I am fairly new to kayaking and have been using a perception 3d for sometime. I've been seeing people with the newer playboats and they look very easy to pull tricks in compared to what I'm currently using. Can any one give me any guidance when it comes to playboats and understanding the difference between these hybrids vs the dedicated playboats? Any info is much appreciated.

I think I can help just a little bit...

I'm in a WS project 52, which was introduced in 2005, and I'll be using this boat as the largest basis for the comparison and differences in your boat to the newer playboats.

The biggest difference, size, your boat is 8'2" long.. Where as my boat is 6'1" in length. Most playboats are close to the 6'3" range give or take 5 inches. In the two pictures I have here.. notice the considerable difference in tail size, and shape, as well as the shape of the bow, to that of your own boat. What these "newer" playboats have achieved is putting close the same volume as your boat into a shorter, more spud like shape. Hence the nickname spud boats for a boat such as mine. This combined with sharper edges in boat design, allows the paddler to more easily initiate the bow or stern. So why the same amount of volume in a smaller boat? well take the 52 pictured below. if it doesn't have enough volume, the paddler will sink the poor thing let alone be able to throw any loops. To much volume and the paddler has a very tough time pushing the bow or stern under the water. As I'm sure you know. but, I say this to help explain that this boat at 52 gallons and 6'1" in length, has a drastic increase in volume from bow towards the middle or stern towards the middle. (look at the point of the stern then notice how drastically fatter the boat gets, that's the increase in volume I'm talking about.) This allows for more 'pop' when doing loops as well as stability in cartwheels. I said 'sharper edges earlier, and just want to point out that boat makers have been smoothing and sharpening and reshaping the "edges" in the playboats. The lines and edges on the hull and sides of the boat where the bends are in the design. This has made transitioning from left to right edges, cartwheeling, carving, surfing, and even looping easier.
I hope this has explained a little, I think all I've done is confuse you but it's a start.

The 3D is not really a hybrid, it was designed as a true playboat, at the time. It handled stern squirts, flatspins and a few lucky cartwheels. But tricks got more radical, and people started asking for different boats. Your boat is faster than any new playboat, and more stable than most of them. It is generally a better riverrunner, but it's harder to pull tricks in. Dedicated playboats can be used for lots of cool move, and many of those moves on flatwater too, but to accomplish that the designers cut back on length (=speed), stability (sometimes in the form of width, sometimes in the shape of the boat) and volume (=staying afloat). It has gone so far that many companies now produce official riverrunning playboats, modern playboats with added length, width and volume, for better riverrunning. They often look and behave like slightly aged playboats.
If you seriously want to get into playboating a bit I'dd upgrade at least a generation, to a boat 20-30cm shorter than yours. Still not ideal to learn in, but with more play than what you're using now.

P.S. "My" boat is even longer , but I hope to be switching out somewhere soon. Boats this big should officialy have their description as playboats revoked.

And for the rest everything danger just put up while I was typing.

Oh by the way a new "hybrid" has come out.. brand spankin new..

the Fuse by Wavesport. I don't know much about it other than it used to be a children's boat, but was so good at learning and doing playboat moves, that they took the design, and made it in sizes for us adults.. so.. Its a true cross between the playboat and river runner world. Another good cross is the CR series by Liquid Logic.. CR stands for "cross" ha .. I'm sure that there's more but can't really name them off the top of me head..

The Fuse by WaveSport


The CR series by Liquid Logic

Envision1, check this out, it may help:


adrian.playak.com/index.php?option=com_c...=view&id=93&Itemid=5


Any questions, just shoot. Cheers!

I've already had a chance to flatwater paddle the large fuse, it's a nice boat. On me it appeared to be slightly lower in the water than a fluid flirt, although it's official weightrange goes a little higher. Also, my legs were pressed against the front of the boat, not really comfortable. But for someone slightly smaller than me, I think it would make a reasonable to good playboat, with added speed and stability.

good stuff thanks for all the feedback guys!

I have tried a fuse a few days back when the wave was up, it was ok lot of volume in the tail but still cartwheeled ok. Then I got in a JK Allstar faster looser and personally found it more comfortable and better balanced through ends and more fun to paddle, but remember the Fuse is a river running playboat but will still do the majority of the move all be it not as easily.

happy boating