Winisk

Local reseller here in Finland gave us for a test run Swift Winisk Gold Fusion. We participated to a 60 km lake rowing marathon here in Finland. Winisk was easy, light & fast to paddle. Quite a few rowers were left behind us. Our finishing time was 7:53:17, it means 7,6 km/h average. We even had one lunch & peeing break. There was another C2, Wenonah Escapade, they lost to us one hour.
Winisk is a lot of canoe!

The Winisk is a fantastic touring canoe. Even loaded up it gets up to speed quick, holds a good line, and is really easy to keep up to speed gliding wonderfully. We use way less energy traveling longer distances then with other canoes used.

If you want a recreational boat for fishing or paddling around the cottage, this is not the canoe for you. If you are doing flatwater tripping it definitely is. With other canoes, including my beloved Prospector, we were paddling hard to keep up to others. We now paddle at a more moderate pace and now wait for some of the other canoes.

Initial stability is not very firm when not loaded, but this narrower waterline width also gives you speed. Loaded it is just great. Secondary stability either way is great, and the canoe is fine for keeling over solo, though I would not prefer to use it on a long solo trip.

I bought directly from Swift, as there is no dealer in Calgary, and got great service from them. I got the kevlar layup with the integral kevlar gunwhales and cherry trim, with an additional solo seat. I weighed the canoe after I got it, and it is a nice light 40.5 lbs, and is fantastic to carry around. The integral gunwhales did have a bit of a sharper outside edge that I filed down a wee bit to soften the edges, but I see now that they put a thin wooden strip on to alleviate this problem.

BTW, it is extremely rare for me to ever give a 10, so this is near perfect.

Everybody seems to say too much fluff about handling etc. so I'll stay away from that. I like this canoe. Buying it at the end of season in Canada with a great $US/$CN exchange rate and getting the sales tax refunded netted this out at $1342 US in October 1998. For a 55 lb beautiful, all ash gunwales, contour yoke, bow slider and kneeling thwart I think that can't be beat.

I love the seats. They are webbed with thick ash framing. They are curved downward in the front perfect for semi-kneeling (which I like). I also like the one piece ash yoke. I put 2 pieces of ensolite foam on my shoulder tops and the yoke works perfectly for me. I have a curved laminated yoke on my other canoe but I like the contour yoke on the winisk the best.

As far as choosing a canoe goes, take several trips borrowing and renting canoes to find what you like don't listen to anyone else. Pay attention to equipment people are using that are passing you. Ask them for advice.

For me it was the Winisk or a Minnesota II from We-noh-na. The Winisk was $600 cheaper. After 3.5 years I'm still totally happy with this boat. Now I'm looking for a 16 foot boat for more river use. Everybody thinks their boat is a 9 or 10.

The workmanship of the Winisk is first class. A head turner everywhere we go. The first time my iwfe and i used we used it we had two dachsies with us and launched without a load and with moderate waves and wind....we were taken by surprise at the lack of initial stability. We very carefully turned it around and glad we were able to make it back to shore without putting the wet side up!!! the next day with portage packs and equipment and food for a week the stability returned but you must keep the canoe loaded which isnt good for recreational fishing. Solo wasnt too bad empty but still tender. It is a design that will get you where you want to go quickly IF you are in a hurry. We have ours in the Expidition Kevlar layup. A word of warning...if you really concerned about weight be advised if Swift advertises 48 lbs...make sure you let them know that is what you want or you might end up with one in the mid 50's.

Our Winisk is used mainly for flatwater canoe tripping and some trips down slow moving rivers. I find the boat lacking in initial stability when empty, firming right up when loaded and excellent secondary stability. Flared ends keep us dry in big water and my wife enjoys the amount of rocker in the bow, which allows her to participate in the handling of the canoe. The Winisk responds well to a multitude of paddling strokes and is also a joy to paddle solo with the optional kneeling thwart. We have plenty of room for the two of us with two weeks of gear and a 65 lb dog. The expedition Kevlar layup with wood trim comes in around 54 lbs making it very easy to portage and also very durable. It is a beatiful boat and pretty fast too!

I built a cedar strip of this model. Took it on a good trip this summer. Big lakes, lots of rapids, class I and II. The Winisk was great on the lakes, very fast and excellent in big water. It was also excellent in the rapids, much better than I thought a canoe of this size would handle. Left the 16' Kevlar Prospector in the dust on the lakes. A great canoe for two week trips!

Asymetric with a rockered flared bow that takes large waves and turns well with draw strokes. The stern in straight keeled and tracks great, even when soloing. I can put this canoe right to the gunwale and turn into my paddling side. Excellent tripping canoe. It's fast and silent. We haven't hit any serious white water, mostly short river stretches and portages between lakes in the Lake of the Woods area.