I've had my Fusion for a year now, but due to a combination of lockdown and university, I've not had a chance to surf it as much as I would have liked. I've now had the chance to put the boat through its paces in a range of condition and wanted to out together some thoughts on the boat. Like most long boats, it's pretty quick to paddle on flat water and easily skips over whitewater on the paddle out. Once the boat is on the wave it flies, quickly picking up speed and accelerating out of bottom turns into the next manoeuvre, making the boat really fun to surf. The boat is great at inspiring confidence on bigger waves too, and does a fantastic job at holding the rail even when the surf is big. The fusion performs fantastically at the the top of the wave, the rails are easy to release when you want to, but with plenty of grip when you want to hold your rail and wrap a big carve up onto the whitewater for a roundhouse. One of my favourite parts about the boat is how well it manages to boost off the whitewater and this translates very well to the Fusions performance on the lip. I've found that even on smaller waves I've been able to project the boat off the lip and get the boat vertical. The Fusion is a fantastic boat and Chris and Jem have done an amazing job.

I am considering upgrading my bullit s and the apex caught my eye. I cant see any reviews or discussions yet. Any thoughts how it compares? As I love my IC Bullit so dont paddle the s anymore... need to find a new HP, something as easy to paddle and roll but that gives me that smile back and thinking something that ticks the same boxes but is better.

ok so here's a review from a complete novice/regular swimmer!....my last boat was a high spec zenith which i loved and had every faith in so most of the comparisons i make here are measured against that. Comfort in the enigma is superb .... in the zenith after an hour of paddling i regularly got out and had 'old man syndrome' , ie i could hardly walk . Having sat for ages with pointy feet the blood used to disappear , not so with the enigma . Although it's a slightly tighter squeeze to get into the boat , one hip in before the other , there's more space once inside . Knees are up higher so you sit more 'ski like' which allows your feet to be in a more natural position .... so far no 'old man syndrome ' for me! Like all short boats it likes to be in that steep point on the wave for a take off and it loves it , you just need to look along the wave and the boat follows ..... but it also copes with the fatter waves of my local... the south coast....which isn't in the same league as waves in Devon or cornwall , they are fat and slow and messy in comparison , but i still come out of the water smiling . It's quicker down the line than the Zenith , i'm guessing that's down to the ski like hull designed by Jem....it definately flies , and it turns on a sixpence straight back up to the top of the wave! Rolling is not my forte , i struggle . All i can say is this is no harder to roll than the zenith and maybe due to the seating position with high knees i think a little more energy from the hip flick goes into pulling the boat back to the surface so maybe a little easier due to the seating position. So to sum it all up what a cracking boat , fun to paddle in all kinds of wave topped with a first class service from hobson kayaks and a build quality second to none . If you like short boats i don't think you'll beat the enigma just watch the results of the up coming competitions when the 'bigger boys' paddle and you'll see!