I've paddled one of these a good few times, but in my size.. it's a really good playboat, and good for river play.... at the end of the day you can paddle any river in what ever boat your most comfortable with ( i did all my river running in playboats for a long time) you just have to take safety into account, as long as you can rescue your buddy's in said boat ...
kylie, I disagree, there's huge benefit gained in paddling smaller boats down the easier!! runs in wicklow, paddling your normal big boat will just make things easier, you don't have to work as hard, your paddling becomes lazy and sloppy- fact, in a smaller boat your balance and egde control will improve far quicker and be far better for you in the long run, as for experience and lack of familiarity in the bigger boat, well just get out in it once in a while but to be honest i think that's just a head thing, i used to spend my whole time in ireland paddling a playboat and then jump straight into a creek boat in france.. just about having the conifidence
I've spoken to a lot of top paddlers who said they've seen the average standard of paddling in Ireland drop in the last few years- due to everyone paddling their big creek boats down every drop of water they paddle, and i've seen it myself.....
waffling now, aengus, it's way too big for regardless of whatever paddling your doing, Roger- check it out see what you think- most important thing is probably comfort ( so many boats out there do all the smae things)