4Corner’s customer and class V paddler Paul Ramseth has been paddling the Pyranha 9R this winter. After paddling in both California and Arizona, here are his thoughts!

Paul in the 9R medium. Photo by Colby Elliot

As the “fast is fun” craze seems to be here to stay in the whitewater community, the Pyranha 9R stands strong as one of the best options for paddlers in the market for a high performance creek boat.

On a short paddling trip to California this winter, I was able to paddle this boat on steep low volume creeks, such as Loves Falls of the North Yuba, to higher volume river running like Devil’s Canyon of the Middle Feather at a proper flow.

Here’s what I liked and what I didn’t like.

Pros:

• Easy to get the bow up and over features
• Easy to gain speed and maintain speed through drops
• Stability: when at speed the 9R is very stable
• Resurfaces in control
• Maneuverable
• Lightweight for hiking into runs or portaging
• Handles overnight gear well

Cons:

• Too much speed on low volume runs can be an issue
• Stern taps are quite frequent on lower volume runs

Devil’s Canyon of the Middle Feather at a proper flow. Photo by Colby Elliot

Overall, this boat is the most fun kayak I have ever paddled. It performs well on all different types of whitewater. The Pyranha 9R is very versatile and does much more than just excel at racing. Whether you’re just stepping up your game to Class IV or ripping Class V, this boat will do it all and most importantly, you will have a lot of fun doing it.

Getting bucked on the Bear River. Photo by Mikey Muraki

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