The PaddlerUK magazine September 2015 issue 4 | Page 86

PADDLERUK 86

in association with

in association with

THE UK S ULTIMATE ONLINE
www.nswatersports.com
PADDLESPORT
STORE!

w

01642
01642520234
520234

balance of rocker, you don’t feel as though you
are having to force the boat through the water
yet at the same time it still feels planted and
doesn’t drift easily off line.
The boat rides quite dry with water being
displaced very quickly. Two sharp edges run
along the majority of the boats length, this aids
with stability and allows for a pretty good level
of agility, as it is still possible to drive the boat
into corners/eddies, but not to the same extent
as some of the other boats out there such as the
Pyranha Burn.

the boat was filled with two 30-litre Palm Infinity
air bags and the front (forward of the footrest)
was filled with two 15-litre versions.

Specs:
Length:
Width:
Volume:
Weight:
Colour:
RRP:

265 cm
67.5 cm
320 litres
22.9 kg
burnt orange
€1390

On the water:

I have been using the Ace of Spades for some
time now in a wide variety of conditions ranging
from high volume flood levels to tight and steep
creeks in both England and Scotland. I’ve even
been out in the Atlantic surf in it.
The boat has taken quite a few big knocks in
relatively short space of time so I have no
hesitation in saying that the Ace of Spades is
pretty tough and the blow-moulded plastic
technique has created a boat that is as tough as
my Prijon T Canyon was some 20 plus years ago.
That boat could not be killed off, in fact we still
have one at Unsponsored HQ that must be
close to 30 years old and still going strong.
The displacement hull on the Ace of Spades
feels super stable with no nasty surprises. The
boat felt balanced and composed from the start.
Even when held in a hard lean, the stability level
still felt good. The Ace of Spades also has a good

I found the speed that could be achieved on the
flat and whitewater to be more than enough and
puts the Ace of Spades firmly into the short list
of fast and controllable river running kayaks
currently in production.
I would imagine that the one size fits all
approach will have quite different characteristics
for those paddlers at the very extremes of the
65-100kg weight range. However, as someone
sitting very close to the suggested upper weight
range I don’t have any concerns in using the boat
in both low and high water levels. As ever it is
always best to demo if you can.
If you are in the market for a tough and stiff
kayak with a range of well-executed features and
were thinking about a Burn, Raptor or Mamba,
then the Ace of Spades is worth a l