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I purchased this canoe this year after also getting a dog. Previously, I mainly kayaked lakes in Vermont, but wanted to be able to take out the pup as well. I purchased the Northwind in the Starlite set up. it is incredibly light and makes it very easy to manage getting onto the top of my truck without assistance. Tracks great in the water, and can be soloed easily with some weigh in the front, or backwards. Although the rocker is not symmetrical, I try not to get too caught up on whether its designed to go forwards or backwards... it floated and went where I wanted so I was happy. It has also proven to be very stable, without our excited dog running up and down and side to side, we have not had issue. We've packed it up for some overnights and it has been great. I will be investing in some skid plates, and wouldn't want to take it into any place too risky with rocks, but that is typical of a Kevlar boat. That being said, we have hit some unknown obstacles and it has held up fine other than cosmetic scratches. If I decide to venture onto rivers, a bit more care will be needed than a plastic boat, but different tools for different purposes. For our location and type of paddling, mostly lakes, it is perfect. If anything, it just gives me another excuse to save up for another canoe in the future! Only gripes came from where I purchased the boat. It was sold new as a last year model, but noticed a small bend in a gunwale when I got it home. Due to COVID, I rushed a bit out of the dealer to large crowds than expected and didn't give it a good inspection. That being said, it doesn't really effect performance. Other than that, the fit and finish is great. The ash seats and thwarts are beautiful and I really appreciate the bronzed aluminum trim. Being a former Minnesotan, I wanted to support a company from an area I love, and I am glad I did. I am glad I splurged a bit on the lite set up, as it makes me more likely to get out and load it up each day. In the future, a b16 in the ixp layup may be in my future :)

I purchased this canoe this year, after years kayaking the addition of a dog meant I needed some space. We got the starlite version and I am happy, as it is incredibly manageable weight wise. Easy to load alone, and makes it easy to get out. It tracks great in the water and is plenty fast for me. It has shown good stability with a dog running around side to side and no unintended swims in the water. I will definitely be putting some skid plates on it due to some scratching, but they are all superficial. I bought it mainly for use on lakes and if I were in a river would need to be extra careful. But different tools for different purposes, if I end up doing more river trips than expected I'll look at a more durable layup, maybe the ixp b16. The fit and finish on the canoe is wonderful, with beautiful ash seats and thwarts and the browned aluminum is a great look. I bought a model from last year new, and it did have a slightly bent gunwale. My guess is it fell at my sellers place while in storage for the year, unfortunately I did not notice this when picking it up since it was during he covid lockdown with curbside pick up. There were more people around than expected so I rushed myself a bit. That being said, it has not effected performance at all. The canoe itself seems very sturdy and I am confident in its long term durability with primarily lake use. I am able to paddle it solo backwards with no ballast, and while its not symmetrical with its rocker, I believe it is symmetrical in shape in the 16 foot size. We have taken it on some camping trips and it is great loaded, and again very stable. Absolutely love it! If I do get another canoe, after years of saving again, I'll probably go for a prospector with amore durable layup so I can just bang it around a bit more, but there is nothing wrong with putting in some effort to keep it in goo shape. It picks up scratches pretty easily, but they have all been superficial... once I get over the newness of it, I will comment more on its durability when used with a less delicate touch.