Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

Is this a good starter boat for a newbie to whitewater?

EZ60
A combination of river running characteristics found in our classic EZ series meshed with high performance play features from our ZG series. The best of both worlds in a user friendly, high performance, river running play machine Stats Length 206 cms / 6'9.1" Width 65 cms / 25.6" Height 33 cms / 13" Weight 14.8 kg / 33 lbs Volume 227 ltr / 60 gal Minimum Paddler Weight 82 kg / 181 lbs Maximum Paddler Weight 109 kg / 240 lbs

Opinions vary, as you might guess, about breaking in to whitewater kayaking. Some advocate boats that require more from the paddler as a way to speed the learning curve. Others recommend something more forgiving initially. I suspect it depends a lot on the individual paddler: how aggressive vs cautious one is by nature. If the boat fits you well and you're somewhere closer to the middle of the weight range than either end, then it will probably work fine. My guess is the time spend in the boat paddling and learning skills will be more important than the particular boat design. It may also save you some headaches in the long run to get some instruction early on to avoid picking up bad habits. Whitewater School and River School are both good opportunities for instruction in a small group with paddlers of a similar skill level.