WK Ambassador Brian Tupper Reviews the 2013 All Star

Review of the 2013 All-Star (compared against a k1 Rockstar – Medium)
2013 All-Star lives up to it’s “star” name!

Me: 170lbs, 5’9”, size 9.5 feet.
Outfitting:
I really like the 4th generation Armor outfitting. The new back band is both supportive and comfortable. No more exposed cords that rub your sides raw! You can now adjust the seat on the water with a single thumbscrew. Now there is no chance for the seat to slide while paddling which has been a problem in the past.

The boat came with the 200 sweet cheeks from the factory that was perfect fit for my height and the new lower knee position. I adjusted the seat position one slot forward from neutral. That ended up being the right choice as I tested a few different seat positions on the river and slightly forward works best for me.

The Velcro hip pads shims are easy to take out, add or remove. I only had to install one shim on each side.

For perfect and tighter fit, I also installed the “happy feet” bag in front of the linear foot block system as well as glued foam knee blocks.

Lastly, the happy seat/happy thruster combo is installed.

On A breaking Wave:
First thing you notice is how fast and retentive the boat is with very forgiving edges which let you get away with some mistakes unlike the Rockstar series.
Both initial and secondary stability are improved and feels more balanced doing cartwheels and flat water moves.
Coming from the Rockstar I noticed the longer swing weight and volume of the All-star requires a bit more effort to do more advanced moves. The set-up and recovery are easier but the initiation will take a bit more effort to bring around, especially with McNastys/Pistol Flips and Phoenix Monkeys.
However, with a little more effort come great rewards: massive air on moves. I personally like the easier set-up/recovery the All-star provides and don’t mind giving a little more effort to bring the tricks around, it all depends on your paddling style.
For the beginning and intermediate paddler, I think the 2013 All-star is a perfect play boat. It has the friendly hull design to work on basic skills and the ability to throw every trick in the book when your skill set improves.
The hype is true. This boat is amazing fast, friendly, super loose and retentive. You should definitely demo this boat and see if it fits with your paddling style. I think it the best play boat I have paddle to date. I love this boat!
I will have the C1 2013 All-Star review up soon!
WK Ambassador
Brian Tupper