Perhaps I was foolish. Not the first time. But as I drifted down stream, dodging rocks, looking to find the highest of the low water of the Elk below Webster Springs, I wondered why I sold my old Jackson Super Hero before I bought the new one. I hadn't demoed it; I just bought it based upon the hype and reviews and an email from Clay Wright about whether he thought I should get a Hero or Super Hero based upon my size (6' 2") and weight (190) and use (big water and small falls). Clay advised the Super Hero. As Jaryl and Bernie unwrapped the boat and I looked at it sitting there on the floor of the Whitewater Warehouse, seeing the cavernous bow (volume: 87 gallons), I had some doubts. But I had asked them to get me the boat before the Webster Springs race, and they did. So I felt obligated to buy it. And I did. And the first day, before the race, I was far from happy. The only thing I noticed about the boat was that it turned easily. And the bow never purled when surfing. Not enough to justify buying a new boat.

The next day I didn't race. After a 12 mile un-inspired run, I wasn't up for an hour of hard paddling and rock dodging in the upper section of the Elk. I volunteered to safety boat. I positioned myself down stream at the second rapid in a midstream eddy. Since I had about an hour to kill before the racers would get to me, I played. I ferried back and forth from the eddy to a two boat eddy on river right. I surfed the wave between the shore and my midstream eddy. Back and forth. Back and forth. I easily nailed the shore line eddy, getting as high up as possible. I easily surfed the wave, even getting a back surf a couple of times. Perhaps I wasn't so foolish. I couldn't have had fun here with my old Super Hero.

After the racers passed me, I went downstream. I easily boofed the small ledges. I caught every eddy I could. I tried to spin on every rock. I surfed the smallest waves and holes. At Parcoal Falls I took the hardest line. All of the lines are pretty easy, but I wanted to see how the boat would do going over the top ledge and then the long slide into a deep but not grabby hole. As I approached the bottom of the slide I veered toward the notch at the bottom and sailed right through it, surfaced easily, and eddied out to ask my wife is she got a picture. She didn't but a professional photographer did. So far, so good. I was learning to appreciate the boat more, but it was the ledges and falls of the Back Fork that I wanted to try out the boat on. And the Back Fork was nearly dry.

After a night of rain, the Back Fork was prime. The gauge indicated that it was low, and several boaters I talked to said they were going elsewhere. That was fine with me because I knew it was higher than I had done it before. And since I had used my old Super Hero, this run in my new one would be the perfect test. Even the color of my boats was the same. It couldn't be better, just like the weather, a perfect day, sunny and sixties, and fast rushing water.

We (a crew from the Marshall Whitewater Club) hiked up two miles or so to avoid the long shuttle. We scouted the bigger drops along the way and then scouted and set up for pictures as we came down. We all did fine, but I'm sure I felt finer than the others. The Super Hero boofed so easily. It surfaced quickly and surely. One time when I didn't boof hard enough I landed close in to the 10 foot falls and almost got endered, but the boat leveled out. I was laughing. After the first drop, I felt comfortable and confident. I could maneuver so much easier than in the old Super Hero, turning quickly in fast water, but I could still hold a line easily when ferrying. I could boof way easier. I appreciated those 87 gallons of volume as I rode high through the waves. Paddling the Elk and the Back Fork don't come close to pushing the limits of this boat, nor am I the paddler who can give a review of the boat to benefit the hard core boater. I'm 63 years old but felt as young as the twenty somethings I was paddling with. And I'm eagerly looking forward to paddling the boat on the big waters of the New, Gauley, Cheat, and Ottawa. As I carried the boat to the road after the last rapid, I was convinced that the new Super Hero was the right choice.