Length

Whilst as a rule, canoes are not built to travel very fast, the length of the canoe will affect it's speed.
A longer canoe will generally give a faster (and smoother) ride, whilst a shorter canoe will not be as fast as it has a shorter waterline.

Apart from being faster, a longer canoe will also have better "straight-line" tracking, whilst a shorter canoe will turn easier than, as you don't have as much length to move across the water.

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Width

The width of the canoe affects speed and stability.
Canoes generally offer great stability because they are so wide, however the other side of this equation is that it makes the canoe slower.

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Material

There are a number of materials that canoes are available in, and each offers different benefits and drawbacks.

Differences in materials include:

• Some have more impact resistance than others and can take handle rougher treatment
• Some materials are repairable whilst others are not
• Some materials are more rigid than others.
• Some materials have higher UV resistance than others.

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Repair

Whether a canoe is repairable or not is dependant on the material that it is made from.

Differences in materials include:

• Polyethylene (single layer) can be easily repaired by an experienced welder as the material itself is repairable and the layer is actually thick enough to take a weld.
• Polyethylene (triple layer) is difficult to repair because even though in theory the material is repairable and whilst the overall wall thickness may be equivalent to that of a single layer Polyethlyene canoe, the plastic around the air bubbles in the middle layer is not thick enough to withstand the heat of the welder and disintegrates.

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