Hi, Only paddled Aluminum Canoe's in the past ... Looking forward to trying out some Kevlar Canoe's. Believe that 90% of the time will be solo, so looking at the Prism and the Magic and will be trying both this summer. My research says will be happy with either one but am leaning towards the magic. Outside chance on Northwind Polaris and try to use as a solo but think that most of my excursions will be solo with the few times the wife wants to go, cant justify a tandem unless i can handle the Polaris ok as i'm 5'5" 168 low fifties :)
All i remember is back in the 90's ... paddling a loaded Aluma Craft across Ogishamuncie into a Heavy head wind and that was very hard!! Cannot wait to see what the difference is on these Lighter weighted models. Come on spring ... GET HERE!!

I am 62 and paddle a 16' 6" Northstar both solo and tandem. I added a kneeling thwart and knee pads near the center for solo paddling. The canoe handles wind and waves well tandem with gear and two 180 lb. people. Solo wind is an issue, I have to crab across the water in the direction of travel or I will spin in circles. Light canoes with high sides that can carry loads and handle rough water are more difficult to paddle solo in the wind.

"I know that paddling a tandem canoe solo can work well but my guess is that it would be difficult to paddle a solo canoe tandem."

due to the narrowness of bow and stern only if you are an elf would that work at all without ejecting someone

Aluminum to Kevlar -- wow that's a big leap forward! Congratulations!

Kevlar is pretty awesome. You'll like both the Prism and the Magic. It will be interesting to hear your impression of both canoes.

I have not owned a Prism but I have tried one. It's a great solo, I thought it was both reasonably stable and quite fast across the water. I really liked it but preferred my Magic over it. The Magic had a really good "feel" to it.

I also had a Bell Merlin II and a Wenonah Wilderness. I really liked both of those but as a true solo traveler, the Magic was better for me. Its hard to describe how it paddles. It's slick, glides effortlessly and feels almost like a sea kayak?? The Wilderness paddled like a canoe and was very stable. Nothing about it blew me away but I sure was happy with it. If I needed to haul a dog and lots of gear I'd take the Wilderness. Or if fishing was my priority, the Wilderness was great for that.

If I was a lighter weight, smaller individual, the Merlin would be perfect for trips. I'm 6'0" and 200 lbs so loaded with gear the Merlin would be sitting a little lower in the water than I'd prefer for big water. The Merlin was like a shorter Magic with better turning ability but a hair slower and not as straight of a tracker. I used my Merlin as a local day boat and it was perfect, definitely my favorite. The new Trillium would be the closest current canoe hull to the Merlin. I would only take the Magic as a tripper and saved my Merlin for everything else.

You'll have to paddle them both and then decide. Either way you can't lose between those two.

lot's of magic owners and great reviews for them out there, for good reason, it is a nice canoe, with that said, i love my prism. for me it just fit. fast enough for this young 63 year old, stable when empty, fishing, and solid with packs in it.
happy new year.

Thanks, ... can't wait to try them both ... I fish a lot also, so this will determine what i pick. Can't wait to feel the difference and it sounds as if both will work. I'm a smaller guy 5'4" 170 and in semi good shape. Will let you all know in the spring :)

Cretbo: " Hi, Only paddled Aluminum Canoe's in the past ... "

Same here! Let us know what you get, and what you think of it vs the aluminum.