So last Friday I drove 4 hours and picked up what I believed was a 2010 Graphite Wenonah Prism. From the pictures it looked different to me as the inside was black with no internal Kevlar layer like my Graphite Sandpiper, it had black flotation tanks, and it had silver gunwales.

I live in Houston, TX and picked it up from the New Braunfels area. I just assumed the layup was custom ordered this way to lighten it up for racing in the Water Safari or one of the other races in Texas.

I emailed Wenonah to get some more information and they had it listed in their catalog as a Ultra-Light Kevlar not graphite so they asked me to send them some pictures. Here is the response I got back:

"I got to do some fun exploration regarding your canoe! Our system definitely has your canoe listed as a Kevlar Ultra-Light with skin (clear) coat, but there's no way a Kevlar canoe would be black, right? But it didn't look like graphite - it's a flat black. You can see the weave, so it can't be a gel-coat at all, either inside or outside. Then I looked in our archive of production notes, and your canoe is indeed Kevlar - it's a special black Kevlar that they were trying out. Apparently they were looking at dyed Kevlar and how it performs, so your canoe is a bit of an experiment. They must not have liked how it looked (although I think it looks great) because it was sold to Piragis (an outfitter near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area here in NE Minnesota) as a cosmetically blemished canoe. Also unique is that most Kevlar canoes made today do not have Kevlar on the flotation tanks - they usually get a layer of fiberglass to hold them in place - but I think they wanted to continue the black theme. When we complete canoe that will not be sold at full price, we tend to go with the options for trim that are least expensive for us, which is why your boat has silver gunwales, pedestal, foot brace (standard) and thwarts. With the all-black interior, that silver trim looks REALLY sharp!

Mystery solved! Enjoy your canoe."

The canoe is in really nice condition with barely any scratches. At the end of the day I probably would of rather had a graphite layup but I still think it is a cool boat. Figured I would share as I always find these anomalies in canoe layups interesting.

That is a good looking canoe.

I happen to like it!

cool story, cool boat, thanks for sharing.

Black canoes matter! :)

They should turn that into a production model, sharp looking boat.

That is an interesting story. Are you worried at how it will do in the TX sun?

Yes, I am a bit curious to see how hot it gets in summer. I had it out the other day and it really did not heat up but it was not that hot out.

Instead of bilging water out of the canoe, it will just boil out.

quote Surfman: "Yes, I am a bit curious to see how hot it gets in summer. I had it out the other day and it really did not heat up but it was not that hot out."

Nice looking boat! If it's anything like the black gold Bells, the inside didn't hold the heat as badly as olive royalex IMHO? I'm curious too?

Very sharp looking canoe!

Dang! What a beauty!

Very cool looking canoe.

Great story, beautiful boat!

Neat story and that's one bad-ass looking canoe!

quote Surfman: "Yes, I am a bit curious to see how hot it gets in summer. I had it out the other day and it really did not heat up but it was not that hot out."

If it gets too hot for it down there, you can store it up here in northern mn at my place. Haha. I'd give it plenty of water. Haha.

I really like that layup. Congrats and enjoy your new find.

Very cool looking canoe. Funny that the seller didn't share the history. Wonder if anyone on the forum here will recall renting it from Piragas?

I would very surprised if this canoe was part of any rental fleet. It has a couple of small surface scratches and other than that it is in great condition.

I don't believe the seller really new the history or even what layup it was. He told me he bought it from a dealer up north back in 2010.

Beautiful canoe and very cool story.

While Kevlar 49 is always yellow, Kevlar 29 can be had in black, blue, green and red. Unfortunately, it does not bond well with resin and should never constitute more than 25% of Kevlar cloth. Bell/NorthStar and Souris River use alternating yellow 49 and black 29 in the fill of all K49 warp fabric. We had issues at Bell when we laid up a few red Kev 29 hulls before we learned. They were visually stunning though.

quote CharlieWilson: "While Kevlar 49 is always yellow, Kevlar 29 can be had in black, blue, green and red. Unfortunately, it does not bond well with resin and should never constitute more than 25% of Kevlar cloth. Bell/NorthStar and Souris River use alternating yellow 49 and black 29 in the fill of all K49 warp fabric. We had issues at Bell when we laid up a few red Kev 29 hulls before we learned. They were visually stunning though.
"

Thanks for the info. I do understand there are different types of Kevlar with different properties and purposes but in no way will I pretend I understand the specifics of each. So far I don't see anywhere on the canoe where the epoxy seems to be separating from the Kevlar or where the layup is failing in anyway. I don't believe this canoe has been heavily used though based on the condition so maybe it will start to fail over time.

Since I already purchased it I plan to paddle it and see what happens. I take good care of my canoes and they are all garage kept so hopefully I will get years of use out of it before it sinks into the river with me in it. :)

I think you were lucky getting it. Very cool. Thanks for sharing
Mike

What a find! How awesome - definitely a little jealous, thanks for sharing

Awesome! Once you go black...... Marc

Love it, looks fantastic.

Cool Spec-Ops canoe!

I would be interested to hear how the black does not that it has started getting warmer here in TX ?

I have had it out in 90 degree weather so far this year and i have not noticed it being any hotter than my other standard layup Wenonahs (Graphite, Ultra-light Kevlar).

Like so many others, I'm glad you shared this. Very cool boat, and the background adds another interesting element.

coolest prism ever.

I live in Spring Tx. and have a 08 Graphite Prism. I saw that canoe listed and thought they had painted the inside. Like you , my thought was how hot is it going to be hear in Texas during those 100 degree days.

Hi,
I am in Kingwood so right down the road. I paddle the San Jacinto/Lake Houston weekly so if you ever want to paddle let me know.

Honestly I would of preferred the standard Graphite layup but I have enjoyed this Prism so far. I paddle bare foot often when I am not paddling hard and have not noticed it being hot at all. We will see what happens in August.

I am not sure what the heat absorbing/deflecting properties of Kevlar are but I am guessing it does not absorb heat like I would expect. They make heat resistant gloves from Kevlar so there may be something to this. Not a scientist and too lazy to read more into it... :)