Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianRiddle
From my research the prospectors are a better design for rivers due to ease of turning. Where a tripping canoe would track and glide more being better suited for open water?
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The Prospector is a tripping canoe, and its an all around design. It will turn better than a Clipper Tripper, which is more of a big water design, and also a tripping canoe... it has no keel and tracks better than many canoes sporting a keel, because the people that designed that canoe knew what they were doing. The problem with Prospectors is there have been so many different versions built, some have as little as 2" of rocker and track fairly well, other brands have as much as 4" of rocker making them more of a fast water hull.
A flat bottom canoe needs a keel to help it track, a rounded or semi-v bottom puts enough hull in the water that it needs no keel. Properly loaded, your average tripper of decent quality will nave no keel will track far better than a flat bottom recreational canoe that sports a keel. I have an old flat bottom my grandfather gave me, it has a keel and absolutely no rocker and it still doesn't track very well. Beyond that rocker and hull design determine whether a canoe will track well or be nimble.
IMO the only quality canoe that should ever have a keel on it is an aluminum one, it is very difficult to build anything besides a flat bottom hull out of aluminum.