"So, I'm probably NOT looking for a whitewater canoe per se but a reasonably sturdy, versatile flatwater canoe that provides some of the necessary traits to cover whitewater stretches and still paddle the flat and slow current stuff with relative ease."
a little late to the party, but thought I'd add a bit.
H&D, for sure you do not want a white water boat - what you want is a boat generally described as a "river tripper" - something you can do Class II in, and still be reasonable in slow current and lakes. No river tripper will be "fast" on the lakes, but will be much faster than a true white water boat, and a whole lot more comfortable (WW boats have "saddles" that you sit on in a kneeling position - after about an hour of that, I can barely walk!)
granted that you aren't buying now, you still ought to be looking at Craig's List and any other classifieds for a decent used boat: Look for Mad River "Guide" or "Freedom Solo", Maybe a Swift Keewaydin 15', NorthStar Phoenix or NorthStar Solo, or Nova Craft Supernova.. Wenonah has the Wilderness (15'4"), which isn't really a river tripper, but has a bit of rocker; Their Argosy (14'6") and Rendezvous (15'8") are better --- you may get lucky and find any of these in royalex or sturdy composite. These boats all have moderate rocker 2 - 2.5 inches, so aren't too hared to keep straight on flatwater, but are maneuverable on rivers.
I have a rendezvous in royalex - weighs about 58# - kind of a pig on flat water, but it is the fastest of the solo river trippers in my opinion - I've done a lot of Class II rapids, and a little bit of CIII in this boat - for CII and above, you most likely want to have a boat rigged for floatation bags, though dry bags will give some floatation. Wenonah never showed the rendezvous as a composite boat in their website, but they still do make them for the local dealer here in Denver (likely because he was the designer) - you can check out his website to get a perspective on what solo boats are out there and what they cost (canoecolorado.net) - If I were to buy a new boat for river tripping up to Class II, it would be another rendezvous in tuffweave layup - there are at least a half dozen of them in my club, and they all hold up quite well - it is a bit cheaper than some of the more exotic layups and about a half mph faster than the rx version.
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