About myself

I've been paddling for lots. I did my first river when I was ten, so I guess ten years or so.
I like to run rivers and coach. I'm happiest on grade four but can push it harder for a bit of five.
This is my first big river runner but I have borrowed and used many different styles with many different style hulls.

About the test environment

Big volume grade three and technical grade fours around the Dartmoor area.
Both rivers have lots of little micro eddies that are quite hard to hit.

Review

The first thing I noticed, being a really lanky bugger, was that the medium has loads of space in. It's rare for me to find a boat that I can pop straight in without taking any tools to it .
After I did the usual outfitting faff in very little time I took the bad boy out. The first thing to hit was how well it sat on edge. It's so stable on its rails you have to see it to believe it. The next thing compared to other semi displacement hulled boats, this boat is quick - very quick for a 8ft boat.
For me the boat was turning on a dime which is really lovely, it seems to turn quicker than a Mamba and it's a lot faster.
The rocker gives the feeling of lift-off when you boof hard. It's great and landing is superb - it resurfaces really quickly and effortlessly, better than some older style displacement hulls like the Necky Blunt.
On drops the back flutting come into their own they really make a big difference. It's not just gimmicks,
even the cock pit rim is curled, so it matches the diameter of you deck elastic better, thus keeping you dryer.

Conclusion

I'm a hard person to please with boats and I'm a hard person to fit being so lanky and light but I'm chuffed. It hits a line and smashes through the boil line with effortlessly, which gives me confidence. It spins on a dime and it's fast as hell, what more could I want?

Oh the only bad thing: my drain plug snapped but that could happen to any boat.