compensate for the lack of hull speed by strategically using the water, surfing the troughs. The Prelude’s hard chines will carve a nice
turn but to keep it carving without spinning you need to fight the spin momentum with a stern draw or cross bow stern draw. The Prelude spins so quickly, you seldom need to stick an eddy turn with an offside tilt. If you must, the semi-hard chine will engage and stop you dead in your tracks. Offside tilts are more use- ful for quick mid-current changes in direction. The Prelude’s extreme rocker makes it a boofing machine. With a strong forward stroke, a bit of a hip thrust and knee lift, this boat sails over drops and across small holes. The bow rides up and over crashing waves and holes as the flare sheds a good deal of the water, keep- ing you fairly dry. Rolling from your offside is a bit tricky. When upside down, the Prelude tends to rest to one side or the other. If you happen to go over on your offside you’ll have to resort to the under- water ballet of getting it to turtle to your rolling side. Once you’re set up, the Prelude snaps upright far more quickly than a full-sized open canoe. After a roll, the Prelude’s included full- length bags, saddle and foam walls displace enough water that it is almost a pleasure to
paddle to shore, not to mention quite a bit more stable.
Prelude to Fun Open boaters who are bored with their exist- ing boats and are willing to venture into a sportier package should climb into a Prelude. It paddles like a real open canoe but takes advantage of polyethylene, so we can scuff it up without tearing into layers of ABS. The Prelude is extremely responsive, quick turning and still tracks reasonably well, but unlike with the cut-down Ocoees the only cutting and past- ing you need to do is fine tuning and anchoring the outfitting.
length: 290cm / 9.5 ft width: 68cm / 27 in weight: 22kg / 48.4lbs Cdn MSRP $2085
www.pyranha.com
Notice the Prelude’s continuous rocker. With the Polyethylene hull, open boaters can launch with the same carefree attitude as kayakers...until their face hits the water!
Short and nimble. It shines in tight and technical rivers and creeks.
2002 winter 39
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