"As if I haven't got enough on my plate.....starting early inquiry on a solo royalex river boat with good capacity for extended trips and able to handle class 2 WW well with decent tracking on flatwater."

yeah, but     that above says "river tripper" to me

"Though it might be better on big western whitewater rivers than it is on more technical whitewater."

exactly!!!, which is right at the cusp of wanting/needing a true ww boat - (Wen is nuts to call the Rendezvous a ww boat - it ain't .....)  as the guide below preferred

"The Supernova was said to be "not a very responsive boat". This was from a river guide/outfitter who rented them. He preferred a more full blown ww boat though, i.e. Dagger Genesis, Esquif Vertige, they're slow on the flats."


None of the boats mentioned, except in the paragraph above are WW boats they are too long, don't have enough rocker, and aren't likely to be set up with kneeling pedastal and knee straps- rather, they are "river tripping boats" and you need both for different kinds of trips, or you need to carefully decide which is the better choice for your paddling overall.

last weekend's outing was car camping - I took the 'vous for Saturday's run of a 14 mile stretch - with 3 or 4 CIIs which were just big wave trains in which I could generally dodge the biggest waves, and with most of the run being much easier -  a mainly sitting on the seat paddle.  Sunday, I did a 3 1/2 mile much more technical CII+ run which was about half rapids with only short stretches of flatwater in between - I took my ww boat (Dagger Impulse) for that and aimed at the biggest waves, played in rock eddies, and generally had a lot of fun.  one boat was better for Sat, the other better for Sun.

If I were going to do the Allagash again (someday) I'd take the 'vous - its perfect for a 100 mile week long trip that is half lake and half river and could take on the nine mile CII Chase rapids and cruise the slower flatwater at the lower 1/4 of the trip.  My knees wouldn't forgive me if I tried that in the ww boat with a saddle.

I don't know the Bloodvien - maybe a ww boat is called for there, or maybe not.  If I did the Missinaibi again, I'd still choose the 'vous over the ww boat for its carrying capacity and cruising speed on flats, which there is a lot of.

I've only done one 3 day trip with the Impulse - at 12' +, its big for a ww baot by todays standards, but is still small for carrying a tripping load.  I don't think I could take a week in the boat.

the 14' boats, like a Bell Wildfire/Yellowstone Solo or MR Guide/Freedom Solo or Wen Argosy would be better in the technical stuff that the longer boats, and if that is more what you would be paddling, than they would be better options, giving up some capacity and speed for a bit more nimbleness - but still not up to snuff when you need/want a ww boat for play and fun and yes, for rocky technical rivers

best thing is to buy both as neither will excell in both conditions, and finding used boats is the best way to go as you can buy two for the price of one new boat.