Review by: Kirstie Macmillan
At 8’9″ (266cm), the Liquidlogic Flying Squirrel 85 is much longer than my current creek boat, a Wavesport Recon 70. Despite the Squirrel’s sporty length, it is surprisingly light and doesn’t feel like you are paddling a barge!
The squirrel is speedy, with a good rocker for drops and surfing, and has very forgiving stability to inspire confidence. The outfitting is excellent, as standard from Liquidlogic, with a cosy seat and hips pads which make carrying very easy on the shoulder. In addition to this, it is also incredible easy to roll despite packing 85 gallons of volume! Due to its length it’s not very nippy in and out of eddies but the boat certainly packs the fun factor when charging at full speed!
I’m not sure where this boat could be regularly used in the UK, except for creek races, but I predict that this beast will come into its own on high volume rivers as well as creeks! From my short demo at the Tees Barrage, the overriding feels were confidence-building and great fun!
I’m 5’4″ and 68kg so I’m just under the middle weight range for this boat: 50-95kg. The larger Squirrel 95 caters for paddlers between 77-122kg at a length of 8’11.5″ (273cm).
Here’s a short video from the Tees Barrage courses. Thanks to Kev at Northshore Watersports for letting me loose with the Squirrel and to Brandon for a bit of filming!
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