Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view

Dagger Phantom

The maximum length of boats for the short boat class in races such as the Green Narrows river race is now 9ft and earlier this month Pyranha unveiled the 9R at the summer OR show. In all likelihood this will be the length of the next crop of boats over the next few years (A totally Unsponsored prediction).

unsponsored dagger phantom

Now hot of the press is the Dagger Phantom. From Chris Gragtmans:

“You know what I’m excited about? The PHANTOM.

This is a concept (non-production) race boat project that Dagger Kayaks has made possible for the Team. This is version #1 of the boat, and represents pulling out all of the stops… testing and learning with every performance tweak. Mark (Snowy) Robertson is the absolute man, and we love working with him.

Having this boat sitting in my office is certainly helping with shoulder rehab motivation!”

unsponsored dagger phantom 1

Looking at the images and knowing Snowy I reckon the Phantom sits somewhere just below the magic 9ft number if not dead on. It looks an interesting boat I wouldn’t be surprised to see it in full production at some point.

Many thanks to Chris for letting me share these images on Unsponsored.

8 Comments

  1. Jeff Harris

    Being a Greenville boater, I’ve seen this around at a few rivers… and it is exactly 9ft long. And everyone I know who has had the privilege to try it out says it’s absolutely amazing. I’d be tempted for a Phantom (if it ever hits production) or a 9R for my creek boat, for that mix between speed and agility. They look super fun!

  2. Unsponsored

    From Simon Westgarth – This boat is 60cm wide, thus narrow for a modern boat, tippy too, as a displacement hull with such a narrow width, fast though, yet hard to track due to its low rocker. Second prototype is currently under consideration.

  3. jim

    is this a mod of the nomad design? how does it compare to nomad dimensions & hull shape?

    • Unsponsored

      I don’t think so. Think of it more as a shorter Green Race Boat rather than a creeker.

  4. Unsponsored

    From Dagger – Glad you all are interested in the latest going ons over here. Phantom is just the working name, to symbolize the grassroots, down-and-dirty nature of the design process for this boat. We’re always trying to innovate and push the sport, and the “Phantom” is just our newest prototype. It’s still a ways away from seeing production, but we’re learning a lot from our team paddlers who have jumped in it.

    And yes, when it comes to your local dealer, it will have a different name. I am pushing for GoFastTakeChances 9.0 but apparently that is not flying well in focus groups

  5. mountain bat

    call it “the ripper”. no wait, save that name for the new nomad.

  6. kirk

    I really hope this 9ft trend goes away soon. I want fast creekers that are still maneuverable for the gnarliest stouts. I want new creekers not race boats!

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