I am looking to get back into kayaking after a fairly long absence and from what Ive seen things have moved on a bit gear wise. I'm after a forgiving intermediate boat with the scope to run grade 2/3 rivers, surf in the sea and generally muck about in .Weight is an issue, what constitutes a light boat these days? Any feed back would be much appreciated. Live in the UK at the moment but am moving to NZ in the next 6 months so will be paddling larger volume when I get get home.

if your gonna be running mainl two to three stuff, then id say get a full on playboat, seeing as you can utilise the boats surf skills in the ocean and river. The tekno is supposed to be a great surfer that can handle some river running as well. Other options would be the vision series from ll, the crossriver serias from ll, or maybe the fun or star series from jk. Lots of other choices, those are what just came to mind.

I second the Fun suggestion, but I am partial to Jacksons. They are simple and just freaking work.

Get a RAD, wicked boats cant go past NZ made

Thanks very much for your suggestions, I will check them out.

liquid logic bliss stick or jackson imo the only boats werth buyin (soz to other co.s)

I would suggest a Jackson fun series, I got out of my wavesport super EZ for a super fun, they seem to have the most size opitons too. everything from a Fun1 for small children, to the Super Fun for my 210lbs, 38"inseam, 6'4" frame.

From what I've found online their plastic seems to be of good quality.

I'd go Jackson Fun Series or Fluid Spice! I've yet to try the Fluid Spice but I've heard alot of good things about them! Stable, yet very playful for a all round boat!! The edges will help to carve the ocean/river waves!! Looks like a fun little boat! The only trouble is finding a dealer???? I've gone directly to Fluid about this, yet no response, other than they'll look into it!

Have fun and test alot,

Cheers

Andrew

id go for a jackson i have an all star its really good and it is quite forgiveing. but it offers great controll costom fit and is really easy to learn play moves in. it surfs really well not as fast as a wave sport but thats good when you are learning but it wont let you down when you get good i love it.
but demo a lot of boats if you can

I paddle a Pyranha 7-0 and would recommend it. It will run Grade 2/3 fine (goes a good bit further if you are up for it ) It will play well too, slightly longer than some playboats but will cartwheel, taillie and surfs well. probably does a lot more but I'm not up to that yet. The 7-0 is very light 14kg, good for the long walk in or out, the plastic is slightly softer than some but not significantly, I have been putting it through its paces, low water paddling in scotland tends to eat the bottom of boats (maybe I just noticed the scratches more coz it was new ). I'm a bigger guy, over 6', size 9 feet, 83 kg and find the 7-0 very comfortable and dont mind 3 hour stints on flat water coaching in it. Outfitting is good, I like the footbag, if only they made a smaller one so I could wear my shoes in the boat it would be perfect.

hope this helps

Dom

P.S Before you buy anything Demo for a day, only then can you make a proper judgement