I want to write up my review of the Nano and keep it short and sweet, just like the boat.
Living in the South East, we have been getting hammered with rain. It was a great time to get out and put this boat to the test. First, a bit of background; I am a small female paddler (5’3″) and that is the perspective of this review. The creeks I have taken this out on include North Fork (a run we do laps on that include one larger drop and the rest being fairly technical making it a solid class IV run) and West Fork of the French Broad (big slides and one long technical rapid, again class IV), Davidson at various levels and the lower Rocky Broad (technical, class IV-V-).
Davidson River
I’ve been paddling a small burn for years now. To test out other Pyranha boats, I’ve also put myself in the medium Burn and the Shiva. Then came the Nano (M). I absolutely love the burn, but the Nano is so much fun it is all I have been paddling. Being that it is shorter than the burn, I was concerned that I might be hole bait because let’s face it, I pretty much am no matter what thanks to my size. Rest assured, this boat plows right through holes. It resurfaces better than any boat I have paddled and this is the number one reason why I like it so much. Not to mention, it boofs like a champ. The hull is a bit of a different design than any boat I have seen. It has your common hard edge that the burn has until about 3/4th of the way to the stern and the edge drops and it becomes rounded. Because of this, the back is loose and spinning is a very easy task.
Big Slides
WFFB
The only thing that I had to adjust was getting in and out of eddies. After a handful of runs I’m getting this boat into smaller eddies than I have in other boats. It is not as quick as the burn, but that is to be expected being that it is shorter. But with the added volume, I’ll take a bit of a slower boat being that it resurfaces so well. This boat will remind a smaller boater how much fun you can have out there on a creek and try out new moves with confidence. Nicely done Pyranha. Nicely done.
All fun in the Nano