Seat positioning for the Nirvana

So, I’ve padled the Jackson Nirvana for two seasons now, and I must admit, I love it. when I first got in it, it was a new style of boat that I haven’t paddled before.Longer, faster and more rocker!
When I first got it, my instinct where to move the seat a bit forward. This was because I’ve always done it in all my other boats, and the longer nose of the boat made it feel like it was natural. All though it made for a stable padleexpirience, a friend gave me a tip, try to move the seat all the way back. So I did, and it completely changed the feel of the boat for me.

Why back?
Moving the seat back, or as in my case, all the way back, made the boat feel so much faster. It made it alot more maneuverable, and easy to boof.
The only problem I find in moving the seat back is that it gets a bit more twitchy than normal. But, after a few trips I’ve corrected that by fixing my bodyposition from lazy, to upright and agressive. And the payoff was great. It now feels like I’m padling a speedboat, keeping the nose dry, and maintaining the speed through the rapids!

When do I change my seatposition?
The Jackson kayaks makes in my opinion the easiest system to adjust seat and footrest. It takes allmost no time and very little effort.
For my everyday use, I keep the seat all the way back. But, when the river gets realy steep and continious, i move it 1 or 2 notch forward for a bit more stability.
For multidays I allways move my seat forward. This is because I want the stability, even if i got alot of stuff in the back.

Should you move the seat back?
This is ofcourse just my prefrence. It might not be the right choice for you to move it back, but I do encurage you to try it. Move the seat back and forth can even make your local run feel different, and exciting. Give it a go, and make up your own mind.

– Oddbjørn Flaa
Norway.