I've not floated the North Branch on it. Generally I use it for smallmouth bass floats. Just a couple weekends ago I floated the Upper James with a bunch of TPFRers and used my foldcat. We encountered a tricky little Class 2 rapid along the way. The boat is extremely stable in those situations and maneuvers well enough (as long as you aren't distracted by your hat being swept off your head by a tree like I was). The only thing you have to watch out for in those situations is loose items falling off the boat, since there are no gunnels. I've floated through the strong rapids around Harper's Ferry with no issue. I imagine it would be great on the North Branch.
-- One thing I've discovered about it though, it is really easy to hold the boat in place with light rowing in the middle of a riffle. It's a huge advantage. The boat hydroplanes high up in the water column, and it doesn't take much effort to hold the boat in place so your buddy can get an extra cast or three in next to that log or current seam. And you're high up off the water (getting the seat extender for the second seat is the best accessory I've added to the boat). It feels really deluxe.
I'm going to add a significant con to my list though. And that is assembly. Assembly time is not that much greater than with any other boat rig (it always takes time to get ready for a day of floating, plus there's usually a shuttle to run so the 5 extra minutes of setup time usually doesn't matter). But remembering all the parts. Lots o parts. I've forgotten every single critical element along the way at one time or another. The valve that allows you to inflate the boat was particularly memorable. But also the oar mounts one time, inexplicably, didn't make it into my kit. So you have to be really paranoid that you have everything you need. Right now I'm paranoid that my foot pump is going to break, so I need to order another one for backup (might finally get an electric pump to speed assembly time even more - why not).
Hope that helps. It's a great rig, but the logistics of using it can be a bit daunting.
http://www.tpfr.org
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