A highly-maneuverable canoe that is a down-sized version of our Spirit II.
The Aurora, puts the wide versatility and superb performance of our best-selling model, the Spirit II, into a more compact package.
While it's a foot shorter, the Aurora is as deep in the center as the Spirit II, and is also deep in the ends. It has a greater total buoyancy than you might expect, and it carries nearly the load that the Spirit II will.
Not meant for heavy expeditions, the Aurora does suit typical trips well. It's an easy-paddling hull that retains sufficient freeboard when loaded.
Perhaps the Aurora's best feature is its good blend of initial and final stabilities. While steady enough for hunting or fishing, and to haul kids or a dog who may jump around, it's very seaworthy for a mid-sized canoe. Its carefully-contoured, shallow-arch hull is the reason.
While the choice of 16' canoes is vast, others have a less-sensible bottom profile. Compared to typical flat-bottomed hulls, the Aurora's shallow-arch design has a bit less steadiness on center but has greater ultimate safety and better handling on waves. It also paddles easier and glides farther.
Another common style, the V-bottom, has more wetted surface than a shallow-arch and suffers rapid abrasion on the "V" area.
If your situation dictates a 16' model, and varied types of paddling, no other design serves so well for so many uses.