Besides being the largest (750,000cfs at flood stage, 20 times larger than the Grand Canyon at full flood), longest river in Nepal, as well as the epicenter of the Buddhist Universe, the Karnali is also a newly designed, well rounded (no pun intended) river runner made by Pyranha. It’s lineage comes from the Burn family, which is Pyranha’s full on creek boat, designed to handle whatever you can throw at it. The differences between the Karnali and the Burn are most noticeable in the hull and edges. The Karnali has a semi-displacement hull (1/2 planing, 1/2 displacement), and softer edges. The outcome of this is a boat that appeals to paddlers of all abilities. Beginners will love how easy it is to roll, the primary stability and the non-committing edges. Creekers, big water paddlers and all other class V boaters will appreciate the hull speed, volume and softer hull for going big.
Check out this video of Demshitz giving the Karnali a thorough testing on the Moose River:
Moose Fest 08 from jared seiler on Vimeo.
Boat Specs:
Large-In stock!
|
Length
cm / ft |
Width
cm / ft |
Volume
Litres / US Gal. |
External Cockpit Length
cm / ft |
External Cockpit Width
cm / ft |
Weight
kg / lbs |
Suggested optimum load weight range
(inc. paddler) |
|
|
259cm
8′5″ |
66.5cm
26.2″ |
303lts / 80gals
|
90cm / 35 ½”
|
48cm / 19″
|
20.6kgs
45.4lbs |
From 80-130kgs
|
From 176-287lbs
|
Medium-In stock!
|
Length
cm / ft |
Width
cm / ft |
Volume
Litres / US Gal. |
External Cockpit Length
cm / ft |
External Cockpit Width
cm / ft |
Weight
kg / lbs |
Suggested optimum load weight range
(inc. paddler) |
|
|
257cm /
8′ 4″ |
65cm /
25 ½” |
280lts / 74 Gals
|
89cm / 35″
|
48cm / 19″
|
21kgs /
46lbs |
60 – 110kgs
|
132 – 242lbs
|
Here are some photos of the first Karnali to arrive at CKS!
Not too many changes in the cockpit
The Karnali has softer edges than The Burn
Pros:
In the words of Lionel Richie, the Karnali’s “easy like Sunday morning”. It’s rounded shape makes it a great boat to learn to roll in, the forgiving edges and semi-displacement hull are stable and inspire confidence, and the outfitting and build quality are top notch, which is typical of Pyranha Kayaks.
The more rounded a boat is, the easier it is to roll. As you can see from the photos, the Karnali has a clean, bulbous shape, which in a beginners world is a great thing. This can only help advanced paddlers as well. Hand rolls, will be that much easier to hit when your Seven2 snaps in the middle of Cherry Bomb Gorge. As for the semi-displacement hull and refined edges, beginning kayakers will notice the immediate stability which comes from the not-quite-flat-bottom, and will not have to deal with crisp edges like those on the Burn. This will greatly reduce the odds of catching the boats upstream edge while peeling out of eddies, as well as anywhere else on the river where unbeknownst current mysteriously grabs the rail of the boat. It appears that there is a good sized sidewall on The Karnali, so the secondary stability should be good too.
In the class V world, a more rounded hull and lighter edges will lessen the room for error on big drops. The Karnali is a fast boat which can be good for busting through powerful eddy lines, and building speed on sticky boofs. Waterfall landings should be a little softer in the Karnali, as opposed to the burn. The hull will be able to displace some of the water underneath it, creating a softer cushion in the landing zone.
Pyranha’s Connect 30 outfitting is durable and comfortable. The backband ratchet is made out of metal for added strength, and the rest of the outfitting kit is very intuitive, resulting in a boat that can be completely outfitted by a beginner in about 20 minutes. Also, the grab loops and rescue points are as strong as you will find on the retail market.
The center pillar is now rotomoled plastic
This is a very forgiving river runner
Cons:
The overall performance of The Karnali, is not as precise as that of the Burn. The downriver river paddling experience will be softened up a little bit. Big water paddlers that want a planing hull to help surf them in the right direction, and micro creekers that like the precision of tight edges may want to keep paddling boats like the Burn, Ammo and Jackson Hero.
The verdict:
It is exciting to see new boats like this hit the water. The Karnali is going to be extremly popular in the upcoming years. River runners looking for a predictable, all around whitewater kayak need to paddle this boat, as well as veterans of the sport who want to soften their landings a little bit. The Karnali is comparable to The Liquid Logic Remix, Dagger Mamba and Jackson Hero. Click here to order one today!
Related posts:
i have seen it in the new dealers catalogue, that the specs of the medium karnali are 270 L Volume and the length is 250cm.
Price Germany is obviusly € 949.-
Great info. That’s 71 gallons and 8′2″ for the metric impaired.
Thanks for the beta, and for checking out the blog.
AFter my 8 year old Micro cracked, I went for the Karnali. Haven’t put it on the water yet, but I’m running into a major problem outfitting the hip pads. The instructions don’t match up with what’s in the boat- there are no thumb screws, no bolts to adjust the height, and the pads have no room to add foam, despite what the instructions say. I would expect them to get this right!
So far a major disappointment.
Sorry to hear about the problem. Feel free to give us a call anytime (888.265.2925) if you have any questions about the outfitting on your boat. We’ll try to figure out how to make it work.
sliding buckles behind the pad on the pillar side
So…what about a small Karnali? Any plans? what would the specs be?
I don’t know the answer to that one. We have asked Pyranha the same thing. It seems like it would be a good boat though. I’ve got the large and love it! Stable, fast and predictable….Hopefully in the near future.
I’m looking for my first river runner boat… should this be the one? I’ve been paddling my Bliss-stick RAD 180 for 4 years now but need a bigger boat for a class IV & V river… What do you think?
The Karnali would make a great boat. I use it as my primary river runner. It is stable, fast and easy to figure out. The boat honestly give me more confidence than any other river runner that I have ever paddled. The Karnali handles a little bit different than a creek boat because it pierces thorough things rather than floating over. Also, there is a little bit of an edge which makes it a killer big water boat.
Why the smaller cockpit I wonder. The newer large Burn and Everest dimensions are much nicer fit for my large bonz. Can’t use the hip pads on my ‘06 Burn, but fit right in the Connect 30 with pads in street clothes!
The new Karnali has the XL cockpit.
I don’t know how a 130lb person could outfit the Karnali M to fit. I weigh about 165lb and can’t get the hip pads tight enough. The bolts are just too short to get enough padding in there to get it tight for a slim person, unless I’m missing something…
Fell out of my boat in a hole last weekend!