Riot Kayaks

I noticed that Riot was just added to the Buyer’s Guide. Some of their touring/sea yaks look pretty cool in the picture e.g.- Ultima, Brittany, Aura.



I’ve never seen any of these boats and they are not listed in the product reviews.



Does anyone have experience with these yaks: stability, performance, speed, etc.?

they are cool
here are there flatwater kayaks:



http://www.riotkayaks.com/v3/fw_index.asp




whitewater
guy I met has a whitewater/playboat and he is quite happy with it, although that style is not what you are looking for.

Thank you both.

whitewater…
I’ll second that…



I have a Riot whitewater kayak which I love. It is very comfortable, which is saying a lot for a whitewater boat. And I don’t just mean “not too UNcomfortable” - I mean it’s actually comfortable. But not in a lazy-boy chair/bad posture way - I’m comfy but in a great position for paddling.



I initially got my Booster on recommendations from more advanced paddlers. I’m still learning, but I feel like I’ve paddled enough now to start to really appreciate the hull design and how the boat handles on the river.



I realize you’re looking for feedback on the touring boats, which I’ve never seen, but if they are comparable to their ww boats, they could be good indeed…



Couldn’t help but to pipe in since I love my Riot Booster so much!



PS - I love it now, but it was a PAIN to learn to roll, at least for me (started in an easier to roll boat). But I can say that now that I roll my Booster, every other boat I try to roll seems super easy!



Cheers

haven’t seen them yet…
The Brittany and Aura seem interesting and weren’t Riot’s sea kayaks used to be marketed under the Azul name? I love how they are incorporating some whitewater outfitting into their sea kayaks. It’s about damn time that sea kayaks started catching up with whitewater boats in the outfitting department. I’m a Riot guy (I have two Riot playboats), but that means nothing in regards to their sea kayaks.

Riot Aura = Azul Sultan
Yup, the sea kayaks used to be branded Azul.

Walden too?
I am seeing on their site a roto OC called the “Nalu,” which I remember Walden used to make.

Azul Sultan
I have a Azul Sultan, made by Riot about 5 years ago, that I bought used. It is made with a kevlar sandwich material that is quite stiff while still light weight. Great stuff, but don’t think they are still using that material. Kayak is much faster than average but slower than QCC 700 or Epic 18’. Only problem with kayak from my point of view is the seat back band is very close to the rear of the coaming. Makes the layback roll painful unless you hike your hips up off the seat.



Riot has a well earned reputation of not responding to any and all post sale communications concerning their touring kayaks.

And those Azul boats
look suspiciously similar to some Nigel Foster boats…hmmmm

I like the pics of the Riot Aura because
…it looks like a Prijon.

Sultan - Legend
The Sultan (Aura)is very similar to the Nigel Foster Legend. The performance of the two boats is close but not exactly the same. Sea Kayaker found some differences when they tested each boat. I am not sure they are significant.



The main difference I recall from spending some time paddling each is in the cockpit. While neither has a particularly low rear deck, the Sultan’s backband is against the rear coaming, making layback painful and/or difficult. The Foster boats backbands are more forward.

comparisons
Chris Cunningham at Sea Kayaker is a very strong and skilled paddler with, in my opinion, very strong analytical skills. Unfortunate that he simply does not have time to do a lot of the boat testing.

prijons
prijons look cool !!!