and we paddle these boats and instruct others in them as well. I agree in that the Diesel is a fast, very fast boat, but....it is not a snappy boat. It is a drivers boat. In my experience it requires big sweeps and strong strokes to get it on line and get it into eddies. I experienced that it more "slid" into eddies. It also plowed through holes more than skipping over them (and I was on the light end of the weight range). The Mambas were a lot more snappy on edge into eddies and responded a lot better to finesse strokes, but easily got pushed off line with strong strokes. They rode over holes a lot better than the Diesel as well, but were definitely slower. The Karnalis were a lot like the Diesel, but a tiny bit more responsive and boofed a little better. This is just my experience in the past year of paddling these three boats. FWIW, I am not a class V paddler but a class IV paddler who instructs year round on anything from class II-III. I know that you paddle the Diesel on lot more than I do on a lot bigger stuff than me, but this is just my findings.
ALso, a lot of this is in comparison to my Magnum, which is my baseline for a boat that is extremely snappy into eddies and drives right over holes with and also has an auto boof button. That boat has spoiled me.

Josh