Waves/Holes….
There is something special about an epic freestyle kayak on a wave. The Rebound was designed for making you feel good on a wave. Fast, loose, and takes off so easily, and lands so easily. The shorter length is a very misunderstood feature. Shorter means faster rotations, easier air, bigger air, and easier to land and stay on the wave.
The structure of the rebound- carbon fiber, foam core, kevlar, wet lay-up… yes, this is NOT an infusion made boat.
A bit on that…
Infusion- this was a HUGE advancement in composites, but it only has certain benefits. Mostly they are: cleaner and easier to work with, you get the right amount of resin in the part, and it is cleaner and easier once you know how to do it.
Downsides of infusion?- Weight! Yes, if you want a good stiff part with foam core, infusion is heavier. You can’t infuse a part with foam core unless you put channels or holes in the foam that trap a LOT of extra resin and make the part heavier. You can use materials like Soric that can be infused, in place of foam, but it also holds a ton of resin.
Wet Lay Up- This takes a lot of skill and understanding of the right amount of resin, and putting that resin in properly and bagging it properly. The good news is that by doing a wet lay-up you can lay in foam core that is a solid that doesn’t hold much resin and reduce the weight, increase the strength of the part at the same time! I was told by some of the most experienced laminators in the world that I couldn’t make my fishing kayak at the weight I was requesting of them. What they didn’t know is that I knew exactly what weight it should be. I also know what weight a whitewater kayak in plastic should/can be molded at. I pushed forward until we got the weight where it needed to be and we made a way better boat because of it. We are using Wet Lay ups on our Whitewater kayaks to bring high strength and low weight as far as we can.
Side-note- “it is light because it is a carbon boat.” I have been hearing that over and over again and it is clear that people think a carbon boat is lightweight. Carbon boats are whatever weight you want to, or are capable of making them at. The Rebound I am paddling is 17.5 pounds. It is over 10 pounds lighter than some medium carbon boats, and 5 pounds lighter than most. Carbon boats are not carbon boats.
Back to waves- while my first event in the Rebound was the World Championships where I got 22nd in the Men’s senior class and 1st in the Masters class, the boat was designed to excel on waves, and crush holes. It is the easiest looping boat out there, but it is the easiest wave boat as well.
There are a lot of good boats out there. Only one boat is the lightest, easiest, and highest performing. After my time in it on the Ottawa, I feel that the Rebound has all three of them wrapped up.
I am not the best wave boater in the world anymore due to lack of training, but I can put any boat through its paces and compare and know right away. I do think you, at whatever skill level you have, will feel the same way with only one or a few rides in it!
Check out some footage…