Which boat - Classic, expedition, or Gnarwhal?

1

Hey all,
It is new boat time for me, I am replacing an older alpacka “classic” from 2016. I am a bigger person (220-215 ish), and am hoping for a more “playful” boat than my old classic. I want thigh straps.
It looks like my options are a custom classic, expedition, or gnarwhal. The gnawhal looks good, but it appears to be wider than my old classic and I am not sure I want something more stable than I have now.

I do a mix of longer trips with lots of carrying and shorter stuff. Mostly class 2, but some class III which I want to do more of.

Recomendations/ thoughts? I am keeping my old boat as a loaner/backup.

Thanks!

(hopefully, this is the right place to put this - my apologies if I missed the right forum area/bin/bucket.)

2

At your size you might be happier in a Gnarwal. Where do you live, any way you can try out the boats?

3

I live in Fairbanks Alaska, and alas, the floating season is done. I will ask around and see if I can borrow a Gnarwal and check it out. Thanks!

4

Why not the wolverine? If that’s too small, the Gnarwall seems to be the options. It’s the same intent for the boat, but built for bigger folks. My bigger guy friends both have gnarwalls/that size boat and like them. I’ve seen the Gnarwalls handle rowdy class 4, and haven’t heard complaints about them.

TLDR: Gnarwall