Open Canoe Shootout | Mad River and Esquif | Rapid Magazine
This faceoff between two whitewater open canoes, the Mad River Outrage and the Esquif Zephyr, is from Rapid magazine.
The Esquif Zephyr and the Mad River Outrage are two often-recommended boats for paddlers seeking a canoe that inspires immediate confidence. Beginners and nervous boaters love them both, as do many old hands who’ve enjoyed decades of different designs. Beyond that, however, they don’t have much in common.
The hull material, design, stability and dryness are so different that it’s really no wonder these boats appeal to such a wide array of paddlers, all of whom will argue passionately for their favorite.
Esquif Zephyr
The Zephyr’s lightness is certainly appealing—13 pounds less to throw over your head and straight-arm onto your roof racks, 13 pounds less to accelerate through an eddy. Outward flaring sides keep it dry even when the circumstances should cause it to fill with water. Its flat bottom makes it a surfing machine with an added bonus—the security of pronounced primary stability. Its sharp entry point and long waterline allow paddlers to accelerate the Zephyr with only a couple of strokes and carry speed easily.
The Twin-Tex hull—a comingled product based on reinforced glass fibers and thermoplastic polymers—is where the Zephyr dream starts to fade for boaters looking for a hard-wearing canoe. The stock outfitting is factory-installed using an exotic two-part, space-age glue that requires vacuum bagging machinery to exert the necessary pressure to effectively make the anchors stick. Should your outfitting begin to release, the boat must go back to the factory or to an installer with a vacuum bagger for reworking. Hull damage requires special repair expertise that is also not readily available.
Mad River Outrage
The Mad River Outrage. Photo: Mad River
Mad River Canoe’s Jim Henry and Tom Foster designed the Outrage as an asymmetrical, shallow-arch hull with extreme rocker—extreme because it starts almost at the center of the boat and rolls up five and a half inches all the way to the ends. The Outrage tapers both laterally and longitudinally making it more maneuverable and giving it better final stability than a flat-bottomed hull, though it doesn’t plane as well. The boat carves effortlessly and rolls up quickly when full of water. The larger Outrage X is also available, scaled up to carry paddlers over 200 pounds or folks who just like lots of boat around them.
The Outrage might buckle your knees as you heft it but the penalty may be worth paying. Its proven Royalex construction is resistant to impact in cruel river playgrounds and has a memory to return to its original molded form. It is repairable by (almost) anyone who can open a can of epoxy and cut Kevlar cloth. Its outfitting is installed with vinyl glue and contact cement available at any hardware store.
The Outrage and Zephyr are both fine boats to recommend to a friend just starting out, or to paddle yourself for stable, lively fun. If endless surf and effortless portages back to the top of the play run are your top priorities, choose the Zephyr—just keep it off the rocks. If you prefer a super durable, go anywhere ride and don’t mind shouldering a few extra pounds, the Outrage is your faithful workhorse.
This article originally appeared in Rapid, Early Summer 2011. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
