C-Forum

I'm getting a new boat this spring, and I'm trying to figure out whether I should order a Spark, or wait around for a Phantom (my preferred boat).

Any ideas or considerations on the Spark? I know tons of instructors and great paddlers who have switched from the Phantom to a Spark, but I'd just like to get a bit more information before I spend $$$ on a new boat.

Cheers, and thanks in advance!
Dave

your...

size? weight? experience? type water you paddle-high volume-steep creek-class (all)? past boats? play-boat?

different boats - fit different folks

20 years old, 5'10, 165 lbs.

I teach on the Madawaska River, in Ontario. I've pretty much only ever paddled a Phantom, but I've had about a half hour in a Spark on flatwater and loved it. I usually teach out of the phantom, and I love how manouverable it is. I'd love to buy one, but they're really hard to come by these days.

I probably won't do much high volume creeking, but if so I have access to boats like Nitros and Detonators.

To be honest, I'll probably use the boat for instructing on the Madawaska (Class 2-3), Gull, and some other runs around that area. And I'm looking to get into some slalom OC1ing, where I know the Spark is clearly a superior boat.

Simple...

Go the the Single Blade Symposium / Palmer fest and try as many boats as you can:) (if you were further south I'd say come to the North Branch Armada... though to be honest I expect more open boats at the Symposium).

No brainer, and you pretty much talked yourself into it already it already...

Get a Spark now. Worry about whether you'd prefer a Phantom only when/if one comes available. By the sounds of the paddling, you'll probably love the Spark and won't care that you'll never find a Phantom.

Pat.

SPARK for everything you said. High volume creeking check slalom check teaching check class 2-3 check
great boat and will teach you alot

Buy a Prelude. I paddled Phantoms for about four years. Bought a Prelude and never looked back. It's a lot like a Phantom only better.

While I love my Prelude, I have to say that iit is not the ideal boat for teaching. The problem is that it spins so easily that it is hard to show proper initiation and such for turning strokes when instructing without spinning out.
A boat with a longer waterline is better for that task. The Spark is a great boat for this, so are the Outrage or the Ocoee.

TGG!

the great gonzo wrote:While I love my Prelude, I have to say that iit is not the ideal boat for teaching. The problem is that it spins so easily that it is hard to show proper initiation and such for turning strokes when instructing without spinning out.
A boat with a longer waterline is better for that task. The Spark is a great boat for this, so are the Outrage or the Ocoee.

TGG!

Just lean over a bit and get some water up to the top of your calves, it won't turn quite so easily then (that's my one major gripe with the prelude, if you let it get wet, it suddenly becomes a right sod; if it wasn't *so* good in so many other ways, I'd sell it just because of that.)