First day was a couple laps on Tobin and Lobin at low flow~500
next day the flow had jumped up to 1750 (which was too high for my taste to run Tobin), so we did a class 3-4 run upstream that was low and manky, then finshed the day with a Lobin run at the 1750. So I got a nice range of rivers in...creeky/boofy class 4-5, manky class 3-4, and stout and pushy class four.
I'm going to try NOT to write a "review" because they all sound the same, and I only have two days in it. But I will say I think it's a great hull for c1. Thank Goodness!
I'm 6'1" and 185lbs... Not really a solid class 5 kind of boater. like to scare myself a few times a year, but for the most part I like to boat class 4-5 creeks and rivers ... Hate being out of control.
Been paddling and really liking the large Burn and H3255..
Of the other boats I've tried recently, I didn't really care for any of them. The Jefe Grande felt ok, but I couldn't get it to behave and stay on track, and getting out of eddys was sometimes a challenge. The blunt was just too small and felt unstable and very sluggish. The habitat- i could tell in a pool i wouldn't like it. Too much of a displacement hull.
It took no time at all to feel comfortable in the pure xl , which is good when the second rapid is one that, not long ago, beat the living crap out of me.
What they say about the XL feeling smaller than the specs suggest is very true.
Compared to a Burn, it does feel a little heavy in flat water, but it feels really light in heavy water.
AMAZING water boofs. Combine that with the way the bow works and This thing is going to help me a lot with my fear of big macking holes.
It feels like has a smidge less primary stability on the flat water, but secondary is great and it has tons of predictability in the boils.. especially landing boofs in the squirrelies. I found in the burn i would sometimes favor my on side too much and land boofs or punch holes on edge and a brace (sometimes = flip and/or beatdown). This boat seems much better in that regard.
It's definately less edgy than the burn, but it does carve and track nicely. It tracks and carves way better than the jefe grande. (starting to sound like a review?)
I like to go into slalom play mode on the class three/four sections and the burn is REALLY fun for that. The pure has a little less performance in that manner. But on the other hand, the rounder hull of the pure is a lot more fun to play off the side of rocks.
I think I'm really going to enjoy this boat. Especially for the runs at the upper end of my comfort zone.
here's some pics of it next to a large burn..
