“Which model or size of a Jackson Kayak is just right for me?” Straight from EJ

September 8, 2004

Fun 1, Fun 1.5, 2 Fun, Fun, 4 Fun, Super Fun, Star, All-Star,
Super Star—- The most choices ever offered, choosing is more difficult since
you have to weigh your options, but 100% better than having no choices. Here
is how you know which boat is right for you.

So far I have provided you with either a river running/playboat
or a full on freestyle/rodeo boat. This is the first choice you need to make.

Let’s start with some paddler profiles and I will give
you the type of boat, then we will finish by discussing the sizes of that boat.

Paddler #1: Fun family for sure!!!

1.
Not 100% confident in their roll- FUN all
of the way-

 
a.
The Fun is the easiest boat to roll ever
made.

 
b.
This boat will make your rolling much better immediately,
then it will allow you to improve your roll for offsides, hand rolling,
back deck, etc. etc.-

 
c.
Perfect for kayak schools to teach rolling, perfect to improve
your roll.

2.
Wants something that is really easy to river run in.

 
a.
Fun is stable, with the perfect amount of final stability
to keep you right side up.

 
b.
Non quirky- a very predictable boat, designed to run most
types of rapids and have you not wish you were in any other boat.

 
c.
Edges are clear of the water, available to use if you want,
but aren’t in play during normal paddling.

 
d.
Makes the trip from put-in to take out right side up and in
control easier than ever.

3.
Wants something super comfortable and lightweight- The Funs
provide both like never before- with more leg room, foot room, and easier
access in and out of the cockpit, simply pick one up to test the weight.

4.
Wants something that surfs really nicely

 
a.
Very fast, smooth, easy to control hull, is perfect for learning
to surf.

 
b.
The hull steers with a simple lean of the hips like no other
hull in history, with the stern following the bow, so you don’t have
to be as fast with your paddle

 
c.
The top end of the surfing is nearly unlimited with the aerial
moves at your finger tips, and no move out of reach. You can take the Pepsi
Challenge with the Fun on a wave against any other companies full on rodeo
boat.

5.
Wants to learn more playboating

 
a.
Want to learn to loop? The Fun is designed to loop with ease-
The higher volume bow launches you out of the water to help you clear the
stern. Did you know that a front loop is easier to do than a cartwheel if
your boat is a good looper? It is true! A cartwheel is one of the most involved
playboating tricks since you have to put your boat on edge, keep you weight
over the boat, and switch strokes in the middle of the move! It just so
happens that since boats didn’t loop well until recently, most people
have spent many hours learning to cartwheel and very little learning to
loop, therefore there is more cartwheel expertise in the world than looping
expertise, but that trend is changing.

 
b.
Squirting is awesome in the Fun, the high parting line means
you drop more edge than most boats so you don’t squirt when you don’t
want to. When you want to just drop and edge and back sweep and you will
find that he wing shaped deck on the back goes under and is REALLY easy
to control. Not bad considering that the boat also back loops really easy!
This is a unique combination of looping moves and cartwheel/squirting moves.
Most boats make you choose one or the other, but you don’t get both.

 
c.
Want to learn to flatwater cartwheel?- The bow of the Fun
is harder to get down than a full on rodeo boat like the All-Star, making
it harder to learn to flatwater cartwheel. Other companies also have boats
that you can do a flatwater cartwheel easier than the Fun, but you will
be giving up the loop ability and the river running ability for sure.

 
 
 
 

Paddler #2- Star, All-Star, or Super
Star

 

1.
PLAY, PLAY, PLAY, PLAY, PLAY, PLAY

 
The Star series will make you an instant hero among your normal
group of paddlers- you will improve instantly in the following ways…

 
a.
You will be able to do flatwater moves with more ease than
ever before.

 
 
i.
The fastest, easiest flatwater cartwheels in history.

 
 
ii.
The easiest and highest flatwater loops in history, it is like looping
with training wheels.

 
 
iii.
Bow and stern stalls are relaxed, smooth and balanced.

 
 
iv.
Flatwater cartwheels are super balanced and effortless.

 
b.
Hole moves

 
 
i.
The loops are through the roof- start landing in front of the pile in
a front surf, go bigger, stick more of them than ever.

 
 
ii.
Back loops are as easy as front loops to stick assuming that you can do
them- finally learn to do them!

 
 
iii.
The best looping boat is also the best cartwheel boat? This is a first!!!
Don’t sacrifice a single thing in a hole when you paddle one of the
Stars.

 
 
iv.
All of the new moves are made easier- learn the McNasty, Lunar Orbit,
Phonix Monkey, etc., all of the old moves made easier- splits, cleans, etc.

 
 
v.
The ends slice through so easy that clean cartwheels are as easy as regular
ones if you drop the right amount of edge.

 
c.
Wave Moves-

 
 
i.
The perfect combination of looseness (sliding all around) and carving
(maintaining controlled surfs)- easy to set up moves.

 
 
ii.
Easier to get off the water than any boat, front or backwards.

 
 
iii.
Faster backwards (opposite of most boats)- so you are more likely to stay
on the wave when doing moves. Most people get stalled backwards temporarily
and then flush off or lose control. With additional speed backwards you
can do a blunt (for example) and then drop back in quickly to turn around
again (or do a back blunt). Most boats are faster forwards so you can get
in a front surf, do a blunt (for example) then you are in trouble if you
can’t turn it around right away.

 
 
iv.
All of the big wave moves are super easy to launch, with an easy to land
hull.

 
 
v.
The boat being substantially lighter than any other companies’ boats
make the moves much less physically demanding to initiate.

 
 
 
 

OK- Now the sizing:

Within each series you can adjust the performance of
any of the boats substantially by choosing a different size. Also, your
body position within the boat changes the performance dramatically too.
So, this is a general description of which boat to choose for what you
are looking for. For the sizes you fit into- look at the spec sheet.

Fun sizing:

1.
Kids: it is tempting to put your kid into a boat that they
will grow into in a year or two. Buy your kid a pair of jeans that they
will grow into in a year or two and send them off to school and see how
that goes over, not good! If you want your kid to try kayaking, and actually
like it, you have to suck it up and put them in a boat that they won’t
feel like a geek in. This is no joke. You may be happy paddling along and
being an eddy flower, watching the other kayakers play, but you kid will
at least imagine themselves being able to do this one day, and if you put
them in a boat that they have no chance to learn to play, then you will
take away their excitement for learning. I had Dane in a long fiberglass
boat when he was little. One day just stopped asking to go paddling and
lost all interest in paddling himself, only still liking foamboating. I
asked him numerous times if he wanted to go kayaking. Finally he told me
(he was 6), that he wanted a “planning hulled kayak like me”.
I told him that he didn’t need a planning hulled kayak until he learned
to roll and wanted to start playing. What he said changed my idea of what
a kid is thinking forever, “I don’t need to learn to roll, until
I have a planning hulled kayak that I can play.” He didn’t like
watching all of the people he new do fun stuff in our kayaks while he ferried
around and that was all he could do. David Knight and I designed him the
Ace 2.5 and he suddenly was stoked to kayak, learning to roll the next spring,
learning to flatwater cartwheel that summer, learning to surf and play all
summer long and becoming what he is today- a full-on kayaker with a confidence
level a kid can only get from being the young one who can do so much. What
do you do with your Fun 1, or Fun 1.5, or Star when they grow out of it?
The resale value on these boats will be record setting and you won’t
have any problem finding a new home for them at a cost to you of about $200-$300
for the entire time your kid has the boat. It is not worth stymieing the
growth potential of your kid as a kayaker to save $200-$300 over a few years.
With that said- you should not over weight the boat, knowing that if your
kids is at the upper reaches of the weight factor already, then the river
running ability of the boat will be reduced. Example: Fun 1 40-80 pounds-
60 being ideal. If your kid is 70 and growing fast- a Fun 1.5 which has
a 70-120 pound range is best all around to learn in. They will learn to
roll and paddle it easily now, then be able to flatwater play it in a short
amount of time. If your kid is not a beginner and wants a full on playboat-
get the Fun 1. Make sense?

2.
Adults: Assuming you are not growing, then you are much easier
to pick a boat for. You will likely fit into 3 different sizes of the Fun
family. I, for example, fit the 2 Fun, Fun, and 4 Fun. I paddle the Fun
as my river running playboat. However, the 4 Fun floats me even higher and
is a little easier to stay upright, while the 2 Fun is easier to get vertical
and squirt, but is edgy because I weigh it down in the water too much. The
Fun is a perfect size for me for ergonomics, river running, and playboating.
So here is how you choose:

 
a.
If you want to go a little more on the side of river running
and less on the play- go with the size bigger, or your size if you are on
the lighter size of it.

 
b.
If you want to get vertical a little easier, and are willing
to have your edges closer to the water, go with your size or a size smaller.

 
c.
If you want the best all around river running playboat, that
does it all within the parameters of the design for your size- choose the
one you are closest to the middle of.

 
d.
If you are on the edge of two sizes- you are lucky. Decide
which you want to maximize- river running or playboating, and choose accordingly
(small for play, larger for river running) Remembering that both will do
both well, your choice will determine which one you make easier.

3.
Body position in the boat

 
a.
If you are tall and thin- move the seat back a notch to balance
the boat out- the bow should not pearl.

 
b.
If you are short and stocky- keep the seat neutral or move
if forward one notch, but make sure the bow doesn’t pearl.

 
c.
If you want to do flatwater cartwheels or bow stalls easier-
let some air out of the Happy Feet, slide forward and tighten your backband
so you have more weight on the bow making it easier.

 
d.
If you want to do squirts or stern stalls- loosen the backband,
and pump up the Happy Feet to move you back a little and put more weight
on the stern.

 
e.
River Running- Neutral is best as long as you don’t
pearl to keep equal volume in bow and stern for horizontal paddling.

 
f.
Loops- Move seat back for maximum air on front loops!

 
g.
Wave surfing- neutral

 
h.
Hole playing- neutral

 
i.
Rolling- neutral

 
 
 
 

Star, All-Star, Super Star sizing:
The Star is ½ of a size smaller than the
2 Fun The Star is ½ of a size smaller than the 2 Fun (it is the easiest
to get vertical boat for most small people) The All-Star is the same as
the Fun, the Super Star is ½ way in between the 4 Fun and the Super
Fun.

1.
If you want the best all around rodeo boat you should get
the one that most closely fits your weight.

2.
If you are on the edge of two of them then:

 
a.
For bigger loops, more room in the boat, easier river running,
but harder to get vertical- get the bigger one.

 
b.
For the easiest possible flatwater cartwheels, and to be able
to boss the boat around more, but not as big of loops, get the smaller one.

3.
spaced the Stars out enough for them to fit most people with
just three sizes. In a world where most boat companies only make two sizes
of their rodeo boat, I think you will see the benefits of a third size right
away, especially if you are big or little.

I hope this helps!

EJ