Braaap

It's a slippery, watermelon seed of a boat. If you're willing to develop the right technique, the return on investment will be substantial. If you're wedded to the wide/high volume concept, this may not be the ticket for you. I can tell it'll always have more capability than I can get out of it, but I'm enjoying going to school. Drive it constantly and it'll do about anything you want. However, sit back and it quickly acts according to its own whims.

Start with a slalom boat and shorten it up a little for even more agility. Give it some bow rocker and pump volume into the bow and right behind the cockpit to handle the big water. That's my short, non-engineer take on the design.

It comes out of the blocks fast and accelerates quickly to hull speed. It draws and sweeps with ease. Your biggest problem with the roll will be preventing it from going into an encore. There's enough bow volume to avert submarining in gnarly stuff and the tail isn’t as grabby as it might appear. Those unfamiliar with skinny boats might find it to feel a little unstable at first. Have issues with edge control? No problem; there are none. But, slice the aft end into a stern pivot and the boat turns on its own axis. Responsibility for holding the line is yours. Think of it like a thoroughbred horse. What can make it a wee bit of a handful also makes it the ride of your life.

The cockpit has all-day comfort and one doesn’t have to be a yoga master to get your lager-enhanced thighs under the hooks. As opposed to grab loops at the ends, it’s got crossbars at midpoints of the bow and stern decks. The reason for that is beyond the scope of my knowledge. The plastic molding is top drawer.

I invited some fellow paddlers to give it a whirl. Without the benefit of prior experience with boats of this breed or time to adjust, comments included "squirrelly" and "tippy." Except for Doc, who's been paddling old school yaks since they were measured in cubits and scoffs at contemporary comparatively bulbous boats as "hard-shell rafts." His face split into a rare grin as he rendered his four-word review, "It's a paddler's boat." That it is.