Fellow Pegasus new owners, you are gunna love this canoe.
The first thing you notice is you sit IN the canoe not ON it, so you are closer to the water. It's also very comfortable, and the seat shape hugs your butt both sides and at the rear, which gives good control and feedback in a bumpy ocean. Ama feels light and lifts easily out of the water with a quick hip throw and balances just above the water without bracing with your paddle on the right.
Upwind performance is as good as the Hurricane, but it does it in a different way. Instead of punching through the waves, it pops over the top (but doesn't launch) and lands without a slap on the other side.
Downwind, this is where this canoe shines ... it drops in easy and earlier with less effort, once it has momentum it just keeps going and really surprises you how easily it bridges numerous bumps without loosing speed. It tracks straight, even when sitting on the crest and doesn't want to broach. The downwind performance is the main reason i decided this canoe was right for me. With it's ability to drop earlier and easily, it gives more time for you to select the path to the next bump. (i lent the canoe to Johnno for 10 mins to do a run downwind and i won't say what he called me but i accept it was a term of endearment that men call each other when they approve of something only you have)
The Peggie doesn't respond all that well to quick short strokes (like the Hurricane does) so it lacks quick acceleration, it does however respond to long hard strokes and continues too run-on, negating its lack of acceleration. ( i would still use my Hurricane in sprint races on flat water)
Build quality and finish is excellent, you can hardly see the seams. Stiff as, but like all Divinycell foam core canoes, will dent easily. Iakos are easy to fit into the Ama and Canoe slots and were number matched at the factory, so don't exchange Iakos between canoes.
Steering response, the Pegasus will throw you off, if you chuck a full rudder at speed, extremely directional. Ama is very close to the main hull compared to a Hurricane, about 200mm closer. Occasionally i hit the ama with the paddle , but this is just an indication i need to tighten up my recovery stroke.
The Pegasus will reward a good surfing type paddler and improve an ordinary one. The Hurricane is still in my opinion the fastest canoe for young, strong, skilled paddlers, (which I'm not) but the Peggie for me, helps overcome the loss of explosive strength you experience after 50 and allows me more time to make skill type decisions like bump chasing.
Be very interested in hearing what the other new Peggie owners think when they get their canoe.
I wasn't able to take photos of the unloading etc .. but it was a pleasure to bust the security lock on the container and be the first to peak inside (no little China-men jumped out) .... Awesome seeing all those canoes in one place and having the opportunity to unload them all.
You can read my prep- purchase reasons for selecting the Pegasus here ...
Well here she is in all her Glory. .... Just blessed wearing her floral wreath as witnessed by a couple of pelicans prior to being put through her paces in good upwind/downwind conditions.
What do you think ... please leave a comment below
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12 comments:
Hey Rambo,
Nice choice of colour! Your boat looks exactly like mine only my iakos are black.
If you love your new boat already you are only going to get happier after 500 km or so. I am at around 750 km on mine after getting it August 30th. Like you I'd been on a Hurricane before. I'd agree with your review almost totally except to say that my GPS is telling me that I am at a point where I can accelerate in the Pegasus as fast as in the Hurricane.
Paddling on the Great Lakes and coaching sprint canoers from my OC1 on the river I end up doing a lot of paddling on flat water. I've done a fair amount of paddling with a resistor (bungee) around the boat the last month to feel connection. With feedback from the GPS I've been able to develop a slightly different stroke from what I used on the Hurricane which is clearly more appropriate for the Pegasus. It's really helped me learn to sprint in the boat and I actually feel better sprinting in the Peggy than the Hurricane. It has certainly helped me when I've been chasing waves or jumping over one to the next.
We get a lot of 2 to 3 foot waves on the Lake Ontario and the occasional day where the lake looks like the ocean with 6 feet or more. I agree with your comments about the boat both downwind and upwind, although it took me a little time to get used to the ama popping up every time it hit a wave going upwind at certain angles. That took a few hundred km. The best part of all is that it is a far better boat for me to own if I am going to do the Molokai solo and, in all likelihood use a Polaris. I paddled a Makapu run with Aaron Napolean a few days before the Molokai Hoe early this month and used one of his Polarises. The water was BIG and that boat is amazing in that water. It picks up waves like a surf board and is a beautiful, dry ride. The best part is it feels exactly like my Pegasus. I didn't notice the extra one inch width in that water at all.
I find the Peggy especially better in sloppy, choppy, disorganized water. In my Hurricane I was too far back on the boat and too often felt like I was going uphill in those conditions.
BTW I looked around briefly for you at Hale O Lono before the race. Maybe get to meet you next time. I wrote you this past April about Hurricane iakos. Don't need to worry about them now...
Hope you don't have to end up rebuilding your Peggy like you did the Hurricane.
Hi Rambo,
congratulations. May you enjoy the ride with Peggy.
I chose the alternative rout - I just could not part from my Hurricane ..
Now she sits in my garage, is getting a major face lift:
cockpit is being lowered by ~ 1 1/2 inch
footwells are being lowered and moved forward
seat is being remodelled, removable, hard shell with foam
amas have been shortened
rudder is being moved forward
and maybe, just maybe, I will add vertical volume to the bow to avoid perling.
Why all that and not buy a Pegasus right away ? Well I am too heavy for the Pagasus and the distance between seat and foot well is too short.
So I am very happy for you, e kaupe.
Aloha
Eckhart
Hey Rambo,
Completely agree with your review of the pegasus. Just got one myself.
Can't wait to see some video footage from the new peggycam.
Only problem I am having is getting the velcro to stick to the boat and seat. Just keeps coming off everytime I move the seat. You found a solution yet? Guess I could not move the seat.
Hey Rambo, nice color, will look even better with your personalised touch. Can't wait for the Camo and bullet holes! Have got to say the new loose fitting covers are shit. Let in too much road grime and one of the canoes (white) after 1500 km had changed color. I will put mine in a sock and then put the cover over it to avoid this problem again. Great photo of you with Peggie and the Whale on ausoutrigger. What a great race. Hope Thor enjoyed the ride. What did he think? Bummer I have to go back to work to catch up on time spent on the trip north so will not get to paddle my Pegasus for a week. Give Bondy time to make a river rudder so I don't hole her. So the next challenge eh, bring on the RedX 404km marathon at Christmas.
Aloha Rambo:
Loved the recap on your new Pegasus. I looked at a Pegasus and Kai's new boat, the Scorpius, this year. In the end, my wife convinced me to buy an OC-2. That will either turn out to be a great idea, or it will be a divorce barge to be sold so I can get a new OC-1. Hmmm, I'm not sure which way I'm rootin' for now!
Enjoy the new ride. Hope to see you at Kaluakoi for the Solo in May!
A hui hou,
Don Mehling
Hey Rambo, boat looks awesome!
Just wondering what your (esteemed) opinion is on the Tahitian styles... I'm in Europe, keen to get an outrigger. Trouble is choice - or lack of! There are the Hyper range of canoes (quite pricey) that look good, or some Tahitian styles from France. At 7.3m long, i'd imagine them to be a handful! Tahitians don't seem to have problems, but they are paddling freaks of nature.. did you consider them at all when shopping for your Pegasus? Why/why not?
Cheers
Robert
(PS, realise the best way is to test paddle, but these canoes are still several days drive from where i am!)
Hi Larry,
thanks for confirming my thoughts, sounds like you have the flat water under control and having fun in the Lake bumps as well. As for the Peggy following in the Hurricanes wake with regard too rebuilding, i almost lost her just the other nite in the same place at "Carties", slammed by a big one but survived. I think i truly am crazy.
Eckhart,
keep me posted on the rebuild ... interesting stuff.
Clarkie,
you should not need a canoe sock or cover, paddle the damn thing every day no need.
Aloha Don,
always good to hear from you. Can you not have both OC2 and OC1 and still stay married? Haha ... Missing Maui heaps .. have to rob that bank sooner than later and join you again my friend.
Robert,
that's some dilemma you have got yourself into, which boat to choose? Do you intend too race? If so the check what boats are eligible, if not hook up with a club and try a few of theirs first. Be worth the travel to do so.
Cheers All and thanks for your comments.
Rambo
Hi Guys
Have some thoughts on the Peggie to share for those that are interested:
-found the seat very uncomfortable for my skinny little butt, I'd rate it right up there with my Hurricanes seat!!
-feels fine upwind, in fact very similar to the Hurricane in those conditions (except for the way the ama behaves)
-hull feels fine running with the bumps, but as Rambo has stated it won't accelerate the way the Hurricane does and needs to set up a little as the swell builds
-I don't like the rudder action, I think it over steers quite badly. Have been told it's due to using a shorter throw tiller off the rudder post to accomodate the cable cover aocra want us to use. Makes the canoe a bit twitchy and oversensitive to input on the rudder pedals for my liking. (And I use the larger rudder from Hawaii on my Hurricane which is 2inches longer than standard- If you or a friend has got one of these and it's broken in half the way mine did, get in touch with me and I'll tell you how I fixed mine to better than new!) Anyway,If you're over steering the boat , you're slowing it down, so if I owned one ; I'd be looking to fix this
-thats about all I can comment on at the moment, but I would say that in hindsight ; I would have prefered the Hurricane for the Gold Coast relay
Thor
I agree Thor, i think the Hurricane would have been a better choice of canoe for the conditions that day at the GC Cup. Although i have since changed the set up of the Ama and the canoe is not as reactive too side swell. May change this as i grow into the canoe.
Thanks for your input Thor.
Cheers Rambo
Hi Thor and Rambo,
Have to say I thought the same thing as you did when I first got on my Pegasus after the Hurricane. Seat sides were rock hard and pinched the nerves in the side of my butt and my legs fell asleep. The ama, as I mentioned before felt really skittish, and the steering felt way too sensitive. There was a point where I thought I'd made a mistake and was seriously considering going back to the Hurricane. But...
- after about 400 km suddenly the seat had broken in and was comfortable. Way more comfortable than I imagined possible. Feels like a comfortable chair now.
- I got used to the ama and actually now I love it. I just rig ama heavy if its big or the waves are steep and ama light if its not. I never use the inside holes on the boat. The ama is a lot closer to the boat than I ever had it on the Hurricane to start with.
- I got used to the steering and learned to be gentle on the pedals. I find the boat easier to steer than the Hurricane using no rudder as the ama sits higher on the water and doesn't track, and when you need rudder you get used to just the right touch to get your steer.
Tough to just jump in the boat and make it feel great. Give it time though and you'll love it.
Hope to see you guys in Hawaii in the spring (I guess that would be your autumn).
Cheers.
Hi Larry, have to say i agree with everything you say now that i have done more "K's" with the set up you mention. The only issue left to fix is the rudder jamming under the rudder tiller cover at full extension which is only fitted to Aussie delivered canoes anyway (AOCRA Spec)
The fix for that is heavier peddle return bungee, just a minor issue.
Also the flat water performance has exceeded my expectations now i have Time Trialled it and raced tidal flat water, as you settle into it, it reveals more of it's potential.
The minor acceleration issue i spoke of earlier turned out to be just me, i had to make a few stroke adjustments and now the damn thing responds like i want, so now i find I'm having problems trying to fault the Peggie at all. It took me a long time to learn ride the Hurricane at the level i wanted to be at, it's definitely not an ideal first canoe, but it is a fast canoe if you put in the time to ride it hard. The Peggie is much, much easier and still has hi - performance. Kai, you certainly got it right with this canoe, the extra stiffness has just made a good canoe a truly great canoe.
Cheers Rambo
Aloha!
As a fairly novice kai wahine, ho'okele (steerer) and former Hurricane owner, I have to say that I fell in love with this canoe from the moment Kai allowed me the privalege of testing his personal grey Peggie out. I love the layers of subtleties in steering, in weight change, and stroke change - her responsiveness is impressive. As a former trainer of show horses, I liken this boat to the finest among them; athletic, agile and smart...she is, after all, the winged horse. For me, the Hurricane never had this feel...it was more like a beloved back-yard pet who could dependably do all that was asked, but none of it with any finesse.
I'd like to add that I do not, by any means, have this boat down. Her "quirks", though (like the light and chattering ama), have made me a better and more confident paddler/steerswoman through the attenuation and attention to conditions and to personal abilities that this boat requires.
The Pegasus isn't for everyone, but when you're ready to step it up and to hone your skills, I don't think there's any other choice.
Malama pono!
Jonica
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