Recently trialed a standard Prana on flat water with a bit of current and occasional boat wakes but haven’t had the opportunity to get the Prana in the surf. Does anyone have any experience in those conditions that they could share? I liked the Prana for the conditions I was in. I’ve paddled a Romany for many years (a great performer in the surf) but now I’m looking for a boat with more speed that has reasonable breaking wave surf handling characteristics. Thx!

Ocean surf?

I paddle the Great Lakes. Bought my Prana LV late last summer but Lake Michigan didn’t provide surfing conditions, at least nothing similar to the conditions on Lake Superior where I was introduced to surfing last summer. Also took me about a month to get the cockpit outfitting right (CD’s LVs are built for medium paddlers, not small ones). I love the boat and can’t wait for the ice to melt so I can get more miles on it.

I recall that @CapeFear paddled the Prana last summer; not sure about the surf conditions, but it was on the ocean. He’s an expert and has the creds to talk about breaking wave surf handling, so perhaps he’ll stop by this thread.

I’m still learning and picking up little things every time I go out. I don’t figure I’ll ever label myself as expert. But it sure is fun to keep trying!

I’ve only gotten to demo the Prana once on flat water thus far. But a Current Designs rep may have me lined up this summer for a go in one. I’m figuring similar to you. I like efficiency and speed potential, especially fighting currents and trying to catch rides in open water, I always notice that extra speed when timing and paddling hard, trying to break through critical hard-breaking areas in a surf zone. So on days where I’m doing more open water paddling, but there’s still some surf involved, I want something that’s fun in the surf, but still feels quick otherwise.
After much agonizing over which to buy for myself, I’ve ended up ordering a Sisu LV. I’m looking forward to getting some time in it, and hopefully a Prana too, and I can figure out the strong points of each. If my criteria exactly matched yours, I would have ordered the Prana. I was leaning a little more challenging surf zone specific. I hope I’ve made a good choice.

I haven’t paddled the Prana in surf, but the rough stuff is exactly what it was designed to deal with.