2010 Jackson AllStar-Review
Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 3:53 pm
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.
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.
