C-Forum

A year ago I sold my Evergreen Solito and have been paddling 98% of the time my Esquif Prelude. This weekend, I borrowed back the Solito for a day just to see what it was like again.

The Solito is about 1.5 feet longer than the Prelude and actually lighter. It's faster. A little fussier on what it likes in a surf wave. But overall, a really fun boat. More fun than an Ocoee in my opinion, though very similar in handling due to the similarity in chines and rocker. Good sidesurfer, but don't drop an edge the wrong way. I almost got windowshaded in the first small hole I tried spinning it. By end of the day, when I dropped over a pourover sideways into a hole, I was back in synch with the boat and had no issues. Excellent secondary.

It was weird to be in a Royalex boat again. I do like PE plastic. The next day it was great to be back in the Prelude, which being shorter and narrower, feels more nimble and quicker to respond to changes in direction. Still, the Solito is an excellent design. A good choice for someone looking for something Ocoee-like but smaller, or wanting a hard-chined canoe that's a bit bigger, wider and more stable than the Zoom.

Some might argue on the "more stable", maybe just a different kind of stability?

When Heather's gone from her new Zoom back into a Solito, it hasn't sounded like she missed much of the Solito's design. (You can discuss when she picks up the Caption!)

With what little experience I've had in the 2 boats at my 220lbs, I also felt more comfortable paddling the Zoom than the Solito.

Pat.

In the designers own words...

http://cboats.net/cforum/viewtopic.php? ... ght=#20411

John Graye was a good man... his presence is missed within our community.

Pat: That's interesting what you say about Heather and the Solito and Zoom. I'll have to talk to her about it. I don't have a lot of Zoom experience. I've paddled it for short stretches and that's all. My take on the Zoom is that it's fun for river running and eddying, but it's not as good a playboat as the Prelude or Phantom when it comes to surfing. But again, that's with limited experience. Two of the people I paddle with a lot have Zooms. Many of you have commented of the skill of one of these guys. All those short boats, except perhaps the L'edge, don't have much primary stability. The Zoom and Solitio have what feels like similar secondary to me. Both the Phantom and Prelude don't have quiite as solid of secondary, but enough.

Craig: I actually befriended John when the Solito came out. I was one of the first buyers. He was an extremely nice guy and totally interested in my impressions of the boat and when I modified it by pulling in the thwarts by 1.5 inches--a modification that made it faster and track better. He was planning to come out and paddle with me for a week when death knocked at his door, so I never got to meet him in person. His boat lives on.

Any suggestions for a solo boat for a 210 pound 6'4" paddler? Looking mostly for a downriver runner, with some surfing etc...

I liked the Zoom, although it took a short time to get used to it on a creek style run, a very interesting 15 minutes. I thought it was dry and surfed well on the waves available with narrow troughs. It was a little slow for bigger rivers so for that I changed boats.
Einar, 205lbs.

I'd recommend an Ocoee if you're okay with edges. Nova Craft is the current manufacturer and is doing a better job (layup and gunnels) than Bell did.

Unless you have really good balance in a canoe, I wouldn't suggest a Zoom for someone your size and height.

The polyethylene canoes are what's hot. More playboats than river running boats, unless you're talking creeks and rapid-happy rivers. L'edge and Blackfly Option are good choices for someone your size. Prelude would be too squirrelly.

Another Royalex boat to consider would be Esquif Paradigm.