I paddled the Ronin 49 when i was taking a novice kayaking clinic at Zoar Outdoor. Being new to kayaking i hadnt really had a perception of the wide variety of boats- i already own an old Wavesport Evo, a river running boat, and the differences showed up pretty quickly.

My most enjoyable run was on Fife Brook on the Deerfield. My group put in at the Fife Brook put in, a couple hundred yards away from the dam. We took out right above the Zoar Gap, and had fun with little rapids and holes in between on a section of the river called Pinball- thats is were i really got a feel for the Ronin.

The Ronin is a cool playboat- and thats about it. The pros:
It is wide and the high knee position is very comfortable. In the 5 hours a day i spent in the Ronin, not once did i had to get out and stretch, and my feet never fell asleep.
It performs fabulously in holes and waves, surfing was very fun and easy in this boat. I found learining intermediate moves like stern squirts fairly easy, but that leads me into the cons.
Rolling the Ronin was hard for a beginner like me- its wide hull and high sides are not choice for rolling. the hull sits low in the water, making ferrying across tough jets of water also not and easy feat. The Ronin was not built for speed, because i found it an incredible challenge to go anywhere fast, compared to my Wavesport Evo. Going upstream wasnt even an option for me.

If you want a dedicated playboat, then the Ronin is a good buy, but not being patricularly fast and manuverable upstream has it's disadvantages. The Ronin 49 performs well in a hole and surf great on a wave- but dont expect to be anywhere upstream.