About myself

I've been paddling since last August and the Nemesis is the first boat I've bought. I'm a beginner by any standard and thus can give that view on this boat.

About the test environment

I've been paddling the Nemesis mostly indoors during the European winter learning some flatwater moves. Last weekend I went to Bremgarten for the first time to test it on some real water. Bremgarten was running at around 214 cms on Saturday and around 160-170 cms on Sunday.

Review

For material/workmanship specific information I suggest you read Adrian Tregoning's review.

Taken from my forum post:
Flatwater:

Having such a large boat does take quite some getting used to - I ride with my seat one notch ahead of center - but in the three months of training twice weekly in the pool I have learnt to flatwater cartwheel (5 ends has been my record up to now), I can do loops when seal-launching in from a swimmer's block (and, yes. The boat does POP - I think I even managed an air-loop once!) I learnt to hand-roll within half an hour of trying and to back-deck roll on my second try.

In review, I would probably say that the M Nemesis, may not be 'The Machine' for flatwater work for people of my size and weight, but I did learn to double-pump within about 4 training sessions and all the rest mentioned above in a reasonably short time, I think. And it practically rolls for free (compared to an AllStar and ZG - just my personal opinion) Another reason for me to buy this size is my intention of doing some play-the-river type stuff with it. I think the additional volume will make that more enjoyable...

On the wave:
As I already mentioned. I've been on a wave once before last weekend. On that evening last autumn, I got round to trying to enter the wave about six times in total (in between going for swims due to lack of rolling prowess) and actually managed to enter the wave once in a rather surprised 3-second surf in an InaZone.

So last weekend - after waiting for all this blasted Swiss snow to finally melt a bit and give us kayakers some water - I went for my first weekend of playboating on the Bremgarten wave.

On Saturday I went for about half an hour's boating before lunch. After lunch disaster struck. Sliding down the embankment into the river I hit a submerged rock, which actually managed to punch a hole into the hull of my boat - obviously an issue with the material. I was quite upset.

Looking ahead in time to Monday:
On Monday I wrote Adrian wanting to know his opinion in this case before I contacted my local retailer. A short while later I got a reply from Adrian stating that he had forwarded my mail to Celliers. Five minutes later I get another mail from Adrian quoting Celliers, asking me to contact my retailer. This is obivously a warranty case and my boat would be replaced. The whole thing took about an hour between my writing the first mail and me getting a reply from Celliers through Adrian - that's fast!


Anyway. I didn't konw that on Saturday.
After calming down a bit over night and some generous application of duct tape (it really does save the world) in true samaritan pressure-bandage style, I went on the wave again on Sunday and learnt my on-/ and offside flatspins within about two hours (with photography and lunch breaks). I'd say, a beginner such as me being able to pull that off says something about the looseness of the hull and the boat in general.

I can't compare this boat to anything else but an InaZone and I don't think that would be appropriate, them being totally different boats, so I won't. But I feel really comfortable in the boat and it makes me feel nice and safe when the water's pounding my boat from underneath (the wave was really pumping). And did I mention, it rolls for free?

Anyway. The boat may not be able to perform miracles - my two attempts at blunting didn't quite work out. But I think that probably has more to do with my lack of skill than anything else, it being my first real full day on the wave I think I'm allowed to give myself another couple of weeks to learn those!

Conclusion

This is obviously a playboat, feeling super comfortable on the wave. For a kayak with so much volume (201l) with a rider of my weight in it. It lets its ends be thrown down remarkably well and learning cartwheels becomes a pleasure. I'm far far away from being able to use this boat's full potential, but I can see the direction the boat will be letting me go - and I'm looking forward to the journey!


+Simple "no thrills" robust outfitting that works.
+Easy to roll
+Stable on the wave
+Plenty of evently distributed volume - good for air moves (I imagine ;)
+Easy to get on end
+Super comfortable back band that doesn't ride
+Loose hull that makes learning spins really easy
+Vibrant colours
+Bomber plastic (except my version, but this is the FIRST EVER I have heard of Fluid plastic coming under doubt. And this point gets mitigated by the lightning-fast response to my warranty request)
+Celliers is a genuinely nice chap, who offered me advide prior to buying and responded with lightning-speed when my luck went down hill last weekend.
+Boat gets supplied with plenty of outfitting material

-Bottle holder only really works with the supplied Bottle (I'm a Nalgene fan)
-Relatively heavy (compared to an AllStar - but any boat is heavy compared to Jacksons)
-The velcro material on the hip pad shimmies detaches really quickly
-The seat is a bit flat for my liking - can be amended quite easily though.