2010 Jackson AllStar-Review

[ScottH]

Took the Ouachita Outdoor Outfitters brand new demo boat out on the waters at Rockport yesterday. In a few words: It’s fun and I have ordered one.

And Yes, loops in it are stupid huge. At least a foot higher than in my 2009 2nd gen Allstar. So here is my take on it as I tested it through various situations…

First 10 minutes in it the boat felt odd, a little out of balance when on end, slow, could not keep it from squirting out from under me in weird ways, was not impressed. I did not throw any descent loops or cartwheels. I hopped out to let others try it and went back to my second gen boat and felt at home. Got to watching others and they were having various degrees of success with it but nothing spectacular. I then realized the seat was too far back for several of them and thought that might be what was wrong with my ride.

So after it made the rounds I took it back and made some adjustments. I moved the seat WAY forward and added some hip pad shims. Got on the water and instantly could tell a difference, a big difference. It fixed everything I experienced wrong on the first rides and made it paddle very similar to my second gen boat with some tricks being amplified and a couple being slightly harder.

The boat is short (5’10” or 5’11”) and has good centralized volume. Loops and aerial cartwheels snap over super fast. This boat wants to be in the air. But it has good speed and is not the slowest boat I have ever paddled (even though it is the shortest). It was slow my first rides because I was too far back and the boat would not plane out. With the seat positions corrected it was not much different than my current boat. The hull is slick and loose. It spins fast and you don’t have to worry about catching an end, cause they don’t stick out very far. The boat is not as grabby/corky/wobbly as I thought it would be. The edges are very similar to the older All-Star so I was able to adjust to them instantly.

If you are a paddler who can throw 6+ cartwheel ends, you will be able to get your ends in this boat. If you are learning to cartwheel and have not thrown that 3rd end, I think this boat will make learning a little harder. Any type of repetitive tricks that need to be controlled are going to be a little hard to learn in this boat.

If you are a paddler who can throw loops sometimes, you will start throwing loops every time and huge loops often. If you are just starting to work on loops, get this boat it will make learning easy.

Even though cartwheels are harder I think any of the high end tricks will be easier, Tricky Wo, Phonics Monkey, McNasty, Felix/Helix. It just spins and breaks loose so fast and easy it's not funny. Any type of trick that is instant or explosive is going to be easier in this boat than in any other boat out right now.

Jack H got in it after I moved the seat forward and he was having to clear flight plans with the FAA before launching some of his loops.

So in summary, I would not say the new Allstar is a BETTER boat than the previous one. The new one is a different boat that does some things better and some not as well. But it sure is fun. Post up or call me if you have any questions. Visit the folks at Ouachita Outdoor Outfitters to check out the demo or look for it or me at Rockport. And make sure the seat is as far forward as you can still get in the boat, it makes all the difference.

[jackatspa]

Great boat. big air. Scott said it all. Thanks to O.O.O, Jeremy, and Travis for bringing the boat down. I had a blast.
Check out the video!


Thanks, Jack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KAr5O-o1HQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ScottH]

Jeremy Mac/OOO

What is the word on when the other sizes will be available. Shooting Star, Super Star and the MON-Star

Also, any word on what the new colors/combos will be?

[RandyJ]

Jeremy Mac/OOO

What is the word on when the other sizes will be available. Shooting Star, Super Star and the MON-Star

Also, any word on what the new colors/combos will be?

I'll jump in here with what I know:

1) Colors: Found this on the Colorado Kayak web site: Multi colored Jackson Kayaks are not a defined color. What that means is CKS does not know in advance what colors Jackson Kayak will be using while they are molding the multi colors. It may be older color combinations with green, white, black, blue, etc… Or a combination of the 3 new Jackson primary colors they are using (yellow, orange, and red). Rest assured, CKS will contact you if you have placed an order for multi colored boats and we will let you know what your choices currently are in that particular model. If you have ordered a Jackson kayak in multi color and it is on back order, we will not be able to give you the color schemes available until the kayaks have arrived at CKS.

2) Other Models. Projected availability dates are:
Star- July 10th
Super Star- July 19th
Mon-Star- July 30th

JK web site does not reference a Shooting Star in the 2010 model.

[HomeGrown]

Just want to say thanks to OOO for bringing out the new all-star to rockport yesterday, fell in love with the boat. Oh yeah sorry about the stains in the boat....not sad stains but happy stains hahaha

[panicman]

I wonder how many of you jackson fluffers out there have a picture of Eric Jackson hanging over your bed.

[RandyJ]

I wonder how many of you jackson fluffers out there have a picture of Eric Jackson hanging over your bed.

I laughed.

[ScottH]

I wonder how many of you jackson fluffers out there have a picture of Eric Jackson hanging over your bed.

Actually I have a life-size bronze status of him. It’s sits in the room next to my framed ACC membership card and an autographed picture of Michael Jackson and myself when I was a young boy.

[A Savage spanke]

I'm glad i'm not alone. I'm also glad everyones jumped on the anti jackson bandwagon, it looks like more fun than the jackson bandwagaon. Maybe I'll be like jjones and convert. You guys will like me more right?

[RandyJ]

Dang, Scott, I did't know I could get a statue! All I have is the poster - I'm bummed! (Takes another sip of JK kool-aid).

[BooF4FooD]

i wouldnt give a s**t if fisher price made that boat... that thing is sick... im getting one...

[DMG]

I am completely ambivalent about Jackson Kayaks. I am the one impure speck being crushed between the Jackson Love stratum and the Jackson Hate stratum.

[Heath]

i wouldnt give a s**t if fisher price made that boat... that thing is sick... im getting one...

so does that mean you will be getting rid of a ceartin breakfest item????????

[Randy Dodson]

I only know 3 things about Eric Jackson

1) he is dedicated to making very high quality boats (more concerned about quality than quantity)

2) unlike some of the other big name paddlers who are on an ego trip, he is an incredibly nice guy, easy to talk to and hang out with. So if he's gotta huge ego, he doesn't show it.

3) because of Eric Jackson, my 8 year old daughter has a kayak that fits her perfectly.


I'm in the other Jackson fan club.....Randy and Michele Jackson (awesome people) and Randy Jackson from Tulsa.

[Jeremy M]

It was Christmas in July this morning! Check out what we got!