Rambos Locker Ocean Sports Video Blog

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.

Labels: oc1, oc1 review, Pegasus

I recently trialled a Kai Wa'a Chinese made Pegasus (with super stiff construction and the new Ama and Iako's) at Hamilton Island in as many varied conditions as I could, and have this to say about why I have changed over.

Firstly, a few things i found that the Pegasus does better for me (note i said for me) than the Hurricane. I’ve paddled Hurricane for 3 years now and love it, but at 54, I have found that I’m slowly losing my short explosive strength to pull onto some critical bumps that i need to get onto, to stay competitive downwind. After trialling the Pegasus in downwind conditions i have come to the conclusion that it drops in sooner, with less effort than the Hurricane and doesn’t need to be ridden as aggressively to achieve the same result. It’s also more responsive to rudder input and also seems to glide better in small clean ocean swells. Upwind and flat water the Peggie is on par with the Hurricane. (again my opinion, from my trials)

Centre of balance (cockpit) of the Peggie is slightly further forward than the Hurricane and rudder is 15” further forward. These two things explain the downwind differences but don’t appear to effect the flat performance much.

End result is my race times should improve because I’m moving to a canoe that covers my weaknesses in the type of ocean conditions that i now race in.
Yes, i could also do explosive strength exercises or gain more downwind skills, if i was 15 years younger i would probably take that option.

I’m not loyal to any one brand, I'm just trying to minimize my race times in all possible ways, including smart, results based training and skills, as well as, canoe selection.

I think, it’s a smart equipment choice for me, that will result in faster times and more comfort in the longer races. The Hurricane will remain with me, we’re been through a lot together over the last 3 years, actually i keep all my canoes.

Time will tell if i made the right decision, I’m confident i have.

Don’t forget my decision was based on where I paddle and the ocean conditions I race mostly in. If it was a flat water decision, i would have stuck to the Hurricane.

BTW i also found the Fuze to be very similar to the Peggie downwind, but the way the volume is placed in the Fuze makes it feel slightly slower in the flat, but i have not confirmed this in a "one on one" trial. FuZe is awesome for comfort though.

Different boats for different conditions for different people .... it's not an easy choice is it?

Cheers Rambo

What do other Pegasus paddlers think of the canoe, or my reasons for changing?

Please comment below.

Labels: oc1 review, Pegasus

I promised to give my thoughts on the Outrigger Connection Fuze so here it is.

Before I do just a little disclaimer.. I currently own and paddle a Hurricane which I love. I don’t have any connection to any Manufacturer nor am I lucky or good enough to be sponsored, so my opinion is pure and just that, my opinion.

My interest in the Fuze started at about the same time as I bought my Hurricane, 12 months ago. It wasn’t available in Aust. then so was crossed off the list.

I knew Lisa Curry Kenny paddled one in Hawaii and actually brought it back with her so I had seen it on the ocean at Mooloolaba and questioned her about it.

My interest was rekindled when in Hawaii in April this year to do 2 iron oc1 races on Maui. In between the two races I had 4 days on Oahu and visited Karels factory at Kailua to demo the Fuze and had morning tea with Karel snrs lovely wife Marcella.
They had both Hawaiian and Chinese made Fuzes available and you could not pick the difference.

I took the Fuze to local waters and paddled in various conditions for the rest of afternoon.
I was quite impressed with the wave catching ability of the canoe; it seemed to drop in on the wave easily and had extremely responsive rudder control. No pearling of the nose was another noticeable attribute. On flat water I felt that it did not have the speed of a Hurricane, but without a Hurricane there to trial it was at best a guess. Comfortable, I could have paddled it all day and the lower seat height allowed a closer to the water and straighter leg style of paddling that I like. I also like the looseness or slappiness of the Ama on the water which I believe is similar in action to the Puffy Ama on the oc6 Mirage.

Back to the present and the demo of the Fuze on Hammo.

Man straight-away I knew this was a different canoe. In fact it was Lisa’s Fuze from above. The only way I could describe the difference was that it was light-footed or loose on the water. The flat water speed felt much faster. In fact I was so excited about the performance of this canoe; I flipped twice in shallow water front of my Mooloolaba club mates and copped a huge serve from them. So Marty and Grant Kenny, Darren Mercer, Lemmo, my coach Danny Sheard and the others ¦…. Get Stuffed ¦I was just trying to see how light the Ama was, and it caught me by surprise.

Talking to Bart’s (Outrigger Connection Dealer in Australia) later about the canoe (actually I was trying to buy it) he confirmed that it was in fact Lisa’s Fuze and it was now his wife’s canoe. Further, it is also a Carbon- Carbon canoe not a Carbon-Kevlar like the ones currently for sale. Here’s the reason for the light footedness I experienced. It weighs full rigged 8.5kgs. I assume that it is a one off canoe and probably not covered by the normal warrantee as the Carbon-Kevlar product, and that’s completely understandable. But I want it.

So there you have it, an excellent canoe design and impressive all around performance.

If I had pick one thing negative it would be the non-adjustable seat, but you can slide fore and aft a few inches.

I now need two canoes, my Hurricane and a Fuze.

Cheers Rambo

Labels: oc1 review