Nemesis Review By Lachie Carracher

2008-05-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

About The Arthur

Lachie Carracher

Have been play boating for the past 5 years

2 time Australian team member

Member of the Australian Freestyle Committee

International kayaker and competitor

First Comp in The Nemesis - 2nd Nile River Festival

Testing Grounds

Ottawa River, Canada

White Nile River, Uganda

SPECS

Length: 187 cm (6’2”)
Width: 65 cm (25.6”)
Volume: 53 gall (201ltr)
Weight: 14 kg (31 lbs)

I was l lucky enough to jump into a Fluid Nemesis when I was on the Ottawa in the summer of 2006. Admittedly I didn't have high expectations for this kayak, but soon as I sat in the boat I was proved wrong.

SIZE

The size of the the Nemesis is quite different from other boats I have paddled. I’m 6 f 4 inches. and 85 kg, As you could imagine finding a play boat that meets the weight limit and foot room is very hard. (lots of foot room = too much volume) (right volume and I cant fit in)

The Nemesis is a great size for me and is the best fitting boat I have found so far but don’t get me wrong, I have watched much lighter and or shorter people paddle this boat with ease, extra comfy for some one that isn’t 6 f 4 in

The ends are very slicey for a modern play boat and makes flat water moves very easy.

The sudden volume increase as the front of the boat meets the deck makes it also great for loops and satiability on end.

PERFORMANCE

I have spent some time paddling with the designer of the Nemesis, Billy Harris and leading team members on the Nile and you can really see that this boat is designed by leading keyed in play boaters that know what performance they want out of a kayak.

The dramatic rocker on the Nemesis makes it bounce, and go BIG on a wave. At the 07 Nile River festival it was no question the design that was consistently going the biggest, It may not have had Steve Fisher or Karl Mosser in it but it was still ripping the Hell out of that wave.

My personal favorite feature of the Nemesis is the large allot of rocker on the bow, this makes going backwards super easy and moves HUGE, as you can surf right up onto your bow.

I explain the design of the Nemesis similar to a skate board, simple and effective. when your not on a edge your bouncing big, which is great for linking wave moves together, but once the boat is hard on its edge is really takes off.

The simplicity of the design makes it super easy to get used to the boat as well.

In a hole the boat design incorporated the low volume ends that you would in a cartwheeling demon like the old school X with the dramatic volume increase as you move to the deck. This allows the ends of the boat to spin around you with easy while keeping you weight centered.

The volume increase towards the deck makes for great pop when plugging the bow in moves such as the loop.

The Nemesis is a very well balanced kayak, this feature is key in a play boat as I believe you should be able to anything as well back ward as forward. This is not the case in unbalance designs such as the RAD or the Riot Air.

CONSTRUCTION

Born, designed and tested in the savage lands of Africa you know this thing needs to be tough to survive.

Die-forged aluminum grab handles are strong, durable and functional.

The Polyethylene plastic is stiff and strong, the plastic on a boat is always seems to be forgotten about, but an amazing boat design with poor plastic can only perform for a short amount of time before holes, cracks and oil canning take there toll.

In summery

Easy to roll

Well balanced

simple and effective design

Die-forged aluminum grab loops.

Stiff plastic

Large amounts of rocker make is easy to go big and helps allot with river running.

Slicey ends making cartwheeling a breeze

great size for medium to large kayaker

Loose hull

Aggressive edges for when you want to get some speed

This review is on the Medium Fluid Nemesis, A small and large will be available soon.