Having finished my summer internship, the first thing I wanted to do when getting back to university was to go paddling. I’d bought an ex-demo Firecracker 242 over the holiday with the internship money (perhaps slightly impulsively – but how often do you see purple and blue boats?) and was incredibly eager to take it out during Freshers’ week. Fortunately, as the Training & Development Officer for the club this year, I was able to organise a trip to North Wales; I was excited to run the classic Dee section to Town Falls on this level as I had only run it once before on ~0.6m – this time it was on 1.3m (not quite ‘Deebezi’ though).
Immediately, from the get on I felt the difference between the new Firecracker and my old boat, a Dagger Axiom 8.5. The Axiom was a brilliant boat to develop my skills in and was a sensible upgrade from the club Dagger GTs, but having taken it to the Alps earlier this year, I felt I had reached the skill ceiling of the boat, wanting something with a lot more play.
Boy, did I get what I bargained for. The Firecracker felt a bit like an unruly teenager at times, leaving me feeling a little like a bull rider. I really enjoy how the boat handles even in aggressive waves. One thing I loved about the Axiom was its agility, and the Firecracker is even snappier. It’s incredibly nimble, and whilst being slower than the Ripper, it still builds enough speed to punch through most features. Having briefly demoed a Ripper 1 in the Alps, I found it a bit lumbering and hard to manoeuvre, whereas the Firecracker is the opposite and suits my fast paddling style very well.
In a weird sense, I’m somewhat glad I didn’t have the chance to demo the Firecracker, as I’m not sure I would’ve enjoyed it. As I hadn’t paddled in some time, and not on a 1.3m Dee before, my first trip was a bit chaotic, with a lot of rolls – the Firecracker is one of the easiest boats I’ve paddled to roll – and I was slightly questioning whether I’d been a bit overconfident with a smaller boat and should have bought a Ripper 2 instead. But despite probably spending more time underwater than above, I began to understand the Firecracker more and more throughout the day and got some glimpses of what it’d be capable of once I’ve become accustomed to it. (Also, most of our club members own Rippers, so I couldn’t be part of the sheep flock).
After the weekend, I made some outfitting adjustments; moving the seat forward and also raising the backband. This would be my only major complaint about the boat; the Stout 2 outfitting is not friendly to adjust! It does seem like this has been improved with the newer Elite outfitting, however.
Since these slight changes, I’ve taken the Firecracker on many trips, on the Usk, Dart Loop and to CIWW. Every trip is an absolute thrill, with surfing and tailees incredibly good fun and super easy to initiate. Once my December exams are complete, there’s no doubt I’ll be heading back out to try some river tricks (googling ‘kayak cartwheel beginner easy’ right now). This boat is absolutely perfect for me, as someone who loves play laps of Grade 3 and wants to further develop my brief experience of 4 without sacrificing the fun. A great boat on this grade, making even mundane sections (if there even is such a thing on whitewater) a great time.
I’ll have to get a few laps in before gaining too much weight at Christmas roasts – I’m already nearing the top of the weight range at 85kg!
Freddy