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I am 5'7", ~130 lbs, size 7 shoe. Solid class III boater, with some play (few creeks).
One of the big keys will be, what type of paddling do you like to do? I assume she is getting involved in the sport because of you, and will be one of your primary paddling partners. If you and your group primarily do play runs and park and play, she should be encouraged to get in a playboat. If you do primarily river running stuff, she should think about a solid river running playboat (Inazone, Method, Showdown).
Another thing to consider, what kind of budget are you on? Most of the new boats are GREAT, and would be great for a beginer, but some of last seasons boats and the season before are also good. I ussually recomend going used for a first boat, to see if one likes the sport.
I ussually recomend a river running playboat for a first boat. They typically stay with a person even after they have moved on in skill, and help learn most of the basics. But you also don't want your girlfriend to be bored on the water (probably will hear about it late at night, and we don't want that).
With most of that being said, here is what I would recomend.
For river running playboats, I would look at the Inazone (great all around boat), the Method (very similar to the Inazone), and the showdown (I personally know very little about this boat).
If you are going for a dedicated playboat, anything last season was great. I would look at the XXX, Shock, Disco (not highly recomended, but should be mentioned), Ultrafuge, and maybe some others.
If you have the funds and go new, take a look at the EZ, EVO, Dom41, Sub-7 (if it's out at the time), and maybe a couple others.
If you and your group does lots of creeking, I would look into the Stubby and the H2Zone. If you do LOTS of creeking then maybe the Y, Micro, CFS and a few others (Phat maybe).
If you wish a more detailed "review" of the boats I mentioned, feel free to e-mail me, and I will send it along. I have reasons for mentioning all the boats here, but I don't really have the time to go into all the details (I figure people don't like reading 10 page posts about boats). There are a few boats to stay away from (probably the Prozone and the Mr. Clean, and some of the older designs). I will also say, if you want to be REALLY cost conscious, might give a used 007 a look (should be able to find one in the ~250 range), but the 007 has it's own list of problems.
Take care, and I hope I helped in some small fashion. If you wish to talk more about this, give me a hollar.
Tom M.
trmonnig@hotmail.com |
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my point of view... New 
BoaterTalk 
