The Osprey

The great-looking Osprey at the top was built by Alan Drum from Presque Isle, Wisconsin. It's being paddled on Rainy Lake by its proud owner Laura, Alan's daughter-in-law. Now, Alan is getting ready to build another for his other daughter-in-law!

The exceptionally beautiful Osprey above was built by Gerhard Wieland from Bayreuth, Germany, and is shown on its maiden voyage in Sweden! Gerhard writes "the woods are red cedar in some colours, spruce, and for the gunwales, thwarts, decks and seat are cherry, the dark stripe is walnut. Construction is stapleless, the sliding seat is my own design, and has some angles of inclination. I prefer the kneeling position. The Osprey handles like a dream. It seems to know what you want to do next. For its length it is quite fast, its dryness and seaworthiness are tops. It is my preferred boat now, and I have built and own seven others! Thank you for this fantastic design!"

John Winters writes "The Osprey was originally intended as my personal boat. It is what I perceive to be the ideal small solo canoe for Canadian wilderness travel. The designed displacement is adequate for a large paddler on a week long trip, or a smaller paddler for longer trips. Unlike most American solos, this boat is heavily rockered forward with slightly less aft. The combination provides good maneuverability in smaller streams and excellent tracking on open water."

Despite its relatively low freeboard, it is a dry boat (I have paddled the north shore of Lake Superior in it without taking on more than a few small dollops in the most severe conditions one would like to paddle in) and the sculpted tumblehome midships allows good stroke mechanics despite the boat's 30 inch maximum beam.