Pirouette

Purchased my Pirouette new back in 1990. This was my first WW boat and it was a great purchase, a an excellent boat for learning in, not to small to get you trashed in big water, good speed and excellent stability. Used hard for many years until I sold it to a local paddling club to use as a teaching boat.

I picked mine up on a whim like some others, just out of curiosity, and what a bargain at $200 from a commission shop.......not a scratch on it. I was scared to death the first sitting, it was so quick to flip out from under me. A very fast boat indeed, WOW, so touchy.......but with the right paddle, the response makes it an extension of your body and going to the Piro from a touring boat is like going to a unicycle from a bicycle; once you get the feel, it's awesome. I love it's desire on it's own to tail-whip so smoothly, but run true if you keep giving her the push. It's comfy too, and it loves the Lampasas River at floodstage. Short, steep falls make submarining a blast and long hauls down the pool are no work at all. It tracks wonderfully due to the longer lines. This boat's a keeper and a must-have if you run across one; excellent kid trainer as well, my boys love it!

I got one of these on a whim, wanted to start with the sport and did not want to shell out lots of$$$ when I first got in it, it was a tight fit but its a white water boat so what can you do. it also is a very very quick to turn as a novice,, this was very fustrating but once I got to use it got really mellow.. I tried out a friends paddel < thanks tim:) and it made all this diff in the world... this boat is very fast and when coupled with the right paddel and every thing very BIG fun to play with on the lake and im now looking foward to giving white water a go.. sure its not all cool like the new style play boats but the lines are classic and it is a solid well built craft I really dig mine now.

I give the Pirouette an 8 because although it is a very good boat, fun to paddle, good to learn on, and a good down river boat, I felt I outgrew it too fast. If you are a larger paddler, the sort who will progress at a leasurely pace, or are just looking for a fun stable boat this is the one.

The Pirouette is a top performer within its design group. The boat's fast hull speed is one of its most outstanding features -- but there is a balance in design: the P still responds exceeding well to draw strokes and other directional strokes. This is an outstanding river runner that also surfs well. Other later boat designs surf better on smaller waves, but the P is a good choice if you like a fast boat that can handle big water. This race-bred machine excels at fast peelouts and rocket ferries. The P is a little stern edgy, but this is minimized if you keep the boat under power. At 11'-2", you probably won't get rear-endered while running a rapid. But you will experience booming enders and pirouettes at the local play holes. With all the new shorter designs coming out, I hope that the Pirouette remains in production as a classic river runner / play boat.