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Big Water 18 years 4 months ago #16851

SenorPepe
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I'm a newbie so sorry if this is a stupid question....

Could it be that playboats are actually better in big water than long fast boats like the prijon tornado, eskimo cerro, prijon chopper, etc ?

My understanding was that generally speaking long, big, fast boats, like the ones I mentioned above, are the best for big water and busting through holes. However, I keep seeing a lot of videos of playboats in REALLY big water like in africa. I almost get the impression that playboats are actually better in big water because their volume is so low that they seem to just flush through big holes where as bigger boats catch.

Case in point.....

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6858230...search&plindex=2

Skip to the 5:50 mark and the 6:50 minute mark.

video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-510225...search&plindex=1

Skip to the 2:10 minute mark.

The videos aren't meant as proof of anything, I just thought I would dig up some examples the best I can to illustrate my point.

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Re:Big Water 18 years 4 months ago #16873

Tuomas Offline Elite Member Posts: 149 Thank you received: 1	I feel more confident paddling big water in playboat because I feel I would be tossed around too much in a creek boat. It also a question of familiarity. I hardly never paddle big water in a creek boat, but do it all the time in a playboat.
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Re:Big Water 18 years 4 months ago #16879

Croft
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Again this is a question with no perfect answer. There is undoubtedly truth in what you observe and the examples given but there are other considerations and situations to consider. Like getting sucked under in eddy-lines or whirlpools and maybe riverbed entrapment.

However, playboats are amazing - we took an 'old school' boat (Dancer) to our local playspot (Sierre) last week and it was a real fight to get it out of the hole - with a playboat it was (maybe too) easy!

You have to remember that the guys doing tricks on the Zambezi/Nile are generally running rivers that they know like the backs of their hands - whether they would use playboats on first descents on unknown rivers is a matter of personal judgement and I guess there would be differing opinions on this.

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