My back ground is I started doing freestyle before River running, so most of my experience has been paddling flat hulls with edges.

Where have I used the new Jackson Hero 2008? Firstly I tested the boat paddling upstream against a quick current and then Ferry Gliding across the current before dropping into a river wide playhole at Plattling Germany.

Big Bouncy grade3-4 wave trains, with big and small eddy’s on the River Inn from below Pfunds to Prutz in Austria.
Steep technical Grade 3-4, narrow low volume with one 4 meter drop, on the River Glenner, Switzerland.

I personally really like the Jackson fittings, and find them extremely user friendly, easy to adjust fairly faultless and easy to fix if the worst happened and something was to break. The Jackson boats also have a cleverly designed thigh grip that is in the actual shape of the shell so doesn’t require any adjustment at all, making the boat more versatile and quick to adjust for a new person to paddle. Also to mention that as the Hero is a crossover boat between river running and creeking, it doesn’t have the happy feet foot system, it has a full plate foot rest, which adjusts in the same manner as the back rest by the use of rope and a special cleat. This system is used as the rope will absorb a certain amount of shock, but then will break, or slip through on extreme impact, therefore shock absorbing and taking the stress out of the blow and hopefully protecting you from broken bones.

First impressions of the boat as with all Jackson Kayaks was how quick and easy it was to adjust the boat to fit me comfortably.
On the water it felt very familiar and paddled very similar to the Jackson Fun, this is because the Hull design is taken from the all ready proven Fun design. My expectation was even though the boat was short it was going to be fairly quick and dynamic. This was exactly what I found, as soon as I paddled the boat upstream against a steady current, it was almost as if the water wasn’t even moving. I then started ferry Gilding the boat from one stantion across the river about 20-30 metres to the next stantion. This is not possible in my Allstar. The directional speed and tracking of the boat was spot on and I couldn’t believe how easy it was. I then went down stream and dropped into the play hole at Plattling Germany. Those who are familiar with this feature will know it’s a fairly retentive stable but friendly hole. The Hero is not a long boat so its manoeuvrability is fairly easy for a river/creek boat. It surfed and carved across the hole just like the Fun, I even tried looping it and got the biggest pop out I have ever done. I felt at home and in complete control, so leaving the hole was a very calculated and easy procedure.

My next test was going to be River Running, which is what I was most looking forward to. The water levels in Austria were stonking so it was a perfect opportunity.  The first thing I noticed on the river was how dynamic breaking into and out of eddy’s, with the same snappy feeling I get from my Allstar or fun into an eddy. Something I haven’t got from paddling displacement hulls. I like this feeling and this may be particularly suited to me as I have been brought up on paddling boats with flat hulls and edges. There is one key thing though, if you don’t jack the boat right up and engage the rails then you won’t get the aggressive snappy entry you will get a skippy effect. This is not a fault of the design just a technique that can easily be learnt. I suppose what I have learnt from this is if you are from freestyle/ or slalom back ground you will feel right at home with the Hull of this boat as it reacts very similar, if not then you will have to learn some new techniques before getting to grips with the Hull design.
Paddling down the River through big wave trains and avoiding big holes was very positive dynamic and fast. The transition as a Freestyle paddler into this boat was fantastic and the basic feel was very similar. The Hero resurfaced very quickly, and stayed above the water line most of the time. I found it very manoeuvrable and it liked to play the River. The flat Hull and edges enabled you to catch the wave on the fly and surf, for me this is a great bonus as it increases the fun that can be had on the way down. I felt very comfortable and adapted like I had paddled the Hero a few times before.

The next test was on a steep Technical Grade 3-4 River in Switzerland. After a hundred metres down the river, we came to a 4 metre drop. This was a man made weir /waterfall. So this was my perfect opportunity to test the boat on a drop to see how well it boofed and resurfaced if it went a little off plan. Keeping the boat on line was excellent as it tracks so well, the drop was a little misleading as it had a lip at the top followed by a second, so it was quite easy to mess your boof stroke up by initiating it on the first lip. Thankfully for me I spotted this and planted the paddle nicely giving me an almost perfect boof. The boat launched away from the fall and landed spot on. The speed was excellent and I was away from the curtain of the waterfall immediately.

 

Eddy hoping, punching small-medium holes was well tracked, fast and very stable. The line on the rest of the river was much tighter more technical and gave plenty of opportunity for mistake. I felt at home with the boat having to use the secondary stability on several occasions.
So the conclusion for the Jackson Hero; I highly recommend it to any freestyle or slalom paddlers or paddlers that enjoy dropping their rails hard into the current to achieve extremely quick dynamic and snappy eddy turns including braking in and out. The boat design is essentially a new age Spud with its high volume and small length, designed as a cross between the Fun and the Rocker acting as the perfect complement to the already strong range of Jackson Kayaks.

 

The Jackson Hero has opened up a new interest for river/creeking for me and I hope that this Kayak will inspire others to expand their skills and venture into new areas.

If you’re interested in a Jackson Hero then you can contact, Berkshire Canoes, Whitewater the Canoe Centre or gareth at tvfreestylers dot co dot uk