A bucking bronc for rodeo kayakers
WHEN a prototype of Drago Rossi’s Squashtail debuted at a trade show in Utah last year, the stumpy red kayak generated a buzz befitting the Beehive State. Professional paddler and playboat designer Corran Addison had apparently done it again.
The South Africa native rocked the whitewater world in 1994 with his Fury, a rodeo kayak with a uniquely flat hull built to plane over water rather than penetrate it. Since then, most playboats have dropped the conventional round hull in favor of a flat one.
At last year’s trade show, Addison stood beside a clog-shaped kayak the color of a ripe tomato and boasted that the Squashtail would revolutionize playboats because its innovative design makes it the fastest and most maneuverable wave and surf kayak.
Had the brash former Olympian indeed done it again?
One way to find out was to send the prototype to an expert kayaker for testing. In shoulder-high surf off Santa Barbara, Preston Holmes examined the craft’s strengths and weaknesses as a vessel for hot-doggers.
Right off the bat, Holmes liked the Squashtail’s thigh hooks -- flexible rubber flaps that secure you to the seat yet release easily. People in surf kayaks used seat belts for years, but they are dangerous and hard to unbuckle in a spill. Holmes found the new mechanism provided the benefits of seat belts -- better control, increased safety -- with escapability.
River kayaks have shrunk in recent years to improve performance, but they leave little space for feet. Riders need something to stop from sliding too far forward, so Addison solved the problem with an adjustable heel block that leaves wiggle room for toes. However, Holmes says the block could create calf cramps for larger riders.
A flat hull can create control problems. To make the vessel more stable, the Squashtail comes with four removable and replaceable fins that Holmes says give the boat “a customized feel for carve and turnability.” Stiff plastic and two rods that run the length of the kayak increase rigidity and stability too.
The design of the Squashtail, which is 6 feet, 2 inches long and 25 1/2 inches across, enables talented riders to accelerate quickly and use sections of waves they’ve never used before. The new trajectories allow very good rodeo kayakers to do more acrobatic tricks.
And therein lies the Squashtail’s greatest drawback, as Holmes sees it. Whereas the quickness of the Squashtail across waves allows intermediate and advanced riders to get more creative, “it is not a beginner’s boat, and some may never learn to appreciate its unique feel,” he said.
The Squashtail carries a suggested retail price of $1,400. For details, visit www.dragorossi.com.