Submitted: 03-30-2004 by FVH
I demo'd this boat and found it to be a suprisingly fast ride.
PROS: Speed. For a boat of this (short) length and (wide) width, I was expecting it to be fairly slow. But I averaged over 5 km/h without really trying, which suprised me. Comfort. Great seat. Very stable. Relatively light weight. Big stern hatch. Low cost.
CONS: I don't like the funky front rigging. It's difficult to get much of anything in it. If I bought this boat, I'd re-rig that. No rear rigging. I really question how you'd do a self-rescue with this boat. Perhaps as a rec boat you're not supposed to.
I found the tracking to be OK but not outstanding. I was paddling in a current (an outgoing tide) and the boat did consistently want to turn broadside to the current. Nothing severe by any means; all boats do it, but it was noticeable. On the flip side, it was easy to turn. I'd have to agree with a previous reviewer that Dagger has probably found a good balance here.
All in all, a great, comfortable, speedy, boat for the money. |