-- Last Updated: Jan-03-13 9:44 AM EST --
and small weight limits do not go hand in hand in all cases. Longer ones of course haul more.
Archimeded principle works on a hull shape, not outfitting. Rapid handles a bundle of gear. Mine has been out to Isle Au Haut, on the northeast coast of Lake Superior and three times to the Everglades. All on ten day trips. I am packing for the fourth. I don't recommend everyone load 400 lbs into Rapid but it works without sacrificing speed if you get going and keep going..(have to remember f=ma)
Look at the PPW website for displacements at the various waterline levels. A similar sized hull will have the same displacement like the old Curtis Vagabond.
While you theoretically could double blade any canoe from a very low seat, the sheer on pack canoes is an inch lower and a little different shape to allow double blading. Now I do have a tall friend that is almost your height and she purchased a Curtis DragonFly that she added a very low seat to and paddles successfully. For you not familiar with the DragonFly, its a deep whitewater travelling boat.
Shorter pack canoe designs of course are subject to Archimedes principle so you dont want to go with an eleven footer.
Now for single blading from a low seat. FoxWorx Paddles make such a tool.
If you are looking for a more traditional boat that could be set up for low seating, I would suggest the Hemlock Peregrine..the big bro to the Kestrel. Its faster if you have the hpp to drive it because there is another law of physics..theoretical hull speed= 1.55 the square root of the waterline length. (Not LOA0