I paddled this boat yesterday with my daughter on the Upper James River in VA. We paddled about 9 miles of a mixture of flat water, moving water, ripples, class I and class II rapids. I am about 185lbs and my daughter is 10 years old and about 85lbs. Amazingly, this boat paddled well for both of us. She is a beginner paddler but had no trouble maneuvering this boat around rocks and through several class I rapids. She also went down a class II with no problems. The boat is very stable. The rocker on the front is great for waves trains and bouncing off rocks. The sides are low so you can easily climb into and out of the boat with ease. Both my daughter and I could get back in after taking a short swim even when the water was too deep to stand. The molded front and back handles are also nice to hold onto while swimming in the river. I am very impressed by the boat's ability to turn and spin so easily while also being able to hold a line in flat water. This was one of the easiest paddling SOT I have used. Certainly a great boat for children to paddle on their own. My only complaint (and it is a big one) is that there are no drain holes in this boat. The low sides mean you will have water splashing over the side often, even in class I rapids. That also means you will be sitting in a large puddle until you get a chance to empty the boat on shore. I spent most of the day sitting in a puddle of water. One or two drain holes would have taken care of this. Sure you might have water splash up through the holes occasionally but certainly would never be sitting in a puddle. While I loved paddling this boat and it is a great boat for a child, I think they need to address the drainage issue before I would spend money on this boat.
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