Tony Lunt (EJ’s partner in JK) writes about the Super Hero on the Grand Canyon

Hey guys;
I really like your articles about what kayak to use posted on the site. I agree with both of you and commend you on your choice of playboat for the rapids of the Grand Canyon, but I feel that the Super Hero is worthy of praise as well. I am glad I brought mine along with my 4FUN.
From the perspective of an intermediate kayaker.
I ran all the “easier” rapids in a 4FUN as the opportunities for play abounded and were too many to see and catch. As long as I had my roll under control, those turbulent big waves were fun to ride and surf. However, at the bottom of each rapid the water becomes squirrelly with changing eddy lines, boils and whorls keeping you on your toes until you are well off the rapid. Paddling the flats was fairly tedious.
I opted to run the big rapids in the Super Hero. For my first trip down this incredible Canyon, it was a good call. I didn’t know the rapids, this is big water, and I ain’t no EJ nor Clay. However, the SH raised my confidence level to where there was no fear factor or hesitation about running each of those famous rapids. This is what I came for, and I knew that as far as I was concerned, the SH was the boat to run them in. All I had to do was to enter each rapid at a very precise place then react to the liquid pounding and mauling. While Dane was ferrying from huge hole to monster wave trying to catch them all, I was opting for a bit more conservative line. But no matter where you started, the river would pull you where the waves were the biggest and most powerful. In almost all the major rapids, waves were largest at the bottom of the run. The SH rides high in that big water and is stable and relatively easy to control when in the middle of the action. Thanks to its FUN hull, it planes well, and moves sideways surprisingly well when riding those big rapids. With the Rocker deck, its buoyancy kept it from getting swamped most of the time, and gave me a fighting chance to react to the next wave crashing over my head. It rolls as well or better than a FUN.
However, some times it got “over my head”.
In Hermit, I can attest that wave #10 was, that day, slightly higher than a SH is long. I knew I wasn’t going to get over it as I was looking at the sky and a couple of tons of water above me. The combination of a wave the size of a room and a Jackson Kayak Super Hero trying to clear it produced a very elegant backward loop that impressed even EJ. That is no small feat. YOU try to impress EJ in a kayak! My rolls failed, I swam, and was rescued by Eric who was howling and laughing hysterically at what he saw. However, no pro playboater duplicated my feat that day!
The comfortable outfitting and wide cockpit, along with the long hull makes paddling the long flat sections effortless. It is easy to change seating position and rest the lower back during paddling breaks. Boils and squirrelly water does not have much purchase on this kayak allowing it to keep its course easily. Even during upstream windy days, the SH tracks well. It offers little resistance to the wind, so is not impaired by it.
So, if you are nervous in big water, I recommend the H/SH to bring your comfort level up. For a long trip such as the GC, this kayak will help you step it up to harder water and keep you comfortable. Bring a playboat too if you can, and you’ll have all the options you could ask for.
I found out one thing we all had in common, though. We had thirteen Jackson Kayaks. Star, All Stars, Shooting Star, 2FUN, FUNs, 4FUN, Heros and Super Hero. But no matter what kayak we were each paddling at the time, at the bottom of each rapid, we all had smiles as big as the water. Unforgettable.
tony