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
We had hundreds of runs like this the whole way and some big SAVES. Just to keep Clarkie happy we even portaged 200metres crossing the bar at Currumbin Ck (low tide).
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