About the reviewer

iv been paddling for about 2 years now and have been demoing lots of boats latetly so i have good comparisons.

Test environment

i paddled it at holme pierre point in nottinghamduring the paddlefest. there were lots of companies there to test all their boats. the coarse had just been re-opened after being remodelled. some very nice waves on there. nice shallow looping waves and big steep fast ones.

Review

I love this boat! i have to congradulate bliss stick on creating a boat for such a diversity of people. even the RAD range goes from 5'9" up to 6'4" so there is a boat for everyone. anyway back to the 185. i was suprised that i fitted into it a i have 36" legs and struggle to get into most small boats, i was even more supprised that i fitted in it with their thigh braces. i fitted in with the seating position about halfway to two thirds of the way back. plenty of foot room. nice set up with the outfitting. i was dmoing an old one so it looked a bit worse for ware but was still operational.

flat water. i found it very big at the front so cartwheels were hard but with practice i think you would get these going no problem.

on the wave. i got on the wave and it carves very nicely on the wave. nice front rocker on it. as for tail rocker i think slightly more is needed. backsurfing requires a fair bit of concentration. if your not concentrating then you may just get back looped, just keep that weight forward.

LOOPING! well one things for sure, they got the name right! i stuck it in for a loop and i swear the people on the banks looked like ants! i was arial for sure! i went for a pop out and my girl friend who was watching told me it was the biggest air she'd seen all day. i cannot say enough about how big this boat goes.
it was heavier than i'd expected so you really have to boss it around on the wave for bigger stuff. im not the best at arial moves to cant comment on any of the other stuff (arial blunts etc).

as for rolling. well its one of the easiest boats iv ever paddled. i could have rolled it with my mind, its that easy!

because of my height and weight my choice of boat is very small and i think i have found a boat that i can really get into. i previously paddled a jackson allstar and i found i was sitting right back so backsurfing was extremely hard but bliss stick have created in my opinion the first tall and skinny mans boat that isnt over 6'2". well done bliss stick.

Conclusion

freakin awsum! spend alot of time getting the ourfitting perfect itl make all the difference.

cant wait to demo the smoothy which has more tail rocker.