Based on the banks of the Mississippi River in Winona, Minnesota and the canoe of choice Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and beyond, Wenonah knows what makes a good long trip canoe.
A good canoe for long stints in the wilderness is durable and fast, portage-friendly, with essential features to make the canoe comfortable and adjustable, but with no more bells and whistles than you want to carry on the portage trail. Previously, Wenonah had made their canoes in Ultralight. In 2025, they’re going SuperLite.
Inside look at the Minnesota II in new SuperLite Aramid construction
With the new SuperLite Aramid construction Wenonah revisited their classic canoe construction to shave off as much weight as possible without sacrificing essential features for canoe tripping.
“Every aspect of the canoe has been gone over with a fine-toothed comb. The core has been worked, the fabrics have been rearranged,” Brain Day from Wenonah told Paddling Magazine at Canoecopia 2025. “We’ve ended up with a canoe that comes in roughly 15% lighter than a conventional Ultralight Aramid.
For reference, the Minnesota II model in SuperLite comes in at just 36 and a half pounds while the traditional Ultralight Kevlar Minnesota II weighs 42 pounds.
Canoe manufacturer Wenonah comes from a canoe racing heritage and many of the features in their canoes honor that legacy; the SuperLite aims to keep those legacy features while keeping the boat as light as possible. The canoes feature carbon fiber bucket seats, a foot brace for efficiency paddling, and a sliding seat in the canoe’s bow to allow for adjustment of trim – weight distribution and how that impacts the handling of the canoe – on the fly.
When it comes to lightweight boats one question tends to come front of mind for consumers: does cutting all that weight make the canoe less durable?
“There are hundreds of these canoes up in the Boundary Waters that get horribly abused every single year in a rental situation and they hold up fantastic,” shared Day. “The way most people would use a canoe, they’re not going to damage it.”
In short: even the SuperLite canoes are still extremely durable, but try not to throw it off the roof of your car on the way to the put-in.
