Quick review of the Wave Sport Recon 70

By 829 Dev

I’ve had the Recon 70 for a couple of weeks now and the only river I’ve had it on has been the Dryway. I’m really impressed with the boat so far.

Here’s a quick review of the Recon 70. Once I get it on some creeks I’ll write up a full review of the boat.

I’ve been paddling the Diesel 70 as my creek boat for 3 years and love that boat. I tend to like a boat with more of a planing hull so I was a little nervous about the Recon because of it’s displacement hull. I like a boat where I can feel the edges when I paddle it and I can with the Recon. I was very impressed with how well the Recon snapped in and out of eddies. I could really feel the edge of the boat initiate in the water when catching an eddy. It peeled out of eddies with crispness and speed. I had no trouble with ferries. It gets from point A to point B on edge in control and it has great secondary stability that is always a great thing to have in a creek boat.

Most of the creek boats that I’ve paddled like the Habitat I found would be hard to keep on line. I felt like I was fighting the boat more than anything else and that was frustrating and sometimes scary. I never had that problem with my Diesel which was a huge reason why I paddled the Diesel over the Habitat. The Recon holds a line a lot like the Diesel, it gets up to speed quickly and in full control. I never felt like I was fighting the boat. The Recon held it’s line and I felt in full control of the boat.

I was able to hit some boofs and splats with the Recon. It felt really good sliding off of rocks. I can’t wait to get the Recon on a creek with some great boofs and really get to test out it’s boofing ability.

The bow of the Recon is curled up a bit so it went over waves instead of going through them and sheds the water nicely. It popped out of holes quickly and the stern didn’t grab.

The new Core WhiteOut System is awesome! I’ve always loved Wave Sport’s outfitting but this is by far the best yet! The leg lifters are outstanding, the seat, hip pads and backband are more comfortable than before!

That’s my two cents on the Recon. It’s going to be a great boat for the class III/IV boater to the class V boater. When the Recon series makes it on the market get yourself to Zoar and try one out for yourself. The Recon is going to be the perfect boat for the Northeast creeks and rivers! My Diesel has now been replaced by the Recon 70!

Here’s a link to the page about the Recon with the sizes and estimated release dates.

http://www.wavesport.com/news_item/index/news_and_events/news/north…

Here’s a video from the Dryway during the last release!