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Waka Gangsta – First Look

As soon as I’d heard about the release of the Waka Gangsta I put down a deposit at my local kayak shop so I had one guaranteed for the first shipment. This year I’ve paddled the mark one Tuna quite a lot on a mix of steep creeks, class3/4 river running and the odd day on something big and bouncy. I’ve also managed to get my hands on a mark 2 Tuna on numerous occasions and seen the improvements that have come through from the mark one.

Waka Gangsta - First Look

I’d got wind of a larger design coming from Waka early in the summer so I held off buying a mark 2 Tuna on the basis that the mark 1 and 2 always worked for me but felt a little bit like they weren’t performing to their full potential.

Waka Gangsta - First Look

Waka Gangsta - First Look

I’m around 5’11” tall but I’m quite a large build at the 90-95kg mark. For me this is about the lowest weight I get to with good diet and decent exercise. With this in mind I thought a larger version of the tuna would be spot on.

So finally the day I’d been patiently waiting for came and I picked up my Gangsta in the funky new Ox Blood colour scheme.

I haven’t had chance to demo, yet alone paddle my own Gangsta but here are my first impressions of the boat.

Hull wise I compared the Gangsta to the Tuna in the shop and I would say the only difference is that the chines are a touch on the softer side. I’m sure people will appreciate this as I found that I needed a little time to get used to the slightly sharper chines on the Tuna 2, especially since I’m towards the top end of the weight range.

Lining it up next to its smaller brother you can easily see the extra length and the 10 plus extra gallons of volume. When you compare the bows of the two boats the difference in volume is obvious here. To sit in the Tuna it’s a very snug place for me but sitting in the Gangsta there is ample room at the hips and the boat feels deeper to sit in, it really does feel like a proper large size boat but still without feeling like sitting in a bath tub, a feeling that you get in some other large designs.

The overall look and finish of the Gangsta is of good quality, the quality and the finish I think is much better since Waka have moved production Italy. There are definitely less imperfections in the plastic compared to the mark 1 Tunas which did have a reputation for varying standards in quality. A new change to the outfitting is plastic grab handles. I’m not sure everyone will like this but when you think about it metal grab handles are only as strong as the plastic boats they are attached to.

Waka Gangsta - First Look

In regards to the plastic the Gangsta generally feels thicker around the cockpit and the rest of the boat in general when we compared it to the Tuna 2 in the shop. I weighed the boat when I got home and it came in at 22kgs which is at least 3kgs more than the Tuna 2. With the outfitting being the same in both boats the extra weight must be in the hull. Even though the boat is bigger an extra 3 kgs of plastic is quite a lot so it could well be that bit thicker. This is reassuring as this boat is intended for bigger people so any impacts would have more force, hopefully this means it will stand up well to abuse from the river.

Waka Gangsta - First Look

In short I’m really excited about this boat on first impressions as it really does look and feel like a true high performance boat for the larger paddler. Hopefully I can get out in the boat this weekend and give it a whirl and eventually get out a proper review once I’ve paddled it on a range of rivers.

Words and pictures: Nicholas Ball

3 Comments

  1. Anthony Collins

    I can’t wait to hear how it preforms.

  2. Tim Layzell

    So have you paddled it yet. We are all waiting for the in river review.

  3. Peter Garrett

    Any feedback on the performance? Are you still paddling the boat? Do you like it? Would you prefer the Tuna? Thanks

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