After dabbling with kayaking for a few years, this year I plan to make my main sport after knee trouble has forced me to stop other things.
I guess I would still be classed as a beginner (167cm, 70kg), and am looking to do some flatwater, some playboating, some Class I, II, III, and a bit of playing in the surf.
Over the years I have bought different boats, and now have a Dagger Infrared, Wavesport Ace 4.7, Wavesport Transformer T2 and a Perception Arc.
Although I’ve had these boats for a few years, I am not competent enough to know their capabilities very well. I do not need all of them and would like to just have one or two.
I would therefore like advice if one of these boats can do all I need, or two of them.
I am also open to other suggestions for a good all-rounder, any comments would be appreciated.
thanks
Paul
I have never paddled any of
the yaks you mention Paul but i know the Transformers is mainly a playboat concept. The Ace is perhaps a riverrunner/playboat combination but to really check them out i would recommend you check out the manufactures website and boaters reviews. I believe the Infrared is no longer manufactured. If you are the heavier side of life to the maximum weight for the boats then you would be leaning towards playboating. I would not see the Wavesports or the Infrared on much flatwater for very long I would think as they would be slow. But, it is almost 4:00pm and i am off to the river… Hope this helps. You might want to post in Boatertalk
My take on your boat collection.
You are sized correctly for the Infrared, the T2, and the Ace. You are too small for the Arc. The Arc is a bad boat anyway and you should definitely get rid of it. For park and play the Ace and the T2 will work ok but they will be a handful for river running. They are both quite slow and really aren’t designed for river running. If it were me I would dump the Ace and keep the T2 for play but that is a very personal decision and you might want to hang on to both until you are in a position to choose. The Infrared will get you down the river but there are lots of better boats out there. I would sell it and pick up an Inazone 230 or Booster 55. The Booster is a little more aggressive than the Inazone. That would leave you with two boats, one a good park and play boat and another that will run class III rivers with style and let you play some on the way down.
Replies so far
Many thanks for the replies I appreciate it. I haven’t ever paddled the Arc and realised it was a bit big as I had a Sparc a few years ago. Keeping the T2 or Ace for just playboating, and getting a better river runner, seems to be along the lines I was thinking, and I have seen adverts for Boosters and Turbos. I didn’t mention that any flatwater paddling would only be short sessions and not any great distances.
regards
Paul