THE WEENIWAVE CUSTOMER REVIEW
We were looking for a small kayak for our grandsons, Alex and Hayden, to use during our holiday in the Alps. While searching on the internet, we found the Weeniwave on Square Rock’s website. Frustratingly, we couldn’t find any reviews on it and the description on the website was very brief. It read, “Our “Weeniwave” features a lively but stable hull, 100 mm rear hatch, integral carry handle and self-draining cockpit.” It also said that it could be used on up to grade 2 water or 50cm surf and the weight range is up to 40kg. We decided to take a chance and ordered one. It was delivered to me at work two days later and fitted easily in my Fiesta to take home. At just 10kg, it was light enough to carry, although slightly awkward, due to its bulk. It was a pleasant surprise to find that it came with a 190cm two-piece paddle.
The Weeniwave is a small sit-on-top kayak with a choice of foot positions so it easily fits a range of sizes. It moves more like a sit-in kayak than a traditional adult sit-on-top. It is very forgiving and can be recovered from being tipped a long way over. The boys were delighted with it and found it to be very manoeuvrable. They used the Weeniwave to develop their kayaking skills for their Paddlesport Passports and could perform all the skills on the Weeniwave that they could do in the kayak. They both had fun on the lake and paddled a section of the Lower Guil – a bouncy grade 2 with wave trains and a couple of small drops. The Weeniwave performed well on the moving water. It broke in and out easily and it was responsive and surprisingly fast. The boys had no problem keeping up with the group. Despite being very stable, when it hit a strong crossflow, it capsized. However, it has the huge advantage of depositing the paddler straight into the water, so no worries about being upside down, and it’s obviously relatively easy to get back onto. It handled just like a kayak when Hayden landed in a small stopper after going over a pour-over and he did a huge brace and got himself out of it. We were very impressed with Hayden and the Weeniwave.
Overall, we were very pleased with the Weeniwave. Hayden, who is only seven and weighs 25kg, sometimes hits his thumbs on the side of the kayak, despite our best efforts to make it fit him. He loved that there was nothing to bang his thumbs on. It was so stable that he could happily stand up on it and use it as a stand-up paddleboard. Alex is towards the top of the weight range at 37kg, but the Weeniwave was still responsive and stable for him and looked brilliant as he bobbed down the wave trains on the Guil. At £229 we felt that it was a great purchase and gave us an excellent alternative to a traditional kayak for children. We will now need to consider whether to buy the larger Craziwave, which goes up to 60kg, for Alex as he gets too heavy for the Weeniwave.
