Update to Update: Seat bolts were the issue. Owner reports boat is now “bone dry.” 🙌🏼 I also found a loose grab handle boat on another Scorch, and my new small Ozone had quite a few loose bolts (two of them were VERY loose). Not sure what's going on with Pyranha QC from the factory, but I'd give all new boats a good check pre-paddle. Update: Inspected bolts and found all four seat bolts loose (3 of 4 were very loose). Wild bc boat is very new and seat has not been moved. Boat hasn’t been back on water since so I can’t say for sure yet, but I’m 99% sure that was the issue. Water pools there all the time and doesn’t naturally drain off, so could easily result in a wet boat if leaking at all. I’ll update once I hear if it solved the problem. [Side note: took Billy out today and it was crazy dry (literally a few drips) after lots of practice rolls and some decent rapids and surf.]
The pyranha bolts are probably to do with them coming loose during transport from the uk, and dealers not checking them before sale, whereas maybe the waka boats get checked before distribution within the USA
@@jamesshort6856 I wondered about transport too, but two bolts on my ozone were five full turns loose and they have nylon lock nuts, so not gonna just wiggle loose. I let Pyranha know and they agreed it wasn’t transport and appreciated the feedback to pass on to the factory. As for the Waka boats getting checked before sale, I can tell you that definitely isn’t happening here in the PNW bc I picked up three Billys from EG myself and they were all straight out of the shipping container and still wrapped. Maybe other distributors are doing something but EG definitely isn’t and all was snug and bone dry. 🤷🏼♂️
@@kevinhill.8 ah ok. I live in the uk and haven't had any issues with pyranha boats being leaky so it was just my thoughts, but clearly someone was a bit tired in the factory that day
Nice review. I can almost guarantee the water was getting under your rand at the grab handle during those surfs. I run into the same issue dipping my bow in surf mode in my lucky. If I'm in my empire(bungee) skirt, the water issues go away during surfs. Might check all the screws away but that's something that drove me crazy trying to figure out.
Thanks Andrew. I was able to check the screws and the seat screws were all loose. And three of them were completely loose, like barely touching the plate at all! Because water pools there (and gets on that area very easily) it would have been an almost constant drip on both sides. I don't think it was the skirt at all for a few reasons. 1) The person who owns the boat uses an IR bungee and he had same issue in Scorch. 2) Neither of us have issues w leaking w our same skirts in our other boats. For example, I was in the Billy a yesterday in same kind of conditions and at the end of the run there was almost no water at all in it. Like literally a few drops, nearly bone dry! Once the owner gets it back out he's going to let me know if it stops leaking, but with how loose those seat screws were I'm 99% sure that was the issue.
Thanks Matt. I agree about the small; I think there's a good chance that will be the case. Hopefully the Medium works out in the long run. That crazy secondary stability should help me in the harder stuff for sure.
Having owned two Waka kayaks, the Tuna2, and the Stout, my personal opinion is that the finished Waka products are by far less superior to other manufacturers. It's a shame the effort they put into their designs are not reflected with the quality of the final product. Pyranha obviously care about their customers and provide them with the best quality they can possibly provide.
Pyranha has it pretty dialed, but they aren’t without their own issues. Here’s my video ab their recent leaky drain plug issue: ruclips.net/video/Aohp2HejetU/видео.html
Would like to get an update on the dryness if you figure that out. I seem to recall John Weld talking about Pyranha cockpit rims not being the most skirt-friendly designs, but I'm just half remembering some offhand comment from a Hammer Factor episode. So, I'm curious what you think.
Loose seat bolts were the issue. I added explanation in video description a little while ago, but just added as a pinned comment for better visibility. Thx for asking!
Great questions Mirek! I’m not sure I can say with 100% certainty, but in my experience Waka plastic is not as tough as Pyranha plastic. Waka plastic is not as prone to cracking as it was in the past, but I don’t think it’s on the same level as Pyranha.
Not absurd, but wouldn’t be my first choice for a newbie. If you are lower in the weight range it will definitely be more forgiving, but it will punish you a bit for poor edge control. You might have a better time getting started in the new Code, or even a used Mamba. All depends on how aggressive you want to be about your learning curve. 🤷🏼♂️
I've currently got a Billy Goat, but am pretty tempted to sell it for a medium scorch I'm 150 lb. I find the Billy goat a bit too locked in/ hard to pivot sometimes, and the flatter tail can catch me off guard .I had a slightly traumatic swim a while back due to this! I also find it a bit too fast for me in steeper lower volume stuff. I really like the snappiness though I likes the OG, but it was just too big for me It sounds like the scorch is kinda like a smaller OG? and how big is the difference in friendliness- is it worth loosing $700 on trading in a 10 month old Billy Goat for a new scorch?
Scorch still has some of that edgy, low stern, locked in feeling, just not as bad as Billy. I’d highly recommend you check out the new Gnarvana. Maybe demo that and the Scorch if you can. Gnar has a lot of what the Scorch has, but in a friendlier package, imo.
@@kevinhill.8 Thanks for the reply, really appreciate it. I can get my hands on a medium scorch, but a Gnarvana would probably be months away. I do like the speed & skip outs the Billy G allows, but I'm just after a slightly friendlier back end that catches less in confused water - do you reckon the scorch is different enough to make the swap worthwhile? Also, it looks like the scorch is narrower than the BG (63 vs 65 cm) - do you notice this at all in terms of stability?
@@tomjerram9204 scorch is definitely not as grabby in stern vs BG, and while it is relatively narrow, it has really good primary and secondary stability, which helps. The lack of secondary stability on the BG was a key reason a few people I knew sold theirs almost immediately. Imo the Scorch is a vastly superior boat compared to the BG. Ymmv.
@@kevinhill.8 how would you compare the scorch to the goat? (not billy)- those are the 2 boats available to me, torn between the 2. I’m after something that looks after me off the couch, runs rivers well on G3-4 surfs well, and is responsive. A lot to ask I know!
Thanks for asking CB. It's a custom color that Next Adventure in Portland gets from Pyranha. They do a different custom color for themselves every year. I have the same color for my new small Ozone, and a buddy has a Ripper with it too. Good looking combo IMO.
Update to Update: Seat bolts were the issue. Owner reports boat is now “bone dry.” 🙌🏼 I also found a loose grab handle boat on another Scorch, and my new small Ozone had quite a few loose bolts (two of them were VERY loose). Not sure what's going on with Pyranha QC from the factory, but I'd give all new boats a good check pre-paddle.
Update: Inspected bolts and found all four seat bolts loose (3 of 4 were very loose). Wild bc boat is very new and seat has not been moved. Boat hasn’t been back on water since so I can’t say for sure yet, but I’m 99% sure that was the issue. Water pools there all the time and doesn’t naturally drain off, so could easily result in a wet boat if leaking at all. I’ll update once I hear if it solved the problem. [Side note: took Billy out today and it was crazy dry (literally a few drips) after lots of practice rolls and some decent rapids and surf.]
The pyranha bolts are probably to do with them coming loose during transport from the uk, and dealers not checking them before sale, whereas maybe the waka boats get checked before distribution within the USA
@@jamesshort6856 I wondered about transport too, but two bolts on my ozone were five full turns loose and they have nylon lock nuts, so not gonna just wiggle loose. I let Pyranha know and they agreed it wasn’t transport and appreciated the feedback to pass on to the factory.
As for the Waka boats getting checked before sale, I can tell you that definitely isn’t happening here in the PNW bc I picked up three Billys from EG myself and they were all straight out of the shipping container and still wrapped. Maybe other distributors are doing something but EG definitely isn’t and all was snug and bone dry. 🤷🏼♂️
@@kevinhill.8 ah ok. I live in the uk and haven't had any issues with pyranha boats being leaky so it was just my thoughts, but clearly someone was a bit tired in the factory that day
I rezlly enjoyed your review. Props to the cat. Excellent music. Sick boats sick colors
Much appreciated! Thx for watching and commenting. Glad you found it useful. 👍🏼
Nice review. I can almost guarantee the water was getting under your rand at the grab handle during those surfs. I run into the same issue dipping my bow in surf mode in my lucky. If I'm in my empire(bungee) skirt, the water issues go away during surfs. Might check all the screws away but that's something that drove me crazy trying to figure out.
Thanks Andrew. I was able to check the screws and the seat screws were all loose. And three of them were completely loose, like barely touching the plate at all! Because water pools there (and gets on that area very easily) it would have been an almost constant drip on both sides. I don't think it was the skirt at all for a few reasons. 1) The person who owns the boat uses an IR bungee and he had same issue in Scorch. 2) Neither of us have issues w leaking w our same skirts in our other boats. For example, I was in the Billy a yesterday in same kind of conditions and at the end of the run there was almost no water at all in it. Like literally a few drops, nearly bone dry! Once the owner gets it back out he's going to let me know if it stops leaking, but with how loose those seat screws were I'm 99% sure that was the issue.
Nice video buddy! I feel about the same as you and am gonna be upset when the small scorch is too small!
Thanks Matt. I agree about the small; I think there's a good chance that will be the case. Hopefully the Medium works out in the long run. That crazy secondary stability should help me in the harder stuff for sure.
Having owned two Waka kayaks, the Tuna2, and the Stout, my personal opinion is that the finished Waka products are by far less superior to other manufacturers. It's a shame the effort they put into their designs are not reflected with the quality of the final product.
Pyranha obviously care about their customers and provide them with the best quality they can possibly provide.
Pyranha has it pretty dialed, but they aren’t without their own issues. Here’s my video ab their recent leaky drain plug issue: ruclips.net/video/Aohp2HejetU/видео.html
Great video. Thank you
You bet. Glad it was useful. Thx for watching and for taking the time to comment. 🤙🏼
Would like to get an update on the dryness if you figure that out. I seem to recall John Weld talking about Pyranha cockpit rims not being the most skirt-friendly designs, but I'm just half remembering some offhand comment from a Hammer Factor episode. So, I'm curious what you think.
Loose seat bolts were the issue. I added explanation in video description a little while ago, but just added as a pinned comment for better visibility. Thx for asking!
Does a softer boat really equate to thinner Plastic? Most importantly, how does the difference in plastic in these two boats change their strength ?
Great questions Mirek! I’m not sure I can say with 100% certainty, but in my experience Waka plastic is not as tough as Pyranha plastic. Waka plastic is not as prone to cracking as it was in the past, but I don’t think it’s on the same level as Pyranha.
Great review. Absurd to get this as a first boat ?
Thanks !!
Not absurd, but wouldn’t be my first choice for a newbie. If you are lower in the weight range it will definitely be more forgiving, but it will punish you a bit for poor edge control. You might have a better time getting started in the new Code, or even a used Mamba. All depends on how aggressive you want to be about your learning curve. 🤷🏼♂️
@@kevinhill.8 , thanks so much!!!
What’s the tape for on the Rh side of the boats
Shoulder pad for carrying. It’s tape over foam. 👍🏼
I've currently got a Billy Goat, but am pretty tempted to sell it for a medium scorch I'm 150 lb. I find the Billy goat a bit too locked in/ hard to pivot sometimes, and the flatter tail can catch me off guard .I had a slightly traumatic swim a while back due to this! I also find it a bit too fast for me in steeper lower volume stuff. I really like the snappiness though
I likes the OG, but it was just too big for me
It sounds like the scorch is kinda like a smaller OG?
and how big is the difference in friendliness- is it worth loosing $700 on trading in a 10 month old Billy Goat for a new scorch?
Scorch still has some of that edgy, low stern, locked in feeling, just not as bad as Billy. I’d highly recommend you check out the new Gnarvana. Maybe demo that and the Scorch if you can. Gnar has a lot of what the Scorch has, but in a friendlier package, imo.
@@kevinhill.8 Thanks for the reply, really appreciate it. I can get my hands on a medium scorch, but a Gnarvana would probably be months away. I do like the speed & skip outs the Billy G allows, but I'm just after a slightly friendlier back end that catches less in confused water - do you reckon the scorch is different enough to make the swap worthwhile?
Also, it looks like the scorch is narrower than the BG (63 vs 65 cm) - do you notice this at all in terms of stability?
@@tomjerram9204 scorch is definitely not as grabby in stern vs BG, and while it is relatively narrow, it has really good primary and secondary stability, which helps. The lack of secondary stability on the BG was a key reason a few people I knew sold theirs almost immediately. Imo the Scorch is a vastly superior boat compared to the BG. Ymmv.
@@kevinhill.8 how would you compare the scorch to the goat? (not billy)- those are the 2 boats available to me, torn between the 2. I’m after something that looks after me off the couch, runs rivers well on G3-4 surfs well, and is responsive. A lot to ask I know!
Is that a custom color or is it an option you can order?
Thanks for asking CB. It's a custom color that Next Adventure in Portland gets from Pyranha. They do a different custom color for themselves every year. I have the same color for my new small Ozone, and a buddy has a Ripper with it too. Good looking combo IMO.
Dude! Did you get a Scorch, too????
Yeah, all the cool kids are doing it. It’s the new Billy, haha. 😎😉