About myself

Age 55. Don't let the age fool ya. I can work a boat pretty aggressively and am out a lot. Advanced playboater, river runner and creeker in that order. CL4+- overall.

About the test environment

Day 1: Upper Spokane "training run" at 8300cfs.
DAY 2 &3: Trailer Park Wave at 6150cfs
Day 4: Surf at Mini-Climax (not best flow)
Day 5,6: Lower Spokane river/fun run at flows of 8,000-9,500cfs
Finale: Brilliant Wave, Castlegar, BC

Review

Able to get out for about three hours and play with me new demo. Initial impressions: Huge cockpit! Required use of me creekin' skirt. Nice rocker at bow, less at stern. Long planing surface for such a short boat. Graduated edges. Nice outfitting with strong stainless steel grab loops, adjustable thigh braces. Whimpy backband that catches the camloops on the deck edge which bothered me.

The big cockpit makes entry and exit rather easy for someone my size. Plenty of footroom as the bow is rounded and not flattened out. The level for day one was not really on for any real play. Mini-Climax was just a flattened out wave that required all I could throw into my strokes to stay on the wave. Fast? NAW just like many of the other squatty bodies out there. All relative however. Able to work a little feature called Duplex wave which at this level was kinda like a wide ledge wave/hole and not very deep. Moves were predictable and transitions effortless. Initial stability quite good, and able to get on edge and keep it there without difficutly. Rolls effortlessly.

Initial impression? This is a well designed playboat that accommodates larger paddlers easily. Outfitting adequate (would be great with a better backband system. If all boat makers could use LL's backband system I'd be a lot happier!

Day 2: HAH, got it out on Trailer Park Wave (see above link) at a primo level (6150cfs) and this boat shines here! Blunts, side-grinds, carts, with ease and predictably. One ride had me cartwheeeling so fast I nearly got dizzy! Stern does have a tendency to grab water as it is not as rockered as bow and is flat at its' base. I was still kinda loose in the boat which nearly made me fall out of it on a loop attempt. Fortunately I came up upright, but had to go to shore to get back in due to the backband issue stated previously.

Day 3: After a bit of re-outfitting I was able to stay in the boat better, yet was still comfortable. Others got in for a number of rides and all liked it as well.

Day 4: Went out to try to get some wave surf action today, alas the level a touch too high for Mini-Climax (see link above). Level steadily rose to a point where the wave was barely breaking at all. The boat was still fun, loose on the wave when asked to be, revealed how slow it is when ferrying and attaining compared to other slightly longer thinner boats. One more day before I need to return it, and it looks like a run and play tomorrow.

Days 5 & 6: The lower Spokane to get a feel for "bigger" water river running, catching waves on the fly, hitting the squirrelly water in the larger of the drops. Handles fine. Had a good surf on a feature called "ledge wave", plowed through the bigger crashing waves in both the Bowl and Pitcher and Devil's Toenail drops. Was mindful of the grabby stern and it was not a problem. Runs bigger Cl 3 easily. Would take this boat on nearly any CL 3-4 run.

Finale: Got to have the pleasure of hitting one of the region's (if not greater) playspots: Brilliant Wave in Castlegar B.C. It was in at a wonderful high level, much larger than the pics shown in the playak review (hope to get some pics in here for that). Big, steep, breaking wave with lots of speed and power. This little boat showed it can air with the best, hop and skip turns, carve, and handle itself in a huge feature. It also handled the sometimes chaotic run-out and whirlpools without problems.

Conclusion:

Overall I really liked this boat. Overall give it 4.5/5. It is a good little river runner (keep in mind that stern and lack of speed), is fun on steeper waves and is a joy in the hole. On big fast waves/holes it really performs well. For $750 to your door (depending on location in U.S.) it is a steal! Bliss-Stick has come up with a winner in my opinion.