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06/07/2014 02:48PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
We rented one on our recent entry at EP 37 from Sawtooth Outfitters. It weighs in at 39 pounds and has the lines of a sports car, but the stability of a Hummer. The canoe we rented had not been paddled before and there were no pinstripes, scrapes, or use/abuse.

Even when unpacked during fishing the stability was absolutely outstanding. There was plenty of room for packs and gear, though it felt somewhat more narrow than other canoes I've paddled.

I was most impressed with how few paddle strokes it took to get up to speed. Sustained speeds were no problem, and we felt as though we could sustain an easy 5 or 6MPH unloaded. I did not have a GPS with me and our SPOT does not track speed so I have no real numbers in that regard.

It tracked very straight and took a bit for me as the stern paddler to get used to how many more strokes than usual I could get away with before I needed a J-stroke or side-switch.

We encountered some chop on Alice Lake and I think this is where the speed and stability really came into play and made paddling into the wind and waves a snap. Paddling while quartering away from the wind and waves is always tricky, but this boat performed very well and did not push the stern about so we became parallel with the next wave.

Halfway through Alice the wind switched and we then had a bit of a cross chop and were quartering into the previous waves and heading into the current waves at perhaps a 20 degree angle. My belief is the straight tracking abilities came into play and allowed us to not have to correct our track as often or as much.

The boat is as stiff as could be. There was no flex at all on the water, and the bottom was extremely rigid with no perceived flex even when stepping in. I recall a SR 17 that you could bounce from front to back with a push on the bottom. Not so here.

Heading up the stream into Raven we encountered a few turns which we had to come to a dead stop for maneuvering, but that is as expected with a touring boat. It still turned well at slower speeds with the correct paddling technique.

I don't know if the design is much different than the Bell Northwind, but there must be some change to shave 4 or 5 pounds off.

My hat is off to Ted Bell for such an amazing canoe. Is it possible to improve on something so perfected? Perhaps a few more grand and a lot of titanium...










 
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amhacker22
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06/07/2014 06:53PM  
Great review!

Thanks.
 
Bradv
member (38)member
  
03/19/2020 09:22PM  
We’ve ordered this boat, it arrives in April. I was able to speak to Ted before ordering. We had short conversation about where I’d be paddling, my crew of a 4 year old and wife... he said this is the boat for us. Two days later I had my order in.

- We went with the aramid with wood gunwales
- Third seat - camp rig placement, (for young children, the third seat is behind the bow seat)
- Deep dish yoke
- External skid protectors
- Carbon foot brace

Update: After reading more about this boat I was able to speak to Bear at the factory and upgrade my order to Blacklite. Bear also mentioned this is Northstar’s most popular boat. They have two molds for production, all other boats only have a single mold.
 
03/19/2020 09:40PM  
That's my tandem. It's a great all arounder
 
TipsyPaddler
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03/20/2020 05:25AM  
If I decide to buy a tandem the Northwind 17 is on the shortlist. Its often my first choice for my rental canoes if offered.

What is the closest Wenonah canoe model to the NW17?

I found the NW20 to be a joy to paddle as well with a family of four with children. And the portages weren’t terrible either :-)
 
MidwestFirecraft
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03/20/2020 07:24AM  
TipsyPaddler: "What is the closest Wenonah canoe model to the NW17?"

Spec wise, I think the 17 Wenonah comes closest to the NW17.
 
cyclones30
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03/20/2020 08:29AM  
We also rented a NW17 from Sawtooth and put in at the same EP as the OP a couple years ago. Very nice boat, loved it for 95% of the trip. However, my wife and I combined might weigh 300 lbs. Paddling on Malberg (not a huge lake) we were empty and fishing/filling water. Cross wind gust came up and just about put us in the drink. The same thing happened once more on a day trip, after that we would take our food barrel with us and a small pack. It handled much better with that extra weight.

After getting home, we see that their min load is 350...I can see why. If you're going to run it tandem with a kid up front, add some weight if you can. It's called optimum load for a reason I suppose.
 
03/20/2020 08:49AM  
cyclones30: "We also rented a NW17 from Sawtooth and put in at the same EP as the OP a couple years ago. Very nice boat, loved it for 95% of the trip. However, my wife and I combined might weigh 300 lbs. Paddling on Malberg (not a huge lake) we were empty and fishing/filling water. Cross wind gust came up and just about put us in the drink. The same thing happened once more on a day trip, after that we would take our food barrel with us and a small pack. It handled much better with that extra weight.

After getting home, we see that their min load is 350...I can see why. If you're going to run it tandem with a kid up front, add some weight if you can. It's called optimum load for a reason I suppose. "

I could be wrong, but I suspect that if you almost took a bath in those circumstances in a NS NW 17, you would have been swimming in a lot of other canoes that have more freeboard to catch more wind (prospectors and others with more traditional upswept ends).

My NW 17 does really well with a load. All-in that's usually 450 - 475.

Solo, empty and in the wind and I can win a regatta as long as the finish line is downwind.
 
03/20/2020 09:41AM  
TipsyPaddler: "If I decide to buy a tandem the Northwind 17 is on the shortlist. Its often my first choice for my rental canoes if offered.

What is the closest Wenonah canoe model to the NW17?

I found the NW20 to be a joy to paddle as well with a family of four with children. And the portages weren’t terrible either :-)"

I'm a big Wenonah fan as well, but you'll find that the bow area is much more roomy in the Northwind compared to say a MN ll.
 
cmanimal
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03/20/2020 02:38PM  
I rented one a few years back, and found that when we went faster than a casual paddle we couldn't stop it from rocking side to side. It was very annoying.

But I would like to try one again in the future.
The beauty of renting canoes.
 
jhb8426
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03/20/2020 08:49PM  
Blatz: "I'm a big Wenonah fan as well, but you'll find that the bow area is much more roomy in the Northwind compared to say a MN ll."


Yes both the Bell tandems and the Northstar tandems have much more room for the bow paddler.

 
Moonpath
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03/24/2020 11:08AM  
I have owned my NS NW 17 now for 6 years and have been on 2 BW/Q trips with it. It is the gold lite version that weighs in about 41 lbs but I did have it made with all wood trim. It is a very nice looking canoe that paddles very well in all of the circumstances I have been in. Even without extra weight in the canoe, my partner and I weigh about 340 lbs, the canoe has been stable while fishing. With gear it is even more stable and really moves through the water better than other canoes I own (mad river explorer, mad river revelation, and blue water protector). My only quibble is that it does scratch very easily and after 2 trips shows wear. In highlight, I probably should have got the tougher layup but this would have added several lbs. I only use this canoe for lake Trip’s and would not take it where I thought there would be rapids and or whitewater.

In summary, I have been very happy with this canoe as a very functional tandem craft for the money. When I purchased my canoe in 2014 (new), it was about $500 less than the equivalent SR 17 model, and mine even had the wood trim. I normally go on trips of 10 days or less and the volume of the NW 17 is plenty. If you plan on taking longer trips you may want to consider the NW 18 which has substantially more volume. Best,
Moonpath
 
cyclones30
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03/24/2020 05:45PM  
sns: "
cyclones30: "We also rented a NW17 from Sawtooth and put in at the same EP as the OP a couple years ago. Very nice boat, loved it for 95% of the trip. However, my wife and I combined might weigh 300 lbs. Paddling on Malberg (not a huge lake) we were empty and fishing/filling water. Cross wind gust came up and just about put us in the drink. The same thing happened once more on a day trip, after that we would take our food barrel with us and a small pack. It handled much better with that extra weight.

After getting home, we see that their min load is 350...I can see why. If you're going to run it tandem with a kid up front, add some weight if you can. It's called optimum load for a reason I suppose. "

I could be wrong, but I suspect that if you almost took a bath in those circumstances in a NS NW 17, you would have been swimming in a lot of other canoes that have more freeboard to catch more wind (prospectors and others with more traditional upswept ends).

My NW 17 does really well with a load. All-in that's usually 450 - 475.

Solo, empty and in the wind and I can win a regatta as long as the finish line is downwind."


Yes, loaded it handled and paddled like a dream for us. But the empty feeling we had, we have not experienced as bad in say....a MNII or Q17. I'm not sure if I can explain why yet, just our experiences more than once.
 
03/25/2020 10:38AM  
Our first BWCA/Q trips (late '70s) were in aluminum canoes in the 75 pound range. In the '80s, Old Town introduced the Columbia, which weighed ~60 pounds in fiberglass lay-up. We rented Columbias a couple times, then bought one, and until the early 2000s it was our BWCA/Q boat. Then, in an effort to keep our gear weight in a range that allowed us to continue single-walking all portages, we started renting various canoes, including a Mad River whose model name I've forgotten and a couple Wenonah Minnesota IIs. In 2017 we rented a Northwind 17. After the first day's paddling, we noticed something was missing: the knee bruises from legs leaning & bumping against the gunwales! We bought our own NW17 in 2018.

TZ
 
Bradv
member (38)member
  
03/25/2020 01:22PM  
Thanks for the heads up. Luckily we will be close to 400 lbs with no gear and all three of us. Most of my paddling will be inland in IL, WI and MI.

If I was going to do any coastal or big lake tripping, I’d consider installing one of North Waters spray decks.

Also, some are mentioning solo paddling as a disadvantage in this boat. I’d agree with your concerns but if I’m going to solo a canoe, it’s going to be a smaller boat than this. It’s simply not in my mission with this boat. When I spoke to Ted when ordering, I wanted a great family boat that we could grow into. All boats are a comprise, but this one ticked all the boxes for me. If my mission changes I’ll simply employ the x+1 formula of boat ownership.
 
03/25/2020 03:23PM  

In 2017 we rented a Northwind 17. After the first day's paddling, we noticed something was missing: the knee bruises from legs leaning & bumping against the gunwales! We bought our own NW17 in 2018.


TZ"
Really. My experience has been that Northstar gunwales can be notoriously harsh on the outside of the knee. I've always padded mine up.
 
03/25/2020 04:56PM  
Blatz: "

In 2017 we rented a Northwind 17. After the first day's paddling, we noticed something was missing: the knee bruises from legs leaning & bumping against the gunwales! We bought our own NW17 in 2018.



TZ"
Really. My experience has been that Northstar gunwales can be notoriously harsh on the outside of the knee. I've always padded mine up."


Blatz, the NW17 is the only Northstar I've paddled, so I can't comment on their other gunwale designs. Two aspects of the NW17 appear to contribute to the 'missing bruises': wider knee space (especially in the bow) and lower seat position compared to our Columbia.

TZ
 
Moonpath
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03/26/2020 10:17AM  
I have had no problems banging my knee into a gunwale on the NW 17. This may have been an issue on pre 2014 models made by Bell where the gunwales used tumblehome. The newer models have no tumblehome. As for soloing NW 17, it can be done but is awkward and not really designed for that. By reversing the canoe for soloing, you are also reversing the asymmetrical hull design, which is what gives this canoe its special oomph. I have only soloed very short distances and if soloing is my goal, I would use another canoe. JerryG
 
Bradv
member (38)member
  
04/28/2020 07:54PM  
No beauty shots yet. The craftsmanship and service from Northstar have been top notch. It’s a strong boat. No rock hits yet but we’ve gone over a few logs to avoid impromptu portages!

 
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