Wave Sport Z
If your anything like me, you love the water and always
seem to gravitate toward it. I’ve rafted some great
whitewater over the years and have always been jealous of the
safety boaters in their little whitewater kayaks
because they looked to be having so much fun playing in
a hole or ferrying back and forth between the different
river features.
Well, not to be left out on all the fun, I went from
rafting to touring kayaks to get familiar with a bigger
more forgiving type of kayak before I got into
whitewater boating. At the end of one winter, my friend
and I read an advertisement on becoming whitewater river
guides and after taking many hours of training courses
on whitewater safety, swift water rescue, and whitewater
kayaking, I now guide whitewater trips out of a kayak. One kayak
that I have tested and
would like to review for you is the Z from
Wave Sport.
The Z is made for bigger paddlers (both in height and
size) and is a whole lot of fun. It delivers performance
and is ultra comfortable for a play boat. It’s such a
good river runner, you’ll forget you’re in a play
boat until you find a good hole and then the fun really
begins.
The Z combines hard-core freestyle performance with good
handling in a comfortable kayak (no more cramped legs
and feet). Designed around bigger paddlers that find the
rodeo boats too uncomfortable, the Z features more
volume besides extending the paddlers weight range, and
the end are slicy for easy initiation of vertical moves.
The hull has aggressive chines and a well-defined
channel rails. A bevel-rocker, which is to say the
cockpit area is flat bottomed, and both ends plane
upward. It is made from tough X-linked polyethylene,
which ensures that this is a very durable boat.
This kayak is a very forgiving boat with out giving up
performance. It is a great surfing boat that is very
stable. Because of its volume and stability, it is also
stable upside down and some people find it hard to roll.
Don’t let that deter you, some people need more
practice in their rolling and I’ve seen sit-on tops
rolled by very good paddlers. Just because you have a
roll does not mean you can stop practicing it, it is a
perishable skill, now back to performance. This boat is very good at
both front and back surfing, just point
the boat where you want it to go and your there. It just
begs to surf!!
Due to the extra volume, it really gravitates toward holes
and waves much better than the other lower volume play
boats and did I mention forgiveness. The rocker design
doesn’t let the ends go under water real easy on big
drops or while front or back surfing, and can stay on
line in pushy water. Ferrying is a cinch.
Another thing this boat is very good at is stern
squirts. When doing these in a Z just be prepared,
because the boat really grabs the water and the squirts
are powerful. Bigger paddlers can get cartwheels out of
this boat, but I have a hard time getting the ends down
with my size. Spins and 360’s are easy, and when in a
hole the hull design lets you beak free when you’re
ready.
If you are not the averaged size whitewater paddler, are
looking for a boat with generous foot room, and want a great boat to improve your paddling
skills, then the Z is for you. The newer models do come
with a drain plug and back-band unlike some of the
earlier models. It’s a good boat no matter what your
skill level is, and you can grow with it. I like the Z
so much that I have spent almost all of my whitewater
time in it, and as a down river play boat its loads of
fun. To view the entire line of Wave Sport boats or to
get additional information, please visit www.wavesport.com
By:
Dennis O’Donnell
