"Touch"
High 'n' Mighty demos @ HPP
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When Desperate Measures invited us to attend their youth freestyle event at HPP we could not resist the chance to pop up to the course and spend the weekend paddling with the infamous Chris Jones, Chris Mac and several other pals from the WAM (Whitewater Action Medway) action group. Since Jon busted his wrist a couple of weeks back messing around on a mountain board he was confined to the role of company photographer (serves him right)! On our return from HPP we discovered a very pleasing review of the DragoRossi Fish that had been mailed to us by one of our customers. Later in the week we got an e-mail from a surf kayaker in Brighton who sent us a review of his DragoRossi Squashtail. Locate your nearest dealer: Click here |
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The following images are random moments from the weekend which saw the unveiling of the new Eskimo Salto (images posted in no particular order):
 Chris Jones (Eskimo Salto) chats to Jamie from WAM (Eskimo Speedo) |
 Chris Jones pirouetting the Salto. Loops an pirouettes in our creek boats have become a common sight (not that we encourage this sort of reckless behavior (much)! |
 Chris Mac takes the DragoRossi Mafia for a spin (of course this was also seen looping on several occasions)! |
 Chris Jones in the DragoRossi Pintail. Nice close up of the front of his recently re-sprayed helmet! |
 More Pintail action. This time you can see the bulldog on the back of Chris's helmet. |
 Alex from Kent Canoe Services turned up with his Fish. In the background you can see one of his mates with a DragoRossi "suitcase" (Squashtail)! ;-p |
 Chris Mac's shiny new Fish... |
 Chris goes deep into the looping pool preparing for lift off. |
 Chris Mac going airborne. |
 Jamie not getting spanked! |
 Jamie didn't have the boat outfitted correctly and was sliding around inside the boat but he did pretty well regardless! |
 Jamie again! |
 This guy showed up with his mate and asked to take a Fish out. |
 He'd never been in one before but he looked in control! |
 Let us know if you know who this paddler is. We have loads of pictures of him in action! |
 DragoRossi Stinger on "Top Wave". |
 Another shot of the Stinger. |
 Lee Pyke with his Fish in "The Muncher". |
 C1 blunting in "The Muncher". |
 Going for a loop (watch that shiny new paint job Lee)! |
 How far outta the water?!?!? |
Touch - The movie
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DragoRossi Fish review by Matt Attree:
Outfitting:
The outfitting for me was a bit Jekyll and Hyde. The seat for me is well thought out. I have the smaller of the two which forces the legs up into the thigh braces and fits around the seated paddler pretty comfortably.
The inner thigh grips which bolt to the seat are a revelation, holding the paddler tight in position and transferring all the paddlers’ energy into the boat. I have found that these can be pushed forward in order to allow a quick exit really easily, leaving plenty of room for your legs.
The backrest is another take on the adjustable theme that you see in most modern boats. A very solid, thick back band is adjusted using ratchets under the paddlers’ legs. The problem I have had is that the plastic runners are too thick and inflexible to slide easily through the slots in the seats. Due to this it can make getting into and out of the boat tricky as you have to squeeze past the back band. I personally think the IR capacitor back band you get in the Liquid Logics is better (I know of more than one person who has changed the back band to one of these), but once in position it does do a good job.
The foot rest can also be adjusted from the cockpit from a ratchet on the centre of the hull in front of the seat. I have long legs and big feet (34 inch inseam and size 11) and found paddling with this in difficult to get on with as I could not find a comfortable position or get enough support. If you want to remove it it’s easy to do and can be replaced with foam or a foot cushion.
The fact with any outfitting is that is doesn’t suit everyone and I certainly have never bought a boat on the strength of it. At the end of the day it is all easy enough to change with a bit of time and a lot of foam blocks. What I buy a boat for is what the shell is capable of and on that count it hasn’t yet failed to impress!
Paddling:
The first thing you notice as soon as you get on the water is how much more ‘tippy’ the boat is than others on the market from rail to rail on the flat. The boat feels narrow but in reality is not hugely different in width to anything else you can buy.
On a wave you reap the advantage of this narrow feel, allowing the paddler to instigate fast and aggressive rail changes. Aggression seems to be the key with this boat, I have found the harder you push it the better it gets, as soon as you try and hold back it bites back! It holds the rail like no other boat I have paddled, it reminds me more of my waveski. The more pressure you put onto the rail the harder and faster the boat turns. For the first time I have a boat that I can top turn on a wave rather than slide around, in fact this has become the move that puts the biggest smile on my face at the moment!
It is important you are positive with the rail. The hull develops so much lift and speed that if the rail is not positively engaged you find yourself in the trough green grinding! Get it right though and the boat is blindingly fast forward and back. You find yourself having to control the speed rather than developing it.
Blunts are easy to initiate, allowing the paddler to carve hard into them and combine a bit of bounce to really whip the boat around. I have found that you need to alter your style a bit to get the most out of the boat as you really need a hard rail change to get decent elevation on the blunt. The boat is more bouncy going backwards which, combined with a lot of rocker in the tail allows for the easiest reverse blunts I have ever been able to initiate.
If you can ever pull yourself away from a wave into a hole (believe me it takes a lot of pulling) you find a boat that is easy to initiate loops which have a lot of pop due to the fairly high volume in the bow. It is balanced through the ends when cartwheeling and the narrow feel makes it easy to splitwheel.
Overall this is one hell of a boat, its potential only really held back by the present conventions of paddling. You do have to re think everything you have learnt so far, but the results are worth it if you are prepared to put in the time with the boat.
DragoRossi Squashtail review by Marc (customer):
Surf has been less than stellar the last couple of weeks so I've only had chance to try out the Squashtail in small Brighton mush. Still, yesterday we had the remnants of the West Country Surf with an onshore F4 kicking up 1-2 foot swell which results in a pretty large face right (6-8ft) on the beach at high tide. So not the place where the Squashtail should excel I thought but woah! Is it fast!
You need speed to make the section in this beach dump otherwise you get thrown onto the pebbles on your head. The Squashtail seems twice as fast as my Riot Tekno and maybe as fast as my Composite Mega X-Ray even to the point where I was unable to resist the speed and cranking the last lipturn into oblivion (onto the beach) one time too many.
Observations / Questions
There is NO tail. So why don’t I keep flipping over backward like in the Boogie? It’s very well balanced and a reasonably easy paddle out. How can it be so fast? It’s short. It’s plastic, so not too rigid. Lack of stern rocker and aggressive rails, and sweet planing hull is all I can think. Still doesn't make sense.
The outfitting is perfect. The thigh straps are perfect, I can actually reach the foot rests (padded them wider with foam for comfort), and I love the backrest. I know this has been a bone for contention but its spot on for me. Its not at all hard to paddle. I suppose if you paddle a Tekno or a smaller surf boat you’re used to more tricky edging, higher seating position and that. Perhaps in the bigger stuff I will change my mind, but I got straight in it and felt at home (whereas it took me 6 months to feel like this in either the Tekno or the X-Ray). I think the paddle out and ease of handling are somewhat related to the great outfitting. I'm one with the boat and it’s a dream to handle and roll.
I'll reserve judgment on how it holds the rail till I get into the bigger stuff ;-)
My friend was down there with her camera. His photo’s show how sloppy it was. I will get some better pictures soon (images in the gallery)!
