If you’re paddling grade 3 90% of the time you do not need a creek boat. A creek boat is for truly hard white water. In short, sometimes, especially on pushier water, I wanted a boat that would afford me some leeway if I was having an off day, and allow me to focus more on where I wanted to go rather than be concerned about how the boat was going to behave. However a number of goes in other boats proved to me that I could still paddle without looking like I began boating yesterday. It’s good in a way because it has made me much more aware of what the boat is doing, but it got to a point where I was wondering if I was just losing skill on an exponential basis! Having a fast boat is fine, but if you are taking more correction strokes you can miss moves you might otherwise make. Get your break in or your approach angle wrong in a Ripper and it lets you know very quickly. I was paddling rivers far more when I first got the Pyranha Ripperīut I do still love river running, but I found that I was crapping out on moves that I would normally find easy in my trusty old Veloc, despite it being much slower than the Ripper. But with paddling friends going off to do other sports my river running paddling became more sporadic, and I ended up spending far more time in a playboat because my partner and I could just turn up at a spot, have a great time in a feature, and go home without any group organising and faff. The trouble was that when I bought it I was doing much more river paddling than I do now and my general paddling confidence was pretty high. To be challenged and to become a better paddler. Indeed that was why I bought a Ripper in the first place. There’s no casual drifting down the river in a Ripper, especially the small one. Coupled with some very defined chines and a flat sidewall it becomes a boat where you need to pay attention. At 23″ wide it’s half an inch narrower than an ICF slalom boat. The small Ripper I felt was a different boat to the medium and large sizes. Not right at the top, but in the portion where the boat is considered ‘spicy’. In wet kit I was pushing towards the upper part of its recommended weight range. The trouble is at my weight and size the medium felt like too big a boat for me on the water, while the small that I had was, well, small. It will challenge you, it will bite you, but when you do get it right it will reward you. It’s a boat that can do pretty much everything. I have no doubt at all that it will go down in kayaking lore as one of the all time classic designs. Phew, that’s a weight off my mind! Why in the hell did I do that, and what’s that psychedelic coloured half slice machine that I’ve bought in its place? Why, it’s the Party Rexy of course.
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