Jesse Coombs gets the Super Hero on the water

By Jesse Coombs

Super Hero Review

We have just built the creek boat I have always wanted. If the Super Hero had a motto, it would be ‘Where do you want to go today?’ That is because the Super Hero provides a platform for you to decide how far and where you want to take your paddling. Every time I tried a new technique in the Super Hero it performed better than I could have hoped.

I started the day catching all the eddies I could testing maneuverability and predictability. Phu-lease! This boat eats eddies and cross currents for breakfast. Come to think of it, I can’t remember if there were any cross currents on the river today, because I certainly never felt them in the Super Hero. There isn’t an eddy big or small out there the Super Hero won’t catch with ease. If you want to ferry a fast and turbulent current all you have to do is set your speed and angle and the Super Hero holds that line perfectly. Unlike so many boats where you have to anticipate a turn and counteract it, the Super Hero will not blow down stream unless you initiate the turn. Otherwise you will hold that angle perfectly. The Super Hero allows me to dance above the big drops scouting in my boat and catching micro eddies as I study the drop below.

While driving through the rapids I could maneuver the Super Hero and accelerate and turn with complete ease. Let me be a little plainer in my point: I never had to fight the boat even once. It always did exactly what I asked immediately. This boat does not have a mind of its own. It is designed perfectly to take your input and apply the change. You can side slip, change orientation, accelerate, decelerate and anything else you want to do with complete ease. The Super Hero keeps your mind off the boat and off your strokes and on the water in front of you.

Once I was more than sufficiently happy with my ability to dissect the river I decided to see how the new Super Hero would handle manky shallows and unexpected rocks. Have you ever had a boat that when the front of your boat gets hung up on a rock the next thing that happens is an uncontrollable spin to backwards? Yeah, I hate that too. Well those days are behind you! Seriously. The planning hull and rocker of the new Super Hero means that when you broach on an unexpected rock all you have to do is edge your boat to let it slip off the side you want. What does this mean to your creeking? It means you (and I) will hold lines more easily, stay where we wanted to be and keep our attention where it needs to be, two moves ahead.

Now I knew I could navigate the river easily and get myself out of trouble easily in the Super Hero. Next I wanted to see how the boat would boof. As if I didn’t already know this from studying the design. This boat separates from the water better than anything out there. Get your speed, set your boof stroke, thrust your hips and boat forward and spread your wings because you have just taken flight. The new Super Hero will allow you to boof your way to separation from hydraulics and out of trouble. Nice!

All right, enough with techniques of staying away from hydraulics. Next I was ready to find out how the Super Hero does in the most fun parts of the river: holes, cross currents, falls, folds, and all the other good stuff. I went straight for every hole I could find and my friends were teasing me that next time they will find me a harder river. This Super Hero eats eddies for breakfast and skips holes all together. I didn’t get stuck in a single hold despite plugging the heart of them. The boat surfaces perfectly, keeping momentum and allowing the nice big stern to shed the water. There was a hole where we all wanted to have some fun. One friend went first and despite paddling hard got sucked right back in and held. My good buddy in his Rocker and I in the Super Hero hit the hole just after that. I gave a good stroke at the lip, put the boat on edge to avoid my stuck friend, and the next thing for me to do was look up stream and cheer on my buddy in the hole. The Super Hero and the Rocker both punched the hole like a hard hat worker 5 o’clock on a Friday afternoon. It was amazing how easily we both slipped through the hole.

Finally we had the opportunity to hit a couple waterfalls and seal launches and the Super Hero resurfaces steady and upright. On one seal launch I was going in almost vertical and the Super Hero brought me up with a perfect ‘submarine style’ resurface exactly upright and smooth on the transition. Too good!

Think I like this boat? Oh yeah, you know I love it. I gave EJ a lot of input regarding what I would like to see in the Super Hero. EJ took my advice and the advice of many others and made the ultimate river running creek boat I have always wanted. The Super Hero reminds me again of what it is like to have the perfect equipment. The perfect equipment allows you to have your best performance and learning curve, because your trust your equipment and you trust yourself. When you love your equipment, you’ll love the sport and you will love your experience. I have a good buddy paddling Jackson Kayaks and he tells me how he feels completely rejuvenated in the sport. I can see how much easier and more confidently he is paddling. He is having more fun than ever. In the Super Hero you will know this kind of comfort and confidence.

Happy Paddling!
Jesse