In my rather limited experience with the Night Heron, it seems much more maneuverable than the Explorer, despite being a bit longer. It's by far the most maneuverable 18' boat I've ever paddled. With both the Night Heron and the Outer Island, you sit lower in the water than you do in an Explorer. One thing that's always put me off a bit about the way the Explorer feels is that it make me feel like I'm riding high, sitting ON the water, rather than IN it. Ultimately, it's more a matter of what one is used to and one's personal preferences than anything else. Short of building a strip version of the Explorer, I don't think you're going to find a strip boat that duplicates the feel. OTOH, you don't need to, as there are lots of equally capable designs out there, like the NH and OI.