The new Pyranha ReactR “First Look”

We’ve been really lucky with this one, Pyranha very kindly let us have a prototype of the ReactR a while back. Thats given us a good period of time to paddle the new design and understand it.

The boat we’ve been paddling for the last few months is a prototype and a few changes have been made to the production model. As soon as we have a production boat, we’ll paddle that and do another review down the line. What’s this ReactR about? Well, it’s a 9-foot river runner, but it incorporates all the best design ideas Pyranha put introduced over their last few designs (9r’s, Scorch & Ripper Evo’s) and what all of that has produced is a river boat like nothing Pyranha have done before.

The ReactR has ample bow rocker and again uses the wave deflectors that a few of the latest Pyranha boats have had, this allows the bow to ride high and dry over waves and river features. On the hull, the rails are full length and work really well with the water allowing the ReactR to turn brilliantly, especially considering its length!

The hull is super interesting and kind of a development of the RipR evo hull but toned down to make it a great river boat rather than full on race machine, the hard rocker break in the tail gives the ReactR the ability to “pivot turn”. Now let’s discuss this for a second! This isn’t a slalom boat, and you’re not going to be charc’ing into eddy’s and doing cool “Duffek” style turns. What it does do though is allow you to easily pull the stern under for quick changes of direction, the flat section in the hull also keeps the ReactR quite flat and fast out of drops, while also providing great tracking.

Is this the kayak for me?

I’m pretty sure a lot of people are going to be asking the question is this new design better that the Scorch, and really the honest answer? It depends on your paddling ability and style of boat you prefer. The Scorch is solid, and dependable design that’s stable in the water and when the going gets sporty is going to look after you, no matter if you’re just starting out in white water paddling or a seasoned pro.

The ReactR just takes things on a step, don’t get me wrong it’s not hard to paddle, not in the slightest. It is however more (in my opinion) more fun, I can push it harder and have more fun with it. For a complete beginner it maybe won’t be my first suggestion to try, but if you’re happy on grade 3 and looking for something to push your ability and enjoyment on the water give this thing a paddle, you won’t be disappointed, and I haven’t even mentioned the outfitting yet! Everything you see in the picture below has gone, in terms of outfitting! And has been replaced by Pyranha’s new Elite Outfitting.

Pyranha have started fresh with this one, if you’ve been complaining about the seat being hard to adjust, saying their boats are uncomfortable to carry, upset that the ratchets keep breaking. Annoyed that your bum keep’s getting bitten by your backrest! Pyranha have listened and have come up with a totally new outfitting system. As I sit by the computer writing this, I know everything about the new outfitting, but. Haven’t yet paddled it. Soon as we do, we’re drop another blog. Hat’s off to Pyranha though they really have tried to address all the comments and wrapped it up in a design that I’m honestly excited to jump in and go and hunt drops.