An excellent reply. I would only add that the only time the weight
difference is a factor is when you are carrying it. In the water the
difference is insignificant as a solo boat will only account for 25% or less
of the total weight. The difference between the lightest Kevlar and heaviest
royalex reduces this to less than 10%. Put differently, the 20 or so pound
difference displaces about 1/3 of a cubic foot of water evenly distributed
across the entire footprint of the boat. So, (and I haven't calculated it),
your boat might be 1/50th of an inch deeper in the water. I use royalex on
all rocky rivers. If there aren't rocks, you could paddle a paper boat.
____________________________
Sincerely,
Carey Robson -- www.CanoeBC.ca

"Eric Nyre" wrote in message
om...
I'll use a Kevlar boat up to class III, but for rockbashing or bigger
water Royalex is really a better choice.

The weights on a Kevlar whitewater boat aren't that much better than
Royalex (I paddle a We-no-nah Rendezvous Kevlar, not quite a
whitewater but good to III). Western Canoeing has the Probe and Viper
in Kevlar running 44lbs or so, my Royalex Ocoee is 42 lbs.

The only problems I have had with composite boats are rock gardens in
low water. Go over a small drop, smack the stern, hit another rock and
smack the side. After a few trips, it's time for some gel repair.

Performance wise the composites totally outperform Royalex in calmer
water. In class III+ and big stuff, you don't want a fast hull. The
water is moving too fast already, and you want something that won't
punch right into the waves. Slower hulls are better, and Royalex is
the best material for it.

If you are planning on staying class I-II, go Kevlar. If you plan to
enter the III range, the Royalex will be cheaper, more durable, and
just as light.

Remember some of the words you used to describe Kevlar were "stiff"
and "light". Smack a rock, and "stiff" shears. Floppy bends, absorbs,
and survives. "Light" really isn't light if built for durability (see
weights above).

I have wrapped both materials. Both hate it, no matter what a plastic
boater says, Royalex is not a happy camper when the bow hits the
stern. The Kevlar cracked along the side, but otherwise held it's
shape very well. In fact without any repair we paddled a tacoed Kevlar
Encounter 9 miles out to the truck. It took an hour to patch it, and
the patch looks like the boat was wrapped, but otherwise it's
structurally fine. Wrapped boats generally need new gunwales, and that
price is constant.

Both materials don't like to be scraped over rocks. You can spray more
vinyl on the skin of a Royalex boat to fill in the scratches. You can
re-gel a composite. I've found that painting the bottom of my
composite boats with a mixture of epoxy, graphite, and silica makes a
super tough bottom. The graphite lubricates the rock and what would be
a long scratch turns into a three inch wonder.

Royalex whitewater boats are easily obtained. Composite is a special
order, or rare find. For getting started in whitewater, buy the
cheapest thing you can, because you will destroy it learning how to
paddle it. Once you have some skills, look into a new boat. Until then
I'd buy something cheap, and that's most likely to be plastic.