To summarize: I loved the boat - I though it was exceptional in this kind of water. It seems much more stable and predictable than my Atom in the big waves. True to what the others said, the boat felt tippy when I first peeled out of the put-in eddy. However, I quickly got used to the tippiness, and didn't notice it at all after a mile or so of river. I was with a kayaker friend in a Riot Booster, and followed him through many of the drops. I would watch him drop into big waves/holes, see him get thrown sideways, backendered, etc., and then would hit the same wave/hole and bust right through.
It felt kind of like the boat almost doesn't have a primary/secondary stability border - it's more like it has a continuous range of hull angles between flat and the tipping point at which it is stable. Therefore, as I floated over the big waves, the hull stayed pretty centered beneath me as the river changed angles (upstream v. downstream face of the waves) beneath me (I know that doesn't sound too clear - it's a hard sensation to describe). I was also able to make some ferries and other technical moves in heavy water, and the boat was a predictable performer throughout.
Comfort-wise, I didn't go numb at all on the entire 8 mile run. And I didn't miss the thigh straps at all - the hip and thigh held me in tight. I found one drawback to the boat - it is harder to roll than my other boats. I hit plenty of practice rolls throughout the day, but missed my one combat roll in the middle of a swirly class III and joined the Finkenmeister swim club
. I'm going to take it to some pool sessions this week and get the roll ironed out before I take it on anything more difficult.Overall, I highly recommend the boat as a river runner - hopefully it will be as fun on smaller, more technical water.
Matt
. You seem to feel pretty much the same way about the boat as I do, also when compared to the Atom.