The Paddler Magazine Issue 82 April 2025 | Page 10

PADDLER 10

REVIEWS

Silverbirch Broadland kevlar canoe www. silverbirchcanoes. com By Ray Goodwin

Whenever I have had the chance, I have hired or borrowed a Kevlar canoe for flat water trips. In both the Boundary Waters of Minnesota and Algonquin Park in Ontario, I hired the lightest canoe possible. Portaging gets to be a lot easier. But back home, I have almost always paddled Royalex, T-Formex, and Polyethylene boats. I loved, and still do love, my Venture Afon, which is brilliant for white water and can take the knocks. But now in my 70s with a heart condition and broken knees as well as plans still to do, I need to go lighter. I no longer felt confident throwing the heaviest canoe from the ground up onto my shoulders. Plastic was now making me reluctant to go out for days alone.

Step in Silverbirch. Well-known amongst British paddlers, Silverbirch now wanted to produce a Kevlar canoe. Would I be interested? Do bears poo in the woods? From my Canadian experience, I knew the answer to the latter. So yes.

I was to get the Broadland at the Open Canoe Association’ s event, Paddlefest. Steve and James were all set up to outfit it there and run repair workshops for others. My first impression was awe. Like all Kevlar canoes, the hull is slick and stiff. I got to choose the positions of everything from the kneeling thwart to the sailing seat and mast foot. They even rigged the side loops for me.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

So, first impressions: We took it down to the water. The moment I got in, I was playing with the stability. The ability to go onto its edge easily and be stable is essential to my paddling style. Whether it’ s pulling graceful moves on flat water or slicing into an eddy, I want a boat that is good on its edge. Within seconds, I was confident in its shape and was putting it through its paces. I was delighted. It was very much in a prospector style, and its performance was stellar. Kevlar changes the feel of a canoe; the movement is crisper, and the acceleration is faster because of its weight, stiffness and sheen( at least, it feels that way to me).