The Bow and Stern are really balanced and slicey. Beginners and Intermediate kayakers will be able to learn to do tailies and initiate double pumps for cartwheels with this boat while retaining confidence on the river with the extra hull speed over a short playboat. Advanced paddlers can throw ends in holes and in eddylines and bow and stern stalls are possible on the flat. There is good volume in the knee area to loop and do most modern tricks.
The Varun has a flat planing hull with an edge. The edge is noticeable but not to "trippy". The Varun carves in and out of eddies with ease and has an incredible river running ability. It is not an excessively wide boat, which makes it quick edge, to edge for carving, surfing and freestyle moves like blunts and cut backs. The hull has a great rocker break that stops the nose from diving too much on a steep wave. The hull speed was a nice surprise in such a short boat and a pleasure to paddle. If you are used to paddling a big volume river runner with loads of hull speed (like the Burn or Mamba), you will be surprised by just how fast this boat is.
For me at 6ft2in and 90kgs the medium is very comfortable, and easy to outfit. The Connect 30 Outfitting is solid and adjusts without too much trouble. The small and medium versions come with a foam block up front, and the large comes with 2 blocks that connect together. A little bit of bread knife carving is required. There are shims included with the hips pads that are very easy to insert, the seat moves backwards and forwards (tricky to move but once it is positioned, it is very solid), the foam is easy to carve, and the back band has an adjustor at the back and thigh mounted ratchets for fine tuning. The Thigh Grips move backwards and forwards for maximum contacted. The hull stiffener has a great buckle
Con's:
The Connect 30 Backrest tends to fold forwards when you are getting in on those tricky put ins. Although you can prevent this by tightening up the bungies that hold the backrest to the back of the cockpit rim or by holding it as you get in.
It would be nice if the Thigh Grips moved in and out as well as backwards and forwards.
The outfitting can take a bit of time to dial in. Unlike the inflatable outfitting in other brands you have to get the bread knife out to trim it up. Although once it is done then in my opinion it is better than the inflatable systems. Stick with it you won't be disappointed.
The Varun is not a full on play boat, and it is not for running class V creeks and rivers. Free runners (Varun, Jackson Fun, Wavesport Fuse, Liquid Logic Freeride) are a bit longer than play boats, and are not as bulbous. Because of this they are better down river, but not as easy to throw around in a hole or wave. If your goal is to learn to loop, and you are going to spend all day at a play hole or wave then get a short playboat. On the flipside, if you are going for steep Class 5 do not get this boat. The planing hull, squashed low volume ends and play boat heritage will not help you out on hard runs. Get a proper river runner or creek boat which is meant for running hard rapids.
The Verdict:
· This boat is my GoTo boat right now. For the winter and high water River Tay it is great. It has the hull speed to get those ferry glides across the whole river and it will surf the big waves with ease. Still giving you the control to spin and carve. On low water days you can still get ends without hitting the bottom in those shallow features. River Running in it is putting the play back into RiverPlay! Come to Brookbank and sit in one today.
