About myself

I have been paddling for less than a year, but with the playpark in my back yard I am able to paddle almost everyday.

About the test environment

I took it to the Reno Whitewater park at medium flows and on the North Fork of the American

Review

This is a review of a '04 model, not the newer '05 ones.
The boat performs on any feature, small or large and really does well in a hole and feels loose on a wave. It is a little slower than the other boats out there, but I found it was a pretty good compromise between speed and all around performance.
It fit me size wise and room was not an issue. Down river performance was very good and did not feel grabby. It was easy to roll and the one thing i really like about Jackson Kayaks is the way my knees fit.

The outfitting does suck. The design does save weight, but I wonder if it can't be improved upon.
The hip pads are horrible and could not be shaved, i could only add shims, and they were just the wrong shape for my body. I could only sit in the boat for 30 minute intervals becuase my legs fell alseep and my hips would hurt.
The footbag is ghetto. I hated having to re-inflate the bag every time i got in and out. The old back band kept braking and was too low on my back and as a result, i kept falling out of my seat. To be fair the new '05 boats have a better adjustable back band and better hip pads and a retro-fit kit is offered for a fee on the '04 boats.

Conclusion

The Star series is a great boat and a super performer, but the outfitting is another question and when you factor in the price of 1000 dollars???
Again to be fair alot of these outfitting problems i had, have been addressed in the newer models.