Canoe Review: Esquif Spark

I've had the chance to give the Spark a test run on a well known slalom area in Germany. Well, I've been paddling the spark before, but at least this time I had someone to shoot some footage on something that could be called whitewater, easy whitewater but nevertheless...

 Here we go:

The spark has a typicall 11 foot canoe length (3.55m) and it's a clearly asymmetrical model. The spark is designed as a slalom open canoe, and you'll notice that. This model has an extreme tumbelhome, something to get used to. Also the rocker is assymetrical 6 inch in the bow, 5 in the stern.

Stability

 It's a round bottomed canoe, so the primary stability is not equal to the flat botommed designs we encounter mostly on whitewater. The spark might feel a bit nervous to start with, but the stability is not so bad.

Dryness

 The spark is not really know for it's dryness, you have to master the skills to hit the dry lines. But when you have those skills, you can run almost every canoe dry, no?

Turning

 It's a slalom canoe, need I say more? It's a fast turning machine, simple as that. But be aware, this canoe does not have any flare, nothing to push against. So if you lean to much with your body, you're of for some fish counting...

Speed

 Again, it's a slalom canoe, of course it's fast.

Acceleration

 Well, have to repeat myself, it's a slalom canoe, it's easy to accelerate. Remarkably easy.

Boof

 Something you might not expect from a slalom canoe, but it's an easy canoe to boof. Well, take the design characteristics: fast, easy to accelerate and light. It's no wonder this canoe is fairly easy to boof.

Rolling

 As easy as it is to tip over with this canoe, it's equally easy to roll back up again. Rolling in this canoe goes easy and smoothly.

Conclusion

This is definetly a canoe where I could get used to. For me it's not a canoe to get into and paddle no matter what, mostly because of the lack of flare and the extreme tumblehome. But man, it's a fun canoe to paddle, fast, responsive. It's one of the first non Frankie Hubbard designs I actually enjoyed so hard. ok, it's probably not a canoe to please everyone, but neither is the Viper11 or the Nitro or whatever other design you choose.