White Water Kayaks
Kayaks for white water rivers, playboating and surfing!
Southampton Canoes sell and stock a wide range of white water kayaks along the South Coats and Hampshire area from playboats for freestyle kayaking, river running kayaks for all round white water paddling and creek boats for big white water. We have kayaks for all abilities from novice to expert and stock the leading brands including Dagger, Pyranha, Wave Sport, Riot, Titan, and Jackson.
Playboats, Freestyle Kayaks & Surf Kayaks
High performance kayaks for wave surfing, freestyle tricks and playing.
Crossover Kayaks
These are the most popular general purpose kayaks available in the UK, perfect for all round paddling including light touring, moderate white water and flat water paddling.
A quick guide to White Water Kayaks
White water kayaks come in different shapes, sizes, and styles.
Playboats and freestyle kayaks usually have a shorter length than most other kayaks, can be stubby with high volume, or slicey with low volume. Modern playboats are designed to help paddlers perform the latest tricks and moves on the water. With the ability to turn almost any piece of water into a playground, these kayaks can be used on flat water, but also on river features such as holes and standing waves.
River running kayaks are longer and have more volume and curve on the bow and stern (commonly known as “rocker”), allowing for increased speed and stability for running rapids. River running kayaks primarily follow one of two design styles. The first being a shape/design with balanced volume in both the bow and stern, providing high stability and a forgiving nature, a great choice for beginner paddlers. The second being a “half slice” design that utilises higher volume in the bow and a very low volume stern. These have become very popular recently, as a paddler can use the high volume for speed, and skipping over big water features, but also use the low volume stern for impressive agility and performing tricks on the river.
Finally, a creek boat is a very high volume kayak with a large rocker profile to provide maximum control, confidence, and predictability on high volume rivers and steep creeks. This design is fast when carrying its speed throughout the rapid and boofs easily over features and resurfaces quickly from drops and waterfalls.
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