It's nice to be excited about a current model boat again....I am trying to think of the last time that a boat landed here at the CKS warehouse, and the entire sales staff (which consists of the one and only Nelson Jones), and shipping crew (OK, one dude named Noah) stood outside and stared at one boat for 20 minutes...."
check out that rocker!", "
damn, I bet that thing will hold a squirt for days!", "
that is a sexy boat if I have ever seen one", "
I forgot how much I liked Bad Ass Outfitting" , "
Holy Sh*t this this boat is all day comfortable", "
wow, just like an RPM, but way better", "
can I take this boat to Gore this weekend?" - this pretty much sums up what happened when Pat Keller dropped off our
Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP's. And yes, we took it to Gore that weekend - here is what we thought.
Warm up boof on Gore Canyon
Location: Gore Canyon, Colorado River - 1000cfs
The Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP Hull:
Off the bat, we liked the soft chined, rounded hull. Similar to most Liquidlogic boats, this boat paddled extremely well. Our test paddler (Dynel Jones) had not been in the water for a few months, and got used to the boat in a matter of minutes...things that would be of interest to an aspiring Party BRAAAP owner:
- This boat has a similar feel to the Dagger RPM- but is creekier due to the increased bow rocker. Any run that could be paddled in a creek boat, could be paddled in a Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP (or BRAAAP or Mullet). There is the perfect amount of volume in the bow.
- The stern is just as playful as an RPM - hold squirts for as long as you want...
- The slalom inspired tail, with a little bit of kick rocker behind the seat makes turning easy, and is just plain fun; dip the tail and pivot turn any place that that you want. We also think that by having a little bit of rocker in the stern, the tail will not get blasted / unintendo squirted in bigger as often....
- This is not a 5'11", 57 gallon play boat. It carries it's speed well, smoothly peals in and out of eddies, and requires a little bit of technique to squirt...one drawback of modern day play boats, is that anyone (including paddlers with bad form) can squirt. The Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP is a boat that will keep you honest, and encourage you to use proper technique.
Rounded hull with very soft chines - the Party BRAAAP is easy going for beginners, boofs like a champ, and will slide down the steepest of creeks....
The "Party" feature of the Party BRAAAP....long and thin stern....Hold that stern down and squirt it all the to the take out.
Lots of volume, a smooth and continuous rocker profile with some kick in the front, and all day comfort. Creek it, play it, learn to kayak in it, etc...The Party BRAAAP can do a lot of things.
You can see the concave tail in the photo....another very fun feature of the Party BRAAAP.
The Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP is a good looking boat - with a long and sleek tail, and voluminous, rockered bow, it's a boat that makes you want to go out and paddle.
Outfitting
- Liquidlogic Bad Ass Outfitting has not changed much over the years. For the most part this is a good thing.
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Comfortable - ALL DAY COMFORT
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DURABLE - The backband is as bomber as bomber gets, and ratchets are solid. The seat pad material will last for a long time.
- Bulkhead in the bow - this is great for overall safety and comfort.
- Because the outfitting is reasonable minimal, the overall weight of the Liquidlogic Party BRRAAP is pretty light.
Bad Ass Outfitting has not changed much over the years. This is a good thing. You can see the plush seat pad, supportive back band with ratchets, and comfy hip pads....all day comfort to say the least.
Liquidlogic Bad Ass Outfitting is good for getting into the back of the boat. You can raise up the backband for easy access.
Who is the party BRAAAP designed for?
The Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP is a boat that a lot of different paddlers, of various ability levels will enjoy. One feature, that ALL paddlers (and even people that are not kayakers...yet) will appreciate, is that it is a REALLY good looking boat. When you lay eyes on a Liquidlogic Party BRAAP, the first thought is "
I want to paddle THAT boat!". Here are some other characteristics of the boat that people will notice.
Class I-III paddling
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EXTREMELY easy to roll. With a rounded hull and overall design, and very subtle edge, the Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP rolls as easy as any boat out there. If you want to learn to roll, or hand roll, this is your boat.
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Encourages skills development. With a rounded planing hull, and a fair amount of effective edge in the water, the Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP rewards the paddler who uses proper form on their forward and sweep strokes, stern draws, and all of the fundamental paddle strokes...
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Fun to paddle. A Dagger Mamba, Jackson Zen or Karma or Pyranha Burn will take care of you; that is for sure. They offer copious amounts of volume, heaps of primary stability, and will keep you floating right side up. At the same time, they are not always the most exciting boats to paddle (because they are so big). There are also boats like the Jackson Rockstar or Fun, that are "fun" to paddle, but have planing hulls that are edgy for beginners. The Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP offers the beset of both worlds. It has a soft rounded hull, that will be easy to learn to peal in and out of eddies, enough volume to paddle downstream, enough hull speed to all paddlers to take proper strokes, but is REALLY fun to paddle. It will surf, and squirt like a play boat...and when you learn to boof, you can stomp em' all day long...basically, this boats fit the niche of allowing skills development, but is money spent on a boat that is really fun as well - a one boat quiver for a beginner.
Class III and IV
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DOWNRIVER PLAY. Old school, rock spatting, stern squirting, kick flipping fun...that is what the Liqiudlogic Party BRAAAP is all about.
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Skills development. Smooth eddy catching, mid rapid pivot turns and quick directional changes, etc - the class III and IV boater will certainly be able to focus on fine tuning their skills, and using the boats slalom oriented design to help them take paddling to the next level.
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Makes easier runs fun. If you have friends who are beginning paddlers, and want a fun boat to paddle, yet have enough volume and speed to T rescue, tow boats grab swimmers, etc - there is not better boat than the Party BRAAAP. It'll find it's way to a swimmer quicker than any boat out there - but you can squirt it down river all day long (instead of not be able to do any of this in a traditional creek boat or river runner).
Class V/V+
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Take this boat anywhere. If you have the skill, you can paddle this boat anywhere. It has a rounded enough hull, enough rocker, enough volume and enough speed to slide it's way down the steepest of creeks, and the largest / hardest rivers. Tired of paddling Valecito in your Nomad? Then why not paddle it in a Party BRAAAP? If you are Ben Marr, and are bored of paddling Site Zed on the Stikine (the hardest big water rapid in the world) in a creek boat, than paddle it in the Party BRAAP!!
Notes on Gore canyon @ 1000cfs
- Fun to paddle downriver
- Off the bat squirt off first eddyline into a 4 second squirt downriver...start the day off right.
- After not paddling in 3 months, and jumping into the Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP on some solid IV+/V-, the boat was easy to get used to....
- All day comfort in the Bad Ass Outfitting
- Gore Rapid - felt good down the middle - hardly subbed out.
- Tunnel Rapid - boofed well and stayed upright
Conclusion If you're tired of paying $400 for a 1990's kayak with sub par outfitting (Dagger RPM), the
Liquidlogic Party BRAAAP should be on the list of boats to look at. It's similar in design, but has more rocker, and is more capable in harder whitewater, and is super plush as far as outfitting goes... It'll stomp the hard stuff, be tons of fun on moderate and easy whitewater, and is dead sexy to look at - what else do you need? And if you do not fit in this boat, or need more volume - you're in luck...the Mullet is a few gallons larger, and the standard
BRAAAP is the exact same design, yet with more volume in the tail (to keep you high and dry).
