I’ve noticed that whenever a new canoe comes onto the market, people start wondering if that new canoe will make them faster. They begin to doubt their canoe, or start thinking if only they had the latest canoe they would be faster.
I’ve paddled a lot of different canoes over the years, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: your skills matter more than your canoe.
Not long ago I paddled a Huki V1-X (a relatively unknown canoe) in San Francisco Bay, and stayed ahead of a friend on a Noio—one of the latest models.
At the Gorge, I raced one year in a Kahele (by Puakea) and another year in an Ares (by Kai Wa’a), even though my canoe in Hawaii has always been a Pueo. Last year, I raced a Pueo again, and now I train and race in a Noio in Hawaii. My results on different canoes? They didn’t change dramatically.
Recently, in one of my downwind camps, we had the rare opportunity to test three of the newest OC1 designs back-to-back: the Cantare (Puakea), Vela (Kai Wa’a), and Noio (Kamanu Composites). It was an incredible experience because we could feel the subtle differences between each canoe—but more importantly, it reinforced a few things I know:
🚀 Surfing skills matter more than the canoe. A highly skilled paddler can make almost any canoe fly in good downwind conditions.
💨 Downwind skills in big water make a bigger difference to speed than fitness does. One paddler at my camp explained it perfectly: she and her friend are equal going upwind, but the moment they turn downwind, her friend takes off. Why? Because she knows how to surf.
🏋️ Fitness makes the biggest impact in flat water. When conditions are calm, a paddler with more strength and endurance will usually win. But put that same strong paddler in bumps without surfing skill? They get left behind.
🛠 Technique and skills should always be part of your training. No matter how fit you are or what canoe you have, returning to the basics—refining your technique, getting off your ama and honing your brace stroke and surfing skills—will make the biggest difference.
Once you have solid technique, fitness, and surf skills in place, then the canoe itself starts to matter more. At that point, you want to choose a canoe that is:
✅ Comfortable for your body (seat width, leg positioning, footwell setup)
✅ Suited for your environment (flat water, short period bumps, big open ocean swells, choppy non-descript conditions)
A canoe that isn’t comfortable for your body can cause pain in your hips, lower back, hamstrings, or numbness and tingling in your legs or feet. While discomfort could also be due to leaning left in the canoe, your posture or your technique, if you do have issues, make sure that it’s not the canoe by testing different models.
Comfort – How the Cantare, Vela, and Noio Compare
At my last downwind camp, we had the chance to paddle three of the latest OC1 designs and I want to point out a few things on each canoe that I think are important for women to consider:
- Cantare (Puakea): Designed for paddlers who weigh less than 165 pounds, this canoe has less volume than other Puakea designs. But don’t assume it’s the best fit just because you’re a woman. Not all women are built the same, but women tend to have wider hips than men and this canoe is 16.25 “ wide and the footwell is narrow. I weigh more than 165 pounds, and at 5’8” with long legs, I felt like I needed more room for my feet and hips to get the leg drive, rotation and glute connection I get with a wider foot well and seat.
- Vela (Kai Wa’a): The bridge between the Draco and the Ares, meant to combine surfing and flat water speed. Right away I noticed the foot pedals slant to the outside of the canoe which rolled my ankles outwards. Coupled with the narrow footwell, I found it uncomfortable in my lower back and hard to feel the connection through my feet. Some paddlers love having their feet closer together, while others prefer a wider stance for stability. If you’re used to a Kai Wa’a canoe, this might feel like home. If not, it could take an adjustment.
- Noio (Kamanu Composites): Kamanu’s latest design, meant to be faster and more responsive than the Pueo. At 16.75” it offers more room at the seat and the footwell is wider than the Vela and Cantare, giving me a wider stance to produce power without strain on my hip socket and lower back.
These are all great canoes—but only if they match your body. A comfortable, well-fitted canoe lets you apply power efficiently, maintain good posture, and stay strong over long distances. If you’re looking for a new canoe, make sure you can test it out for a long training session to see how you feel after a few hours.
The Right Canoe for You
If you’re thinking about a new canoe, here are some details that matter:
- How does it fit? The width of the seat, footwell positioning, and overall feel matter more than the canoe’s weight or brand name. A poorly fitted canoe will hurt your body and affect your power over long distances.
- Where do you paddle? If you are mostly focused on flat water, training in protected water, or working with small wind waves then you probably don’t need a big volume canoe. If you are paddling in Hawaii or the Gorge and going downwind with big waves often then maneuverability, rocker position and volume would play more of a role.
- Is your canoe rigged for stability? Each canoe has a different ama position and rigging set up which affects the stability of the canoe. You should rig the canoe in a way that feels stable to you (not light), and make sure you develop a rock solid brace stroke so that you feel comfortable committing power on the right and can paddle without leaning on your ama.
The best way to know? Test as many as you can. Borrow, demo, and compare—because comfort and performance are personal. And remember: Your skills and technique will always be the most important factor in your speed and performance.
The Skills That Actually Make You Faster
No matter what canoe you paddle, the biggest gains still come from better technique and skills.
- In Flat Water: A canoe with a longer water line carries speed, but technique still matters. Without developing your economy of motion and improving power application, you’re wasting energy. Small technique improvements—like a strong grip for better connection to the lats or better foot placement and heel connection for more glute engagement —have a big impact on hull speed.
- In Bumps & Downwind: A big volume canoe might be more buoyant, or a small one more nimble, but if you can’t read waves, link bumps, and accelerate quickly, you’ll still get dropped. Strength alone won’t help you if you can’t apply it effectively. This is where learning to change your tempo and time your acceleration makes all the difference.
- Technique Is the Foundation: Strength and fitness matter, but if your stroke isn’t efficient, you’re working harder than you need to. Returning to the basics—refining your rotation, improving shoulder stability, and engaging your largest muscle groups —will always make you faster.
- Get Off Your Ama: Are you leaning left while you paddle fighting with your ama or are you letting your hips absorb the movement from the waves and practice getting comfortable with letting the ama skim the surface? If you don’t master these skills and learn to brace it doesn’t matter what canoe you paddle, you will be slowing yourself down and making yourself feel unstable by driving the ama into the water, and taking incomplete strokes paddling on the right side because you are afraid to huli.
This is what we work on in Precision Paddling and my downwind camps and workshops—helping paddlers understand what training will improve their paddling, refine their skills, and get faster without just grinding out more miles.
Final Takeaway
Skill, fitness, and the right canoe all play a role in paddling performance—but skill and technique will always be the foundation. Before stressing over the “best” canoe, focus on becoming the strongest, most technically sound paddler you can be.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not about the canoe—it’s about what you can do with it.