Whitewater Kayak Review

WAVE SPORT
EZG
42/50/60
Length: 6' 6"/6' 7"/6' 9"
Width: 24"/25/25.75"
Volume: 42/50/60 gallons
Weight: 29/31/33 lbs
Paddler’s Weight:
79-141/130-190/
181-240 lbs
Price: $999
www.wavesport.com
*Model Tested

Knight
Comfort: It’s a matter of taste, I guess. I, for one, don’t like my legs relatively flat and straight out in front of me, like I’m a guest at a yoga class. I thought the position I sat in discouraged an aggressive posture. I paddled a two-mile run in the boat and had to get out twice to let the blood flow through my legs again.

Stability: It was incredibly smooth and stable, both in rapids and on waves. It flat-spins without command and was the smoothest of all the boats.

Speed on a Wave: The EZG is one of the better blunting boats I’ve paddled. It accelerates down the face of a wave and transitions incredibly easily from one edge to the other.

River Running: This was probably my second-favorite among the boats to paddle on playful rivers that don’t have destination-style play spots because it’s still slicey enough to throw cartwheels in flatwater and small features. But it’s got enough volume in the bow to throw aerial loops.

Performance on a Feature: Even though it’s small, the EZG feels no separation anxiety when leaving the water. It’s easy to bounce and spin, and blunt and loop, although aerial loops aren’t as big in this boat as in others.

McKibbin
Comfort: I liked the simplicity of the outfitting. It allows me to custom fit it to myself.

Stability: It was very stable, which the length had something to do with. It was a little long for my taste, but in big holes, it performed really well.

Speed on a Wave: Lots of speed.

River Running: Not a bad boat running the river, but the length sometimes caused problems with my maneuverability. The ends sliced in and out of hydraulics.

Performance on a Feature: For my purposes, the boat is a little big. So the moves I wanted to perform took a little more effort. On a wave, it performed pretty well.

Schier
Comfort: It had foot bumps on the top of the bow. Those are big with me. I don’t really think foot bumps hurt anything. Foot bumps score points with me.

Stability: The boat appears to have an EZ bow and a ZG stern. The deck chines are not as sharp. This helps when you’re in swirly water. The top chine is not going to grab the water. The water will just flow over the boat, rather than grab it and force you to play.

Speed on a Wave: It was slightly faster as a river runner than the ZG 48. It also had better hull speed. On a wave, however, it wasn’t as maneuverable or nimble.

River Running: Very good. If you’re interested in the ZG, and you want a river runner and a playboat, I’d recommend the EZG.

Performance on a Feature: This is a well-balanced river runner that you could play on features. I felt more confident running the Class IV+ Boulder Drop on the Skykomish in the EZG. It didn’t feel like the lumbering ocean liner that some boats with comparable volume do.