Wave Sport Team Member Bryan Kirk sends over a description of his latest trip into Wild, Wonderful (and frozen solid) West Virginia to test out the new Diesel 70. How did it perform?
Photos by Brian Jennings.
I
awoke this morning with a knock on my bedroom door; my roommate Brian J
was exclaiming, “Mill Creek is running!” For the past 2 weeks West
Virginia has been in a deep freeze, with some nights well below zero.
This latest winter storm has been kind to Fayetteville, dropping over
an inch of warm rainfall on top of 4? plus snow on the ground.
At the put-in, I was wondering where all the ice was. Around the bend, I found the answer to my question with a massive ice dam. I didn’t want to portage in the snow, so I plowed up on the ice and use my AT2 and hands to push my way across.
At
Mill Creek falls, the 20 footer with multiple lines, I was wondering
how the planing hull of the new Diesel would feel on the landing. I
landed with around a 40 degree angle, and the bow hit first with a
surprisingly soft feeling. The rest of the boat landed and propelled me
out away from the base of the falls. This was slightly flatter than I
like to land off a 20 footer, but the new sidecut on the bow made it
feel similar to landing in a round creekboat. I was stoked - my main
concern about taking the Diesel creeking was put to rest. It landed
much softer than the original Diesel.
The
new Diesel 70 also boofs like a champ, thanks to the new, more gradual
rocker profile. The stern feels like just the right shape to slice in
while boofing to raise the bow, but not too small to feel squirelly in
rapids.
I’ve
been paddling my Habitat 74 lately on the Green, Manns, and Wolf creek.
Hopping into the Diesel on Mill creek today was a pleasant change from
my round creekboat. The Diesel feels more sporty, or high-performance,
and is definitely faster than my creekboat. The chines let me hold a
nice line though rapids, then glide a nice arc into eddies with just
the lift of a knee.
I knew the new Diesels would excel in high-volume, pushy runs. Today proved to me that the Diesel can get me down rocky, steep creeks with the same confidence, yet more agility than my creekboats. Now I’m going to be faced with the quandary of what boat to take to my local creeks; I guess my mood will determine which boat I throw in the truck from now on….
