2013 All-Star

Cat's Paw

This last weekend Cal Mike, Rick and I were all set to head to the Cheoah River but a strong storm brought the Saint’s Level to over D bridge. As we debated what our weekend entailed, we decided to stay local and paddle the saint.

Campsite

 With the saint at a great play level, I headed to the Alpine Shop to pick up the 2013 Jackson All-Star and headed straight to the put-in. We arrived around 7:30 with a level just about 1ft over D bridge.

The new All-Star is very different than the previous model. The boat has more volume and is much wider. The width was the hardest to get used to. The boat is extremely stable but with the increase width I found it had to get on edge, making Flat water cartwheels very difficult. In a hole or wave the boat felt very balanced on stern and bow.  

2013 All-Star

Overall I thought the boat was a great river runner and even better surfer, but I feel it lacks in the river play due to the increased volume.  I also tried the new Pryahna Jed, which is a cartwheel machine. The slicer ends allows for very smooth cartwheels in flat water. I'm truly undecided on the two boats so more testing will be needed.  Here is a quick video I made of the Jackson All-Star boat.

All-star-premier from Curtis Ahlers on Vimeo.