Early Royalex Old Town #206325

Not answering your question but I do have a comment: Looks like it’s in great shape. I have a ‘72, 16 footer that I bought new with my dad. It has spent too much time in the sun and suffers from micro cracks on the outside and broken gunnels. Still, it is my favorite for beating around, loaning out or taking nervous passengers. I also don’t mind dragging it up on shore or occasionally dropping it while trying to lift it up on the rooftop rack. :). It is crazy stable and resilient. It even survived being crushed under snow one winter. (Lesson: don’t store it hull up, on the ground and outside under the eaves in winter.)
I see some design improvements in the model you’re asking about. Mine has a very flat, flexible bottom which means that when two people are paddling an empty canoe, the ends dip down, the middle flexes up and so it is “Hogged”. It plows a bit but the hull flexibility also makes this boat very stable. The ‘74, 17 footer seems to have a more V shaped hull which probably makes it a little stiffer, a little less stable and more efficient to paddle.
I wouldn’t have any hesitation acquiring it but am definitely NOT in the market.
 
The Old Town canoe with serial number 206325 is a 17 foot long Chipewyan Tripper model with aluminum inserts in the rails that weighed 77 pounds. It was built in February, 1975. The original exterior color was green. It shipped on April 28th, 1975 to Athol, Massachusetts. The back side of the record indicates that there were some scuffs on the hull. Scans showing both sides this build record can be found below.

These scans and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others as you probably know well. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will contribute, join, or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See http://www.wcha.org/about-wcha to learn more about the WCHA and http://www.wcha.org/store/membership to renew.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. This one has a light green interior color and the earliest ones were white. The rose bushes in the pictures are conveniently hiding the areas on the ends of the hull which usually have the greatest wear. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck,

Benson



206325.jpg




206325-b.jpg
 
FYI, the bottom on a Tripper still tends to bounce like crazy and hog. I remember complaining to Old Town about it once, as bouncy bottoms are bad for speed and glide. Their reply was "Yes, some people put a sheet of plywood in the bottom to help hold it down." My reply was "One 70 lb. canoe and one 30 lb. sheet of plywood equals one 100 lb. canoe." On the good side, if there is one, such mushy bottoms tend to resist really deep scratches from running over rocks, as they just flex away from them.
 
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