About myself

I'm fairly new to paddling but I have got into playboating, I can't do anything fancy but I can surf in waves and holes and have fun. I'm 6'6" and have only been able to paddle an old dagger animas before I got the Flirt.

About the test environment

Golden Playpark: A series of 5 or 6 holes and waves some big, some small. Levels ranged from super high to pretty low.

Review

I love this boat. The other Playboats that I have tried either felt like I was paddling a bath tub, Jackson super fun, or the stern sunk, Jackson super star. The flirt does neither and it also seems faster than those others. The boat is so responsive that even a beginner like me can stay on a wave and eddy hopping down the park is great fun. It carves great and as far as I can test it it has performed superbly.

This boat is also super stable and I can hold it on edge all day. It is wide and so rolling it is quite hard work but having said that it is the boat I leaned to back deck and offside roll in. The back deck is very stable too, I feel like I could fall asleep back there and stay dry but this does make hand rolling hard.

The outfitting is unusual, the thigh braces seem really aggressive, but once I got used to it I have not found any problems. The ratchets for the backband sometimes stick but that is hardly a major problem as 10 seconds of jiggling loosens them up again.

The plastic also feels bomber and I think it would take a big hit to seriously damage it. For what it's worth, a friend who works at a kayak store recommended it to me even though that store doesn't stock fluid kayaks, he's not the greatest salesman but he's pretty honest.

Conclusion

I haven't yet had to get out to streatch whilst I have been paddling this boat and I even have room to build footrests from the foam that came with the boat. That is the main point for me. It is comfortable for very tall paddlers but it still feels as though it will perform anything my skills will allow it to. I love it and would advise anyone to try one if they have trouble fitting in other boats.