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Review Detail

 
Z.One L
Boats & Boards
Overall rating 
 
3.8
Design 
 
5.0
Perfomance 
 
3.0
Quality 
 
3.0
Value / Money 
 
4.0

The Z.One (I pronounce it "Zee One", others say just "zone") is a classic river runner and/or river playboat. It turns the smallest 6" waves into a "Nile Special" and lets you surf in places where you haven't actually SEEN any wave at all. The sharp rails and long, thin tail make for a slalom-boat like handling, allowing stern-stalls and dive-turns à gogo. About the same applies to the sharp, low-volume nose, made for bow-stalls and ultra-slow cartwheels (a slow super-clean cartwheel looks so much more classy than those quick turns in modern rodeo-boats).

The boat offers substantially more volume around the paddler than the legendary InAzones of old, resulting in a more relax, high-knee position and some added safety when going through waves. I would not use this boat in anything above WW III+, though. When piercing the foamy part behind a hole, the bow will cut in easily, but the big volume around the cockpit will - all of a sudden - slow the boat violently down. And then the roll grabs the low-volume tail!.
Now I am not the best paddler in the world, and when it comes to holes, I prefer a full-creeker every time. With the Z.One, I get stuck in holes that I can pass without even boofing in my Karnali. This makes the Z.One a WW I - III boat for me and I wouldn't use it in "big volume". But up to class III, you can do everything in style and "old school".

The boat seems to be made of thinner PE than my other two Pyranhas. It feels weaker and suffers more from torsion - but maybe it just feels that way.

Review

Affiliated
No
About Me
Mid-40s hobby paddler on whitewater (class III) and on the sea (mainly day-trips), about 120 days per year on the water. 1,96m (6'6") and 115kg (260 lbs) with size 49 (GB 13, US 15) feet
Pros / The Good
- surfs like no other boat
- easy to roll
- lightweight for its size (2,65 * 0,68!)
- excellent Pyranha outfitting
- old-school playboat for old-school moves
- lots of legroom
Cons / The Bad
- huge (again: 2,65 * 0,68!)
- allows slalom-like maneuvers
- a bit unstable
- thinnish plastic by Pyranha standards
Recommend
Yes
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