Nathan Werner Reviews the 2014 Jackson Kayak Rockstar
NOTE: Nate borrowed our demo 2014 Jackson Kayak Rockstar size MED, and took it down to M-Wave, just outside of Montrose. He returned it with a smile on his face, so we asked him to give us a quick review of the boat. Here's what he had to say.
I have been paddling a Wave Sport Project X 56 for three years and really have nothing bad to say about the boat. I tried the new
Jackson Kayak 2014 Rockstar for a couple rides in the BV park earlier this summer, but I wasn’t in it enough to form opinions good or bad. The only thing I noticed in that session was
the seat is noticeable higher than what I’m used to. I had never paddled the original Rock Star so I didn’t know what to expect with the seat. Fast forward a couple months and
I spent a weekend in the 2014 Rockstar at the M-Wave . I was a little nervous about the seat being high with the combat eddies at the M-Wave, but over the weekend I had no issues. After a couple days surfing I’m really stoked on the boat, and for as much as I like the Project X, I wonder what I have been missing in the Rock Star.
Pros:
- This boat is faster than it has any right to be with how short it is.
- The lighter weight is really noticeable on kick flips. I haven’t had enough time in it in a hole to notice on inverted hole moves.
- Jackson sells the swing weight for a reason, the boat is really snappy.
- The raised seat really provides an aggressive position for big powerful tricks.
- This is an aggressive freestyle boat, but the edges were more forgiving than I was expecting.
Cons:
- I had to return it.
- I found it pearled easier on the wave than the Project X.
- For some paddlers the raised seat has a history of making rolling harder. With good technique this is not an issue and the added benefit of performance is worth getting used to it.
- For the competition model, I’m concerned about the durability of the carbon rail. Reports from Jackson team paddlers are they are fragile.
