As soon as I jumped into the I3 the 1st thing that I noticed was how extremely comfortable it was (a pre-syncro 4 boat). There is a hell of a lot of foot room which meant I was able to wear my 5:10 boots whilst in the boat with out any loss of feeling or discomfort.

The thigh braces are pretty well designed and can be adjusted forward and back to get the right feel. This ultimately will mean better control of the boat. The bulkhead foot braces come with varying thicknesses of foam cut for the shape of the bulkhead, these are easily stuck into place. The back band is the now industry standard – ratchet system. It works well and appears solid enough.

Overall setting up the boat for me was easy and fast. All Pyranhas come supplied with an outfitting package.

The I3 has been designed primailry as a river running boat with a little play potential. And my 1st impression is that it does exactly what it says on the tin. If you are looking for an out and out park n' play machine look else where within the Pyranha range. Forward speed is excellent and it remains on track pretty well. Turning is easy/responsive and edging the kayak feels fairly stable.

I managed to try the boat out on a grade III-IV river and out in the surf (4-6ft clean) – and was very impressed with the boats overall performance. Surprisingly the I3 felt very much like a shorter boat in terms of its surfing characteristics (fast turns and even spins) but without the tell tale lack of speed.

I guess the development of the new Syncro 4 kit will make this already comfortable boat an absolute luxury. The combination of comfort with performance cannot be ignored (especially for paddlers 6ft +).

A great little boat that I may even be tempted to buy – although I’ll be holding off to see what the Necky Mission is like 1st!

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