this is the first surf kayak that i can fit into. very tight of course, but i can get in it. anyone tried this boat? impressions, comparisons to other surf boats? performance? i’m just at or beyond the stated weight range. a local shop has one and i’m hoping to get to try it sometime early this summer.
Wow how did you fit in that boat?
It is the plastic version of the Rush I believe. I’m slightly heavier than you and could not get my thighs past the Storm’s aggressive thigh brace. Valley is coming out with a surf kayak for larger paddlers called the Rip. I haven’t seen one in person yet but it is in their new catalog.
Nice Boat
how much do you weigh? The Storm is higher volume than the composite Rush. Actually, it has more volume than either the plastic Boogie or Xray and these two have are surfed by folks in the 6’, 175-180lb range, around here. We had a demo Storm at the RISK winter session.
I love the Storm’s aggressive thigh braces. For me, as someone small, it would help eliminate the need for a seat belt. The braces are plastic so it shouldn’t be a problem to reshape a bit. Or, if you end with the boat and really like it, trim off about .5-1" off the bottom edge of the thigh braces to make getting in and out easier.
The higher volume tail allows the paddler to sit and turn off the back more than older HP designs. The storm is going after more waveski performance.
sing
sing
painfully!
once in it was a very good fit, as good as my Wavesport Deisel. getting past the braces hurt like hell. getting out was even harder and i had to just force my thigh out of the brace, got a bit of a bruise. as Sing said, easy to cut the brace down to just the size needed. i’m 210 and with gear on probably 220. it seems like a large boat compared to modern river kayaks i’m used to and even larger than most surf boats, like the Boogie.
Sing is this boat a carver, or a shredder? what skills, techniques do you think it is best for? do you think it will roll much different from my river kayak?
You’re On The Upper Range
– Last Updated: May-06-07 7:52 PM EST –
of weight for this boat. Nevertheless, I think the upper end of the Boogie is 185 lbs and yet one guy around here surfs it at a bit over 200 and he thinks it's great. (shrug). When you're on the upper end, the boat will be a bit tippier and more likely to go head over arse paddling into a breaking wave. Just have to lean forward and spear through.
Storm is intended be a high performance kayak with more aggressive manuevering or cutbacks near the pocket. If you want more long board like, drawn out carving turns, the longer Sneaker is more that style. It even has a single fin like the retro long boards.
Rolling... probably tougher than the ww boat. None of the surf kayaks roll with the ease of a sea kayak or a white water boat for that matter but you would get used to it. The way I look at surf kayaks and waveskis is that the designs aren't optimized for rolling but for surfing performance. A roll is just a means to more surfing and less swimming. As long as you can roll the boat consistently (forget about sculling and all that), it's fine.
sing
Agree with that…