The demo boats from Riot have just arrived at the USNWC and I took it upon myself to break a few of them in. Specifically, we received an Astro 54, Astro 58, Nitro 58, Thunder 65, and Magnum 72. I tried all of them except the Astro 58.
My Stats
Ht. 5’11”
Wt. 160
17 yrs old, 6 years paddling
Astro 54
This boat is pretty easy to get tricky with. At my weight, I kept my review of this design to the 54 gallon model only. That said, this boat has ups. After getting fitted correctly into its lime-green nastiness, I hit up the wilderness side for some playboating.
The first place I took it was a medium-sized wave on the rodeo channel. This wave surges a lot, but it has a nice green left shoulder to launch righty blunts, backstabs, and other more advanced moves if you are so inclined. The edge transitions were nice, snappy, and controlled. This boat really wants to get out of the water. Unlike many other Riot boats of the past, this boat favors more of a bounce style than a hard carving style; still, it will hold an edge when you need it to, and the bounces go big! Air blunts and backstabs went really well, with an emphasis on the stabs. They were effortless.
Secondly, I took the Astro to a small wave-hole that will give up loops, a few ends, the occasional mcnasty, and… well, not much else. The loops were big. It sometimes was challenging to plug in (due as much to the low angled greenwater as the rocker of the boat), but plug in right and you will fly. Cartwheels were balanced, like a lot of the boats these days a little more effort has to be put in on bow ends. I had trouble linking more than two or three ends in a row, but the feature is really flushy. Later, I took it to a small cartwheel hole and didn’t have much trouble linking five, six, or more ends.
Lastly, I took a few rides on the dubbed, “M-wave,” a feature designed to mimic the original M-Wave in Colorado. This wave has a large retentive foampile with greenwater to bounce off on the bottom and sides. It is also only a couple inches deep, complicating matters further. The boat skipped and hopped like a stone, spinning in circles like a top. Good thing I am immune to the dizzy factor. This made it a little difficult to control coming down the pile, but nevertheless a few blunts were launched. Once again, this boat likes to get up. Air blunts snapped around quickly and easily. Honestly, I didn’t try many other tricks due to a recent injury to my hand and the possibility of re-injuring it on the shallow bottom, a big no-no before prom. Can’t have bad hands.
Overall, I liked the boat a lot. It isn’t too forgiving, but you can’t have it all. Honestly, in my position, there’s not much I would change about it. Gotta sacrifice some downriver for some play. It is a playboat, afterall.
Thunder 65
For my time in the Thunder, I took it over to the class 3-4 Competition Channel. This boat was easy to paddle. It did not take any time to get used to; I immediately felt at home in what it was: a river runner. I didn’t feel it truly excelled in any one area, but it responded really well and easily made all the moves I wanted it to. Unlike a true creekboat, the edges were pretty hard, something I enjoyed in the pushier style of water. The speed was good, it was there, but it was not exceptional.
For a little workout, I went down the last class 4 drop on the channel, a hard left-hand turn into a chute that ends with a hole and turbulent eddies on either side. In this drop are numerous difficult eddies, but the Thunder made them seem easy. I caught every eddy I wanted, and even attained up a few of the sections. The edges really helped here, they are hard. For this, a beginner might not find it so friendly, but in the long run, it would be a great beginner boat. Personally, I want something more creeky. But for pushy water and river running, the Thunder will be hard to beat.
Magnum 72
The Magnum is a boat I’ve long wanted to really check out. Many of my friends absolutely love it. After spending time in it, I agree. This is a great boat. Like many other new-age creekers, it gets up and over stuff. Really well. I mainly used this boat for a race, where two of its main characteristics really came out: the speed (especially for its length) and the up and over quality. This really helped in carrying speed through drops. For a creekboat, though, it definitely has some edges. They are not as pronounced as the Thunder, but they are there. I’m not sure if I like that in a creekboat. However, for pushy water, such as the park, it is awesome. But maybe that small sacrifice on less-pushy creeks is worth it, especially for when those creeks get high, pushy, and still have all that gradient! Try one out, it’s worth your while, and see what you decide
You can demo these boats through the kayak check-in building. The cost is $15 for an hour and a half session trying as many boats as you want within the time frame.
