When I heard Pyranha was going to produce a slicy kayak my interest was awakened straight away.
I just love kayaks that make rivers more playful. What I am looking for in a slicy boat is the perfect mix between being playful and still being able to run harder rapids on the river. I was super stoked when I first paddled the Ripper and found out that it was exactly what I was hoping for.
After paddling the Ripper on a couple of Belgian class 3 rivers and a beauty of a drop here in our small country, I quickly built a lot of trust in this kayak. Playing with the seat position I found that moving the seat slightly back made it really easy to stern squirt and made the front really light so I could boof on a lot more features on the river.
My first trip was going to be Corsica and I decided I loved the Ripper so much already that I would take only this kayak with me. On this French island, I really got to know the Ripper as I was testing it on very steep rivers. Being a little bit uncertain at the beginning at certain rapids I got surprised over and over again as the Ripper caries enough speed and has just that amount of rocker to run harder and steeper rapids without any problems. Carrying some speed isn’t only great for getting over holes etc. But it also helps to hold a line, which the Ripper does really well.
I also learned it’s a great boat to catch tiny eddies and whenever you find yourself a bigger one the eddy turns into a play-garden where you can get vertical. I was surprised how you see so much more opportunities to have fun on the river just by paddling this kayak! You paddle a drop, you’re stoked, you stern squirt, you’re even more stoked. Pretty awesome to just smile your way down the river!
Something people don’t always talk about when discussing slicy boats is how well they surf. Most slicy boats are pretty nice for surfing and the Ripper didn’t disappoint either! The rails and narrow design give it so much control and you can really feel that the Ripper is a new design because there is more rocker and your nose doesn’t go down as much as most of the older designs. Paddling out the Travo on Corsica we were lucky enough to find ourselves really good surf on the sea and I got to learn how well balanced and controlled the Ripper handles on some proper waves.
All together I had an amazing trip playing the river every day, catching some beautiful waves and most importantly, I didn’t need to walk any rapid because of the feeling I was ‘only in a slicy boat’. This makes me sure that as long as I’m not pushing myself, this will be my kayak of choice!
Words by: Bram Peeters
Pictures by: Servaes Timmerman & Bart Gevers