A new boat is on the market from Pyranha, the ReactR. It’s been somewhat difficult to get a hold of one, especially now that Ol’ Donny has driven up the price of paddling gear from abroad. However, we snapped one up here at GeaREddy last fall for a test run on our local class IV/V from the local shop, and ordered one the second we brought the demo back to Idaho River Sports. Here are some of my thoughts after a couple days of paddling the ReactR.

The era of the half-slice has been having some serious trickle down effects in the whitewater world. From the Braaap to the Ripper to any number of other companies similar designs, the half slice is just more fun to paddle as a daily driver. They maneuver beautifully, they snap into eddies quick, they pivot turn out, and they are fun to pop off waves. If you are not paddling everyday however, they are not going to be your go-to class IV-V boat, and they certainly won’t be most people’s first choice for overnighters. Not saying that there aren’t folks making an overnighter in the Steeze on the Stikine look incredible, but I’m looking for a little more storage, flotation, and fun to go along with it. Also, I’m not those folks.

Design

Pyranha has far more qualified folks talking through the design updates than I am, so I’ll just give you my opinions formed through my own meandering experience.

The bow is continually more and more prominent it seems with every iteration of boat since the 9R, Scorch, etc. The ReactR is no different. The high nose stays on top of the water better than any I’ve ever paddled. I almost always get bogged down while approaching the lip of one of my favorite boofs on ‘Steepness’, and this bow truly delivered on both approaches to the lip. I was able to keep speed and hold my line without getting slapped around too much before sailing cleanly off the boof that I have plugged so many times in the past. The same went for the rapid below, where Right to left laterals often sink the bows of boats, slowing speeds and pushing paddlers into the middle, which is less than ideal. The bow floated high above those laterals and made the line feel just that much smoother.

The stern is really where things seem to have changed the most. It’s almost as if the designers put a half slice tail on the boat and moved all the volume to settle right behind the paddlers seat. Sort of like a puffy steeze. This forms a fat stern right behind the paddler, and a skinny tail in the farthest end of the stern. This, I think, does a few things. It allows the stern to pivot much more easily, even scooping water, loading up current and pushing out/in of eddies for fast turns. It also seems to load the stern when in the bottom of wave troughs or blasting out of holes, but the added volume behind the seat kicks in if the stern gets too burried, which leads to huge ‘pops’ off of the wave or out of the holes. It’s a similar concept to the old remix’s dish in the back, but with way more volume up front of the stern. This make the boat so playful and poppy. The rocker on the back mixed with the nose rocker, makes the boat quick to adjust on the fly. I have never flown off waves quite so high as I have in this boat.

The cockpit has finally been re-engineered for goodness sake! Pyranha has classically had way too many pieces of hardware, which means more things to break. I still think a few things could be cut down on, but they have made huge improvements with their outfitting. All the ratchet nonsense has gone by the wayside. As much sh#t as I have talked on Jackson kayaks in the past, I do think their rope system was ahead of its time. Instead of having to replace this super specific piece of molded plastic when the back band blows out, you just throw an extra piece of prusik chord in your pin kit that can be used in a pinch. Pyranha has adapted a similar cleat system, but couldn’t resist adding another piece or anodized aluminum to redirect the direction of pull. When you tighten your backband. Now, you pull towards yourself instead of toward the bow like Jackson’s design. V fancy.

At first glace, the egg-carton foam seat looks a lot like the foam thermarest that you will see many serious expedition kayakers lining their seats with. This is not to raise the paddler up or to be a convenient place to stash a sleeping pad, but it does seem to shed water quite quickly and be more breathable. It also felt quite nice on my bum in my board shorts. It get’s a thumbs up from me. The classic Pyranha slicing into your collar-bone while carrying it, has eased up a bit with the addition of some thin paddling.

Overall

As I said before, we took this boat out after paddling our local run all summer and getting on the water with it was like playing a whole new game. All the sporty lines felt more fun. I felt more nimble in the middle of tricky moves and felt like I was on top of the chop as opposed to getting blasted in the face or chest. For as poppy as the boat is, I still felt quite stable. I ordered one of my own this spring and think it will fill an overnighter niche pretty nicely. I don’t think I want to attempt a 9 day trip out of it, but it will certainly suffice for a hot lap overnighter on the S.Fork Salmon.