I have converted a Wenonah 18'6" kevlar Minnesota II with two Row Wings, and found them to be a good match. The Minnesota II is a large kevlar canoe with a rigid foam sandwich floor designed for the Boundry Waters region of northern Minnesota where large inland lakes and long portages are the norm. Thus the canoe is designed to be both fast, seaworthy, and light. It is not designed for surf landings and rocky rapids. Details of the process and a picture of the result of my conversion can be found in the Open Water Rowing issue #20.

I was originally concerned about the possibility of the Row Wing feet damaging the floor of the canoe, and contemplated a support system to spread the load, but I decided to install it with its standard rubber pads on the bottom of the stands and see how it went before committing to a supporting base. After one season of rowing I've had no damage to the floor of the canoe with the standard feet installed. My and the Row Wing's weight seems to be well enough distrubuted by the standard feet and the rubber pads.

I returned the gunwale clamps that came with the conversion kits after using them for a few days and instead made my own gunwale mounting system with some aluminum angle. The clamps were very large and heavy, and though they let me experiment with rowing position, were a real pain if left on the canoe when I tried to car top it, or paddle it. Also, my brother and I happened to collide with a channel marker at full tilt one day, striking the end of the fore Row Wing arm. The Row Wing was unmarked and unbent, a tribute to its durability, but the clamp punched a nice rectangular hole into the side of the canoe. It was cosmetic damage, and easily patched, but I'd prefer it didn't happen. The primary moral of this is don't run into things, but when I made my own mounting system, I attached it directly through the aluminum gunwales, instead of just grabbing the thin kevlar directly below as the gunwale clamps did.

If you are used to rowing a longer shell, you will notice reaching hull speed, beyond which pulling harder just makes more wake, sooner and more suddenly than in the shell. But with two rowing, the "feel" of the double rowing canoe is similar to a good rec shell, which makes sense, given the total weight of canoe with row units is about 85 lbs, or 43 lbs per rower. You will also notice that you can stop, look at the fish in the water, stand up and stretch, read a book, and jump ashore without much wading while still going faster than any normal canoe. It's a great family and touring boat.

Because the boat weights so much less than the combined weight of the rowers, the hull moves more than the rowers through the stroke, and I've had passengers comment on the regular jerking of the ride. Some don't like it, some don't mind. Of course, if the boat is brought up to its full capacity of 800lbs or so for an overnight tour, this won't be an issue.

So far, I've rowed many times in the 24 mile Keweenaw Waterway and on Lake Superior here in Michigan's upper penninsula, and been very pleased with its handling and seaworthiness. I haven't had a chance do any overnight touring with it yet, but hope to give that a try this summer.

-- jeff parker (jparker@bresnanlink.net), March 13, 2000