When I first saw the Kitchen Composites vehicle (an old Citroen with two pink dog lipsticks on top)  I almost joined the crowd throwing rotten tomatoes and laughing at their two pink prototypes.  I kept an open mind, though, and took a closer look at their craft.  The more I looked at their boats, the more I wanted to give one a try.  
  I met Steve and James, the designers of the Envy.  These guys are young and innovative thinkers.  They also love to charge big, hollow waves.  We went to a spot near Easky so I could try it out on a real high performance wave (sorry Easky Lefts!).  Getting in the boat was a bit tricky.  The prototype had Future boxes installed and I didn't want to snap one off, so I had to get in on the water. Also, they had installed a quad belt, which I had never tried before.  
  On the long paddle out to the reef, I noticed that the boat was suprisingly stable.  I've been paddling waveskis a lot recently, so I know what a difficult paddle out is like!The seat is set really high and the boat is only 24 1/4" wide, but I had no trouble paddling the boat.  On flat water, the boat is as slow as expected from a 6'11" with almost no stern.  But who cares?  If you want flatwater speed, go buy an IC boat and go touring.
  When I got out to the reef, it took me a while to get used to dropping in with the Envy.  The boat drops really late.  Sorry, guys, but you might actually have to line up behind the longboarders with this one. That's allright with me, though.  If you want to ride swells, go buy an IC boat.
  I was gripped on my first ride.  This wave is a really nice bowl that goes completely square in very shallow water.  Later on that week,when I asked one of the winners of the competition what they thought about this wave, they said that they would never surf it in a kayak.  I made my drop, set my rail, and flew down the line.  All I could do at the end was scream OH MY GOD!!!  On my next wave, I went all way to the bottom.  This thing bottom turns like a waveski.  It really slingshots out of the turn and seems to accelerate back up the wave.
  After a few waves, I started to cut back more and this is where it got tricky.  If I got out of the pocket at all, there was instant feedback from the boat in the form of total speed loss.  This is not the boat you would want for slow, longboard waves.
  I would have liked to try this boat on a wave with a longer, walled up shoulder.  I never got to do a full roundhouse cutback on the wave we were on, so I did'nt get a good feel for rail to rail transfer.
  Later on, I watched Steve and James from shore taking off impossibly deep.  They were trimming and accelerating on some very critical sections.  this boat does not bounce like other short boats, either!
  This design has potential but it is not for everybody.  The prototype was an all glass layup and very heavy for its size (25lbs.+ ?).  The designers told me that the carbon layup boat will be much lighter at 5kg (11 lbs.).  If you are used to paddling something like a Cyclone or a Micro Mako, you might even hate this boat.  If you've got the SA waveski skills, you might love it.
  Keep checking the KC website.  Steve told me that there is a really big swell hitting the UK right now so they have not been able to update.  He also said that they have another project out on the Kitchen counter.  These guys are full of ideas.            Felipe