I don’t like to review a boat until I’ve paddled in in a wide variety of situations, from low volume creeking to big water and low volume creeks at high water. Plus everything inbetween 🙂 But the Karma is hot hot hot….and after only a couple times in the boat I’ll be taking it on a month long expedition in Argentina & Chile. I am surprised to feel this comfortable in a new boat.

When I transitioned from the Hero to the Villain S, once in a while the speed of the Villain S would catch me by surprise. Same story once again, the Karma is fast, really fast and will surprise me at just how fast it is.

Stability: The Karma has loads of primary stability. It reminds me of the second version of the Hero with the totally flat bottom. Tons of initial stability makes it easy to paddle. I feel like I might roll a bit more often than with a displacement hull like the Villain S, but I’ll certainly spend less time bracing.

Tracking: The Karma is easy to turn and move around, amazing for its length. In flatwater and easier class II it tracks very well, making it a pleasure to paddle in all kinds of whitewater.

Resurfacing: The Karma comes up in a nice controlled resurface. Not a “Red October” rocket to the sky, but a nice fast, smooth resurface that is easy to control.

Short story, is that after two days I feel confident that this is my boat and look forward to paddling it enough to give an in-depth review!

-Darin