Whitewater Kayak Review - 2006
Pyranha
420
Length: 6' 1", 6' 3"
Width: 25, 25"
Volume: 46, 58 gallons
Weight: 26, 30 lbs
Recommended Paddler’s Weight: 88-165, 140-220 lbs
Price: $999
www.pyranha.com
The 420 is purely and aggressively a playboat. It is Pyranha’s improvement on such recent successful models as the Seven-O and the S6. It’s short and slicey, with sharp edges for carving and heavy rocker for getting aerial. Somehow, it’s quite comfortable. Its design seems more conducive to wave surfing than hole riding, but it will perform well in either type of feature. The 420 represents a stage of playboat refinement that most manufacturers have entered. It is a little better balanced, a little more comfortable, and a little easier to paddle than the boats of the last two years.
Todd Anderson: “Nice playboat for all-around use. Balanced distribution and volume. Stable enough for river-running, but excellent for playboating. The small size is a little small, however. And the big is a little too big for my dimensions.”
Christian Knight: “No surprises here. The 420 attracts waves like a magnet and can cartwheel in any feature that can sink an end. Good hydraulics will turn you into a hydro-gymnast. It’s comfortable for downriver paddlers and aggressive enough for serious playboaters. Sizes were a little off, however. I paddled the medium-large size, which felt a bit too big to cartwheel in flatwater.”
Josh Bechtel: “It carves well on a wave. It gives huge loops and bounces well.”
DragoRossi
Stinger
Length: 6' 4"
Width: 25.25"
Volume: 57 gallons
Weight: 33 lbs
Recommended Paddler’s Weight: 140-230 lbs
Price: $1,400
www.nrsweb.com
The Stinger is an all-around boat, designed for both playboating and river-running. If you are boarding an airplane to South America and can’t decide whether to take a creekboat or a playboat, the Stinger is being marketed as the perfect compromise. You can paddle it safely on difficult whitewater and you can use it to play—especially for surfing waves. The manufacturers even claim that the Stinger is an ideal boat for teaching inexperienced paddlers. Like many Corran-designed boats, the Stinger has an unconventional feel. It has little or no primary stability and little or no secondary stability. It gives the sensation of paddling a barrel down the river. Some might find this an enormous advantage on big waves.
Todd Anderson: “When I first sat in the boat, I thought the seat was too far back. After checking the seat placement, I moved it all the way forward and still felt like I was in the backseat. Overall, it gave me a pretty squirrelly ride down the river.”
Christian Knight: “The stability—or lack thereof—took some getting used to. When I first sat in it, I was not certain I would reach the take-out in a relatively dry manner. But after a few miles of paddling, I began to understand the stability a little better. I never felt comfortable in the boat, however, psychologically or physically.”
Josh Bechtel: “It took a while to get used to the balance point on it. At first it felt top-heavy. But after a while I got used to it. I think it’d be good on a wave, like an authentic surf kayak.”
Wave Sport
Project
45, 52, 62
Length: 5' 11", 6' 1", 6' 4"
Width: 24.5", 25", 25.75"
Volume: 45, 52, 62 gallons
Weight: 29, 31, 33 lbs
Recommended Paddler’s Weight: 80-140, 130-190, 180-240 lbs
Price: $999
ww.wavesport.com
Of all the pure playboats we tested, the Project 52 has the most subtle innovations. The plastic seems more rigid, the chine angles more meticulously crafted, and the rocker is well balanced. However, the kayak is quite similar to the successful playboats of years past, such as Dagger’s Kingpin and Pyranha’s S6. Wave Sport designed this boat specifically for playboating and probably even more precisely for big waves. It’s fairly bulbous for such a short playboat, which encourages big bounces and aerial loops.
Todd Anderson: “It was a very comfortable boat for its size. The boat had a solid structure and would not flex under stress, like on a wave or in a hole. I think that had something to do with better performance in a feature.”
Christian Knight: “I’m one of those guys who’s a bit too small for the big playboats and a bit too big for the medium-sized playboats, which is pretty frustrating. But the Project 52 fit me perfectly. It was small but still had plenty of volume for aerials. And it had enough room to be comfortable.”
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