Superlatives are easy to come by for the Minnesota II. Designed by Gene Jensen, it’s one of the most quintessential tripping craft ever made, fast when loaded with gear and nimble without. “Accelerates like a scalded dog,” says one tester. “If the Mad River Expedition is our Bentley, the Minnesota II is the Ferrari. Every stroke translates into forward motion.”

Performance
Another tester puts it more pragmatically: “It’s like greased lightning. I could feel it accelerate when my 7-year-old daughter would paddle. I had to stop paddling 30 yards beforehand if I wanted to pull up beside someone to grab a soda…otherwise I’d just blow by.”

Features
Behind this is its light weight, noticed by everyone from the trailerhands loading it atop the jet boat for the shuttle out to those hauling it ashore (testament: it was the only boat hauled up to camp each night; all the others stayed on the beach). Fairly feature free, it does have aluminum trim, an adjustable stern footbrace, ash yoke, and bucket seats, with a sliding bow.