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Waka Steeze – Review

The Waka Steeze is designed as a river running play boat that you can still take out in bigger water with the addition of extra volume by adding in a pod. Two kayaks in one.

Waka Steeze - Review
Waka Steeze – Review

Here is what Waka have to say about the Steeze:

The Steeze is a boat that has been created from our passion to deliver the kayak we as paddlers most want. Our desire is to have a boat that makes kayaking even more fun whilst not having to compromise on the features that a modern-day creek boat brings when that epic run comes in.

Waka Kayaks

I have had around 30 hours in the Steeze on grade IV water and out in some fairly sizeable surf.

The Waka Steeze is 274cm long which is the same size as both the medium and large Pyranha Rippers but is 68cm wide making it much wider than the medium (62cm) and large (63cm) Ripper. This means that the Steeze feels more stable than the Ripper straight out of the starting blocks.

The large cockpit is easy to get in and out off. The addition of a solid step out foam pillar is welcome. The backrest has the ratchets for full adjustment and the thigh brace are good but are fixed. I know a couple of boaters who own a Steeze and have modified the thigh braces but cutting them back.

The boat I tried didn’t have the additional pod that fixes to the back deck. The pod adds an additional 60 litres on to the 300l hull.

The pod is available separately from the kayak and will set you back £250 here in the UK. I can still remember when you could get a Perception Dancer for around that.

Waka Steeze – 60l Pod

You could mix up the colours if you wanted. The green boat shown in the images does not have the additional stern pod attached so the volume sits at 300l.

Even without the pod the boat still has a fair bit of volume and both the primary and secondary stability is good. The addition of the pod would improve this. The edges of the boat are nice and sharp. It is pretty easy to tuck the stern under the water and pivot turn.

The boat feels sharp and tight.

The large volume bow has a good amount of rocker and easily punches through waves. It also boofs well and resurfaces quickly when required. In the surf or on a river wave you can really feel the speed of the hull. This is a fast boat that can edge sharply and turn quickly. Flat spins and blunts are also super quick if you fancy a bit of old school action.

The full plate footrest is simple but effective and there is plenty of foot room even with large trainers/watersport shoes on.

If you were shorter than me you may find that when the full plate footrest is at a shorter position that a gap between the plate and kayak hull may be present. I would customise the plate foam to fill the gap. This is the case with most kayaks.

If you were after one kayak to be your river running play boat or your creeker then the Steeze would be a good choice. Although I haven’t used the Steeze with the pod fitted I can see that it would give you way more versatility without have to spend £1000 or so on another kayak.

Specifications:

Length:274 cm
Width:67.5 cm
Weight:21.5, kg/24kg
Paddler weight:60-120 kg
Volume:300l – 360l
Style:River play / turn creeker/race boat

We’d love to know your thoughts on the Waka Steeze. Have you paddled one? Let us know in the comments section below.

5 Comments

  1. Nick

    The steeze has been a superb boat at rebuilding my confidence after having swapped an antix for a ripper. The pod makes a huge difference in high water when you want a full on creeker but don’t want to have two boats. The ability to add the pod means no longer having to take two boats on a weekend away. I was unlucky to break my first steeze due to a spike..but replaced it with another. I loved this boat so much I built a carbon/kevlar version during lockdown using the broken one as a mold.

  2. Ian

    what are your paddler stats? height, weight etc?

    • Unsponsored

      6ft2 200lbs

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