap between the top and bottom halves of the hull with raw fiberglass tape in between. All of my other composite kayaks, including the 30 year old Hathaway Rob Roy had either a fiberglass outerseam or durable plastic H seal connecting the top and bottom so I could not believe that a quality manufacturer would overlook this design flaw. I called Bell, including the president to complain and they said they had fixed this design flaw in the current years design but would only send me another roll of vinyl tape.
Unhappy with both the Rob Roy and the manufacturer, I traded in the 6 month old Rob Roy on consignment. So much for Bell quality. I recently ran into the person who later bought my original Bell and he had similar impressions about the Bell Rob Roy.

I just returned from a trip to the BWCA with a Bell Rob Roy kayak/canoe and was very impressed. I've been having adventures in the BW for the last 25 years, and I've always wished there was a way to paddle solo, still be able to portage comfortably, and also maximize my paddling efforts. The Rob Roy really fit the bill for me. On a 200 rod portage I was able to adjust the yoke so that I didn't even need to use my hands while walking. That allowed me to pick raspberries while walking. Also, while cross Brule Lake in high winds, the Rob Roy kept tracking and didn't get blown off course by the wind. I was able to dedicate my energy to paddling forward, rather than continually correcting like a canoe. I was concerned that the Rob Roy might be too tippy. Not a chance. Very easy to exit/enter. My suggestion would be to make more comfortable rope handles. Other than that, now I'm planning on buying one.

This is another superb Dave Yost design for folks looking for a relatively affordable decked canoe for day paddling and trips lasting up to several days. It handles wind and waves from all directions comfortably and has a nice blend of primary and secondary stability. Gear storage spaces won't work too well for those who want to bring everything but the kitchen sink, but if you stick to a reasonable amount of gear, will be adequate. The hull is pretty efficient and can keep up with the longer decked canoes when the group is paddling at a steady cruising pace.

There were a few things that I would change on my personal boat, but that is to be expected on a boat that costs a thousand dollars less than any other decked canoe. First to go would be the seat. It is uncomfortable and much too low for someone using a canoe paddle, and the boat's stability is good enough to accommodate the higher seat height. I padded it up to 4" high and felt that I could get a much stronger canoe paddle stroke there. The rear thwart was too far forward, which meant that the boat was always trimmed just a little bit nose heavy with this 220 lb. paddler. I didn't see the benefit of the wood trim on the cockpit, and it ended rather abruptly on the sides instead of going all the way around. I would think that it would be easier to use a composite coaming. A rudder would be a nice option or owner add-on. I would probably want a spray cover for peace of mind if I were going to be paddling the boat loaded in wind and waves.

I've reviewed several canoes in the last couple of years, each time I do, I'm more informed than the time before. Last spring I bought a wenonah prism, I used it several times, it's fast, really pretty, very tippy [inexperience?] and gets blown all over in the wind. I've watched tandems paddle by, as I was grounded. I recently bought a rob roy from bell,it's very fast, even cooler looking,and is almost unaffected by the wind.the rob roy is my canoe of choice now, it does not carry as much gear[easier portages]and I have'nt quite figured out the entry, and exit routine yet,but I will. I did have some problems with the canoe, but the factory rep[mark] and northwest canoes, it was taken care of to my satisfaction. There are some definite negatives to this canoe,but are far outweighed by the pluses. I can now go to the bwca,and not worry about the wind or weather,two days ago, I was bustin ice with this canoe, something I never would have considered before.

Mine is an older gel-coated Kevlar model that I bought used. It weighs an honest 37 lbs. The boat is extremely fast when paddled with a double bladed paddle and can keep up with most other boats out there. You can also paddle it with a single bladed paddle, but I'd recommend a shorther shaft due to the low seating position.

Initial stability is good, but beginners might find it 'tippy', a characteristic common in Bell boats. Secondary stability however is excellent. The guy I bought it from said I'd probably fall out before tipping it over and I think he's right. Leaning the boat helps in turning. The open cockpit allows you to move your legs around somewhat and reduces fatigue, at least for me.

For big river or Boundary Water type trips I think the Rob Roy is hard to beat. Carefully packed with lightweight gear you could do a week long trip in it. An ideal load would be 300 lbs, but Bell claims you can carry 550, although I don't know where you'd put everything. I wouldn't recommend it for twisty or rocky rivers or in whitewater as it doesn't turn quickly and punches through waves rather than riding over them. I'd also recommend a spray skirt in choppy water. All in all I love the boat. As Bell advertises it lends a kayak's speed to a canoe's ability to carry a load.