I’ve had the Rangeley 15 for about 5 months. Equipped it with 7ft oars (Shaw and Tenney said 7.5ft but I think that’s too long) and a Toshiba 6hp short shaft outboard -with the 3gallon external tank, which I like for capacity and trim (sits under middle seat) . I have primarily used the trailer for it, but can carry it on roof top of minivan for tough to access spots (used a hitch mounted third rail from Yakima to make it easier to slide up on the van and secure it). Holds with a 3# kayak anchor in moderate wind.
I’ve rowed it on smaller lakes/pond and run it with motor on Hudson River and Adirondack lakes. During shakedowns on the Hudson River, the wind can blow and I had a second person. Boat felt stable under motor, ran it into 10-15 knot wind and waves or surfed down them on the return. I plan to try to run it more like a float boat or canoe on some smaller rivers and think it will do fine.
The sweet spot are the mountain lakes. Rows nice, long water line, good exercise. I provide a canoe paddle for second person. Rowing will get you a lot of places, quiet, and allows you to fish in the weeds or pull boat up on shore. In wind, you need to avoid getting sideways-there is a bit of freeboard and its 15ft long. Motoring with 2 people and fishing gear is great to get to the fishing hole, maybe 10 knots at ¾ throttle, motor is quiet at an idle trolling speed. I prefer gas for a week of fishing so you’re not fooling with recharging electric batteries.
I’m happy with the boat and get a lot of complements and questions as design is between a canoe and a rowboat. The T-Formex lighter weight makes it manageable and durable so far. The keel and lapstrake design feels stable. The heritage of the Rangeley boat – evolution of the St Lawrence skiffs and ADK guide boats – makes sense as you figure out where to use it.
