I purchased a new Old Town Tripper 172 this spring. After using it for the last 3 months for tripping as well as recreational canoeing and fishing, it ROCKS. This canoe is by far and away the most sea worthy, versitaile, canoe I have ever been in. Although I would not describe myself as a grizzled vetran of thousands of canoe trips, I also am not a rank beginner and have spent time tripping on the ocean in Alaskas inside passage, on rivers, on lakes reservoirs etc etc. I purchased the tripper specifically as a multi purpose craft and it has meet/exceeded my lofty expectations. I read the other reviews and people mention that it is a beast, or heavy, or whatever. I am not entirely certain how many people spend 2-3K on a kevlar canoe, but for those of us willing to part with 1,000 dollars or so the tripper is the same weight as any other canoe in that price range (of similar dimension) and in my hands feels very very light on the water. I can easily put it on my truck unassisted but would need some help for extended carries. My wife and I were on a large reservoir tripping with another few boats and were the fastest boat in thr group.... by a LONG way. The tripper is NOT slow, its just not a racing canoe. It tracks very well (especially when loaded) and is a joy to paddle responding well to a measured distance pace. I average 3.5-3.8 mph at a relatively leisurly pace, this is a distance eating pace and is measured with a very expensive GPS over a 2 hr moving average on a large lake with light winds, we were fishing so we were constantly changing direction and thus with/against the wind for equal times since we finished where we started. ANyhow, STABLE, easy to paddle, tracks well, durable, and actually not that heavy.... the best of all worlds....
