Profile

You have to love the Old Town Hunter, 14' royalex, 36" beam, very shallow arch bottom, almost flat, but not quite. Beautiful recurve stems, classic canoe look. As a tandem, at 14' you do feel too close, but it could work for two adults or kids 130# each(or less). It shines as a solo fishing, photo, exploring,class I rapids canoe. I paddle from the bow seat with the stern forward, and put a Sealine bag of water up front to trim it(on lakes). I adjust the amount of water according to the wind conditions. Its very stable and turns fine, its not meant to be a fast canoe. I gave it a 9 because the tall stems do catch wind, however burying the bow with the water bag will keep you on track and make it even more stable. This is the kind of canoe that makes people love canoeing, when your eyes fall on it you see a friend.

The Old Town 146k, no longer in production, is occasionally available, used. This is a canoe that should not be overlooked. After several years of canoeing (mostly fishing and exploring lakes), and making the P.O.Wheelee canoe cart, I came across a used OT 146k. I have come to the conclusion that a 14.5' canoe, 34-36" wide, with a shallow arch/or almost flat bottom is the ideal canoe size for solo/tandem use by average size recreational canoeists (small to about 170#ers).

For solo use, I sit backwards in the front seat, and ballast the canoe using a water-tight bag way up front. You can put in a very precise amount of water to trim the canoe considering your weight, wind conditions, etc. The 146k is 13.5" at center, has a low shear line, and a modest-sized keel molded in. The keel does help to track the boat and helps to hold it when fishing, yet doesn't fight you badly in turns.

The canoe is made of polylink 3, which is heavy, 72#. The extra weight makes "land-handling" a chore for some, but pays dividends in stability, on the water. If Old Town made this canoe in Royalex, it would be hard to beat and they'd sell a ton of them. They do have the Camper (16') and the Pathfinder (14'10"), however both of these (and I have owned both, still have the Camper) have high recurved stems, which catch a lot of wind. With a partner aboard, they're ok, but solo you get blown all over the place.In a Royalex (146k)layup, I would keep the keel, the low shear and very shallow arch, it would come in at about 55#, which would be perfect. Presently, I roll my 146k on and off the truck and to the water with the Wheelee, this mitigates the weight issue.
Happy paddling!

I purchased the Fusion after much research, for the purpose of fishing/exploring small lakes(solo). Prior to this, I owned a Lincoln Little One (11'x37"x 44#), an Old Town Pack (12'x32"x33#), and a Nature Bound (11' 10"x32"x43#)and 4 tandems (14',14'6",15',16').

Wenonah has hit one out of the park with this boat, for my purposes and I think, many others. The Fusion, in Royalex, weighs in @ 45#, is 13'x32". The centered seat is mounted low, the canoe is stable,manueverable, and quick. The Lincoln waddled, inspite of a keel, the Nature bound was ok, but turned hard, and the Pack was just too light and tender with the cane seat height (however, with a lower seat this is a good canoe for portage at 33#). I have a P.O. Wheelee canoe cart on the Fusion which effectively reduces the 45# to 22.5# for the purposes of portage and cartopping (end mounted with 16" wheels, rolling the canoe upside down);I can get to any water with this combination.

Wenonah wisely gave the canoe a lot of forethought, the 13'length and 45# weight improve the stability over the other short canoes. The depth, low shear, and hull configuration are ideal, seat's nice and wide too. I'm 6',175 and an intermediate skill paddler. I'm very pleased with this canoe. They have a foot brace arrangement for those who want to cruise, and perhaps use a kayak paddle, I took the bar out, I switch side paddle and usually am not in any rush. I was concerned about the 4 rivet holes in the hull which hold the bar tracks, but it hasn't leaked thus far, if it does, I'd put some duct tape over the rivet head, until I found a better solution. The bar seems unnecessary, this is not a cruiser. I make the P.O. Wheelee and see a lot of canoes, this one's a peach.