As much as I am a fan of Prospectors, I don’t think I agree with the generality of that statement.

For one thing, though it was clearly Bill Mason’s favorite canoe, I believe he said if he could only have one canoe it would be a Prospector.  That doesn’t necessarily make it the best at everything.

In fact, a lot of the footage in his movies were filmed with him in his Chestnut Pal, which was a canoe in Chestnut’s “recreational line”.  That canoe is probalby much better suited to a beginner that does not need the large capacity of a heavying tripping canoe, nor the nimbleness of a highly rockered boat.

I would caution that a greater degree of paddling skill is necessary to paddle a Prospector than a more recreational geared canoe.

With that in mind, it’s a great shape, although each manufacturer has it’s own take on it (some highly rockered, some not, some similar to the original, some completely different).  I’ve been eyeing a Wenonah Prospector with wood gunwales at the local shop, and it’s always hard to leave without buying it.  It’s a great canoe for down river paddling with heavy loads.

Currently I paddle a 16′ Wenonah Aurora, and it’s a great boat.  It has enough rocker to turn well, enough length to paddle fairly good, and it can be turned around to sit in the bow seat facing the stern (some boats place a thwart right behind the bow seat making this difficult) to solo it.  It also heels over well to be paddled with the bow and stern raised up out of the water (most people refer to this as Canadian style). 

Just about every well known canoe manufacturuer has a similar line that will do fine for entry level paddlers and carry you on for years into your development.  I personally suggest buying something used.  That way you don’t cringe at every little scratch and scrap while paddling and landing, and it’ll give you a good idea of what you need for your personal paddling style so that when you make the big investment it is well spent.

Getting back to your original question though, I’m not sure I’m familiar with the canoes you are asking about.  The only Souhegan I could find is a model by Merrimack Canoes (boy those are purdy canoes!).  It is more of a recreational canoe with little to no rocker, a well defined keel line, and only 12 inches of depth.  They describe it as a good family canoe or light tripper (2 to 3 days) and I would tend to agree with that assestment.

Can’t speak to quality and durability without knowing exactly which manufacturer and which material you are interested in.

Interesting website.  These canoes definitely seem geared toward river paddling, and their expertise appears to be whitewater.  Cool looking boats!

Wtih 3 inches of rocker bow and stern on the Souhegan, expect a canoe that turns well, but does not track very well (lots of correcting to keep it straight, especially if your technique is not real polished).  The Souhegan seems a little shallow and narrow for poling, but truth be told I am not a poler so my limited knowledge is purely academic.

Check out this website for some great information about poling.  He has some awesome videos of himself both polling and paddling rivers in the Northwest (see the “videos” section):  http://www.nwwoodsman.com/Articles/CanoePoling.html

To 100mphcanoe’s credit, I believe the author of that web site is paddling a NovaCraft Prospector.

Those look like some great boats at Millbrook though.  If you are local to them I suggest going for a demo paddle (or pole).

Randy