Greetings, I’m new to this site and to whitewater kayaking. Looking to buy a kayak this weekend and need some input. I’m 5’10, 190lbs and want a boat that can handle class 2 and 3 whitewater and also play around in the lake. I’m debating th following 5 boats (I know, its alot): Pyranha Burn M, Pyranha Karnali M, Wavesport Diesel 80, Liquidlogic Jefe, Liquidlogic Remix 69. I am a beginner with some experience in lake and calm river boating. thanks!
All good boats
All of the boats you list are good boats and would be fine for your purposes. Demo as many of them as possible and buy the one that feels best to you.
Try on river before you buy
See if you can focus on a couple of boats you can borrow or paddle on the river. If you can take a class or paddle with a friend that has a similar boat you can get a feel for how it will handle with you in it. One warning though is that lots of whitewater boats are outfitted for the owner and not easy to adjust for someone to borrow.
play around on the lake
– Last Updated: Aug-11-11 1:45 PM EST –
Depending how much time you plan on being on a lake (and flatwater river stretches), I can tell you that a skeg such as the one on the Liquid Logic XP10 and Pyranha Fusion will make flatwater paddling easier (track well) -- and these are very capable WW boats (the XP10 getting some notoriety as a self-support Grand Canyon kayak).
Neither the boats mentioned by you nor the 2 I mentioned will be ideal lake boats, but I assume that's not your main concern right now.
I’m a novice at WW
But I’ve paddled to Burn and Deisel. I liked them both. The Deisel was easier to roll and has more defined edges, so I found it easier to control directionally and do leaned turns. The Deisel is also quite fast. I found myself constantly gaining on the kayaks in front of my, and having to back paddle to keep at there speed.
The burn I believe has more volume.
other forums
– Last Updated: Aug-11-11 4:10 PM EST –
are more WW kayak oriented. Mountain Buzz (more west) and Boater Talk (more east) come to mind.
You could probably start a big arguement on those boards! :-) Also, their search functions could probably tell you a lot.
The Deisel is a very nice boat
I went through a lot of ww boats and enjoyed many of them. The Diesel is my preferred boat for river running. It is confidence inspiring and very capable.
Got the Diesel 80
Good boat as got me down some knarly water. Am challenged in rolling it which is my bad technique. I do find it a beast to carry which may not be any different that the other yaks you mention. The brit boats tend to be heavy also. The Diesel has great rocker for turning and floats well both bow and stern when going over a drop and keeping above the hole. On flat water i find it a hassle but that is what other boats are for. It has good speed as well.
Definitely go to boatertalk.com
Not only will you get more information but there are reviews that are often useful.