I was a little late to the Antix 2.0 party. When the launch of the new Antix was announced last summer, I was really excited and placed an order for my new Antix 2.0 immediately. Unfortunately, just before my shiny new boat arrived I had an accident and broke my wrist. Earlier this spring I was able to paddle again and finally got the chance to get my new boat on the water. The following are a few of my first impressions of this awesome boat and a video with some shots of my first couple days on the water in the Antix 2.0.

The original Antix was my favorite boat to take down a majority of rivers I paddle. The new Antix is even better!

My first day in the Anti 2.0 I caught a wave on the fly and was instantly struck by how well the Antix surfs. It felt so fast and smooth in a front surf. It locked into the surf with minimal effort and carved with ease. I then went into a hole and was doing clean spins (spin without using paddle) on my first surf. The increased speed was very evident when surfing but was also apparent in flat water and when running rapids and doing ferries.

The next thing I noticed was the stability on the stern. The Antix 2.0 stern squirted with ease and took less effort to balance at a wider ranger of angles and degrees of verticality than the previous model. I was able to ride splats across large rock faces easily and could keep rotations going on stern squirts much longer.

Finally, I was very pleased to see how well the Antix 2.0 handled river running. It felt stable like the first model. It excels at boofing, catching eddies, and doing ferries. It tracks and holds lines well. The added hull speed makes it easier to make difficult ferry moves, attainments, and get onto waves that are tough to catch.

For reference, I am 6’2” 185lbs. I paddle C-1 in all my boats. In C-1 I have some added leverage from my higher center of gravity. I tend to prefer larger boats. I paddle the large Antix in the previous model and the 2.0. With proper form I can get both models vertical on the stern in flat water. The Antix 2.0 is slightly easier to get vertical in flat water. I think I would be happy in a medium as well and it would be extra squirty/playful. In the large I feel confident to run difficult whitewater and can still surf and enjoy verticality.

If you haven’t had the chance to try an Antix 2.0 yet, I would highly recommend giving one a try. It’s a brilliantly fun and playful “half slice” boat that also instills confidence when river running.

Happy paddling 🙂

-Seth