hi im thinking of buying a new burn, just finished level 2 course so i need a boat that will forgive my inexperience and allow me to paddle more and swim less, ive tried rtm zoom which i felt nervous in because of the round bottom on it which made it to unstable for me,and ive tried the club boats and found the new wavesport good but a bit to big for my size, i have only sat in the burn and it felt very comfortable, any advice welcome,
thanks,
joe.

test drive loads of different boats before buying, the wavesport deisel is a fantastic boat and come in a smaller size than the club boats you could try a 60 or 70

im gonna be totaly honest and tell you that your too small for a small burn , you were quite small in the rtm so your best bet is to get a kids boat , if you buy a boat thats too big atm , ur rails wont be in the water and you wont be able to use the boat properly . You should look at the small desiel , the fuse , the inazone , the small remix or a jackson fun .

and you dont need a boat to forgive your inxperience , any boat will seem different at first , you should hone your skills in the boat when it is tippy and then you will adapt to the boats nature .

I agree with James.

Money no object, the Jackson is a great boat and you'll get years out of it and sell it for good money when your finished with it.

Get the latest one though, quite a few "Classics" knocking about in shops.

Paul Heff

(BIT OF CONFUSION) Just to clarify,I wrote on my sons profile,BY MISTAKE, ( Two joes in 1 house gets confusing sometimes,sorry lads )
,i was the one in the rtm zoom,my son was in the rtm multipass my weight is: 65 kg
To save cofusion this is now my profile
So would the burn do me or would i be better off with the D65 or D70 (wavesport)
Thanks,
Joe snr.

Ya , you would be okay in a burn , or a desiel 70 , it generally depends on what type of paddling you see yourself doing , both those boats are great for everything other than playboating , they will take care of you on the bigger rivers and will do for the lee fields to an extent .
If you dont think that you will be running the upper bandon or bigger rivers , you could go with something like the wavesport fuze , or that new pyranha varun which are both river runners that you can play in aswell .

Id also suggest the jackson hero , although many people dont really like them ( including myself ) , they do seem like a great boat to start kayaking with .

Hi Joe,
I'm just a little bit lighter than you, and I paddle a Diesel 70, previously paddled a Diesel 65 in the older model, and I have also tried both small and medium Burn. To be honest, any of the above would do the job nicely for flatwater and river stuff, learning to roll, progressing up the grades of water. Your best bet is of course to try out as many as you can, see what fits, what feels comfy. All will perform well for you at your size. Obviously enough I prefer the Diesel 70, and that's why I still have it! I went for the 70 over 60 size as it allows me carry more gear in the back, and also performs better on bigger volume water. Oh and it's FAST! For some reason the Burn just never felt quite right to me, but others love it.
If you want any more specific info fire away with the questions.
Muireann

Defiantly think that the wavesport is a better all-rounder than the burn, more edges and slightly faster.

Don't buy a boat that’s just too basic or it just won't perform as you improve. Generally paddlers in this club all appear to be going for big volume creak boats. But that’s not to say that they are going to be right for everyone. In my last club my boat was by far the biggest volume and in this club its one of the smallest.

A play boat is quite suitable for big rivers; it is in a lot of ways more controllable, which helps you avoid big holes. The issue comes with the smaller technical rivers and the possibility of getting pinned which is not recommended.
Without question my boat is too small for me and I need to loose 10Kg or so, it’s currently close to being a squirt boat which is far from ideal for Grade 4+ paddling.

If you intend mainly paddling grade 3 and below and are interested in surf get some sort of play boat, the Jackson fun or similar is probably ideal. If you buy a Creak boat it won’t perform in the surf, and will limit you on smaller water.

Lastly but very importantly, Test the boat out on the type of water you want to use it on before buying one. Don't just paddle in on the flat. There are plenty of people in the club that may be happy to give to a try in their boat or you can demo one from a few places. If you are ever over in the Uk I would recommend desperate measures in Nottingham who will let you demo all of there boats on the national water sports centre only 5 mins drive away. they should also give you at least 15% off UK list price which is normally cheaper than the Irish price anyway.

Defo agree with the others, especially Jeremy's comments on creekers being too big for what most of us will be paddling here in Ireland.

One thing to consider is this boat I found, the Fuse. It's like a Wave Sport version of the Jackson Fun. And its half price in Great Outdoors too!! Consider it a cross between a river-runner and a play boat, even so you are on the light end of its weight range, there may be a smaller model available. I'm thinking of it myself, any input Muirs??

Paul in Great Outdoors (Dublin) will advise you on various boats. In my exeprience they are very fair, suggesting non-stocked items if that's the best solution for you.

To answer James suggestion of the Jackson Hero, I'm one of the few who purchased the latest 2008 model (I haven't seen any in others in Cork) and would NOT recommend it in your case. It's a great boat and I love it, but I think it would frustrate rather than improve your paddling at your level. Not much good for surfing either, although perversely it can be fun trying to make it surf!!

Paul Heff

Well Joe,
Loads of info there for ya, some nice advice.
Here's my two cents, i'm a bit of a fiend for the boats so i usually go through what your going through at least once a year.
Decide what you want out of the boat.
Do you want a nice stable boat that surfs and plays really well, or similar boat that is good for freestyle also.
If you have no interest in freestyle, i would choose the longer boats as they are faster to paddle and you'll be more comfortable sitting in them.
Aswell as the Burn, already mentioned are the Diesel 65 and 70. Both nice boats, i've recently changed to a Diesel 80 myself( i'm slightly heavier than ya ),
There should be plenty around to demo, and if you asked up in the local kayak shop, they have some D65's as school boats you could try.

The shorter boats, are great if you want to try freestyle also.
Wavesport Fuse 48 would be your size in the fuse model, the pyranha recoil or Varun, or the jackson fun. They are all very similar boats and you'll learn to love whichever you buy. Best one is the one you like best really.

A nice happy medium between big and small boat would be the Pyranha Z.one. It's long and fast, but a little less volume than the big boats mentioned above, and to me looks like it would rip in surf.

My main advice would be to actually sit in as many boats as possible, and see which you are most comfortable in. You'll progress far quicker if you're comfortable than if you cramp up all the time.

Hope this has been of some help, try and go to the shops, there you can sit in the boats and get advice on outfitting them.

Mickey

Thanks for all the advice, i tryed a few diesels but felt more comfortable and stable in the burn as soon as i paddled it so i said what the hell and bought it, ( Have all your cow tails and throw ropes ready ).
thanks again,
Joe: