The 9R is without a doubt the most fun and dynamic kayak I’ve ever paddled.
I am not great at looking at a kayak’s design and immediately understanding how it will behave in whitewater, so after seeing footage and hearing that the 9R was designed to be a fast boat, I assumed speed would come with a sacrifice to at least its maneuverability and boofability; how wrong I was, the 9R is an anomaly. It’s a high performance, zero compromise kayak with all the key features of a desirable creeker, race boat, and river runner.
The fact that the 9R is a sick kayak isn’t ground-breaking news, but I polled some ladies and here’s why we friggen love the 9R:
Jo Kemper surfing the Upper Wind after she finally got her hands on one! (Photo – Cat Looke)
SPEED – As advertised, this kayak is not a slug. The 9R has incredible hull speed, which allows it to not only cruise quickly downstream, but also accelerate out of drops and upstream after catching an eddy. With significant bow rocker, the 9R easily skims over river features and therefore maintains downstream momentum. If the nose does bury, it resurfaces quickly.
9R profile shot- Take a look at that bow rocker (Paddler – Jackie Selevan, Photo – Jeff Clewell)
BOOFABILITY – The 9R’s hull speed and rocker combine to make this kayak ridiculously easy and satisfying to boof. The nose stays up and you find yourself skipping out of the drop. As a consequence, it’s also forgiving when your timing is off.
Things that are difficult to capture…the skipping motion of the 9R out of a drop… (I swear that’s what’s happening here at the Cheakamus put-in waterfall)
“What I love the most about the 9R is its rocker and speed. I find it easier to charge through features and be where I want to be. The boof-tasticness of the rocker makes you feel like a boss. Keeping the nose up is almost automatic.” Meg Smith
AGILITY & CONTROL – Boofing and speed are great, but it’s also essential to be able to get where you want (and sometimes need) to go. I don’t have to fight the 9R; it tracks excellently, but can also be turned with ease. Compared to other kayaks of its size, the 9R is fairly narrow; this permits easy edge to edge transitions, better control, and consequently super-fun eddy S-turns. Also, narrow does not mean tippy because as Jackie Selevan reminded me, “the 9R has great secondary stability.”
BAM… Jackie using that secondary stability (Photo – Jeff Clewell)
EDGE – The 9R has the perfect amount of edge to satisfy all whitewater needs. In the center to rear of the boat there’s a good edge for carving in and out of eddies and jetting around big volume water. This edge transitions to a minimal amount in the nose, which allows the kayak to easily smear off rocks in low volume and steep creeks.
Sliding off rocks on the Jonachi River (Photo – Niko Peha)
Chasing after Regan Byrd & her 9R on the deep and wavy Elaho
CON – There are a handful of kayaks whose performance I appreciate or even prefer when fully loaded with overnight gear, the 9R is not one of them. It does just fine in the overnight department, but I gotta admit it’s not my favourite loaded kayak – maybe this is where the 9R L comes in though!
Also, although the 9R has many advantages, they can only be fully appreciated when paddling aggressively. It’s not super forgiving on the days I find myself floating downstream casually ruttering about (but what kayak really is?), but this is a benefit and not necessarily a disadvantage, as Jo Kemper attests in her 3 A’s of why she thinks the 9R is badass, “Aggression, Acceleration, and Agility.”
Jo Kemper roosting off Kalama Falls (Photo – Dave Fusilli)
Versatile, rewarding and fun, the 9R is a high performance kayak suitable for all types of whitewater whether it be class 2 or 5.
We LOVE it (Photo – Rob Watson)