right, i am (still) looking for my first boat and its a real pain in the ass. there are 2 many boats out there to pick from and not enough time sort sort, shift and demo.

thus far the boats i've paddled:

pyranha: S6, S7, S8, IaZ 230, Acrobat,
dagger: outlaw, gt, redline, infrared,
perception: mr clean,
eskimo: topo duo (:-D ,which i took down a local grII ww section @ the w/e, had had a laugh, we managed several rock spins hehe)

all of them have their realtive merits but none are really them boat for, save maybe the S8, or its copy the I3, but i cant afford that.

i am ideally looking for an all round boat, some with a type title such as "River Running Playboat", some thing that will take me down gr4-5 ww as an when i get that far, (at the oment i havnt gone further than gr3), but some thing i can play a little in and surf.

i have the following "short" list;

wavesport: ace 4.7, X, and maybe and EZ, i knew some one who had one and she loved it.

perception: method, sonic

dagger: ego, showdown (which i also know some one who has one and likes it),

and i cant afford most other manufacturers

and me: i am 5'10, about 130lbs, an inseam of 30"

cheers for any posts.

phil