# Perception Pirouette S: Should I buy it?



## shady

*NO NO NO!*

NO you dont want that boat! If it were free it would be cool but dont pay for it. It is a old boat. You could do much better and get in to a much newer boat. Look in the swap.


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## Dave Frank

I second staying away, unless it is entirely free. The boat is super long and unless you are super skinny, it will be very uncomfortable.


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## kurtmo

*Great boat...in 1991!!!*

I bought a Piroutte S new in 1991. Everybody said, hey! you got one of those new short boats! At 11' long it is anything but short today and the newer designs are so superior there is no comparison. I'd recommend that you pass. Even if it is free I wouldn't recommend you spend any time in it. Maybe if it comes with a paddle you could take it off her hands, use the paddle for a while and turn the boat into a flower pot.


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## AndrewC

Thanks everyone, I think I'll give it a miss then. 

She had planned on selling as a bundle with all the accessories (paddle, life jacket, helmet, skirt), but since I'd probably want to replace the life jacket and helmet anyway, I may see if I can just get the cheap paddle from her.


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## rhm

kurtmo said:


> I bought a Piroutte S new in 1991. Everybody said, hey! you got one of those new short boats! At 11' long it is anything but short today and the newer designs are so superior there is no comparison. I'd recommend that you pass. Even if it is free I wouldn't recommend you spend any time in it. Maybe if it comes with a paddle you could take it off her hands, use the paddle for a while and turn the boat into a flower pot.


are you sure you bought a pirouette s in 1991. your profile says you started paddling in 1993. why then did you buy a pirouette s in 1991. did you just think about paddling it for a couple years? i think you must have bought your boat in 1993. 

andrew,
i paddled a pirouette s far a while. very narrow. very round displacement hull. pretty tippy compared to the planing hull designs of today. i remember being upside down a lot in the pirouette s. however, it is extremely easy to roll. it is a very roomy boat and had plenty of foot room if you are 6 feet tall and 175 lbs. very comfortable to sit in all day. very fast. paddled one down the new in wv at 60,000 cfs. great in the big water.

you probably would be much better off buying a newer boat though. a fifteen year old boat probably wouldn't take too many hits on the rocks before the plastic broke. it would actually be a fun boat for a lake because of how long and fast it is.


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## bajabum

ah yes the piroutte s, the fond memories I have for that boat. So many negative remarks above, why the hate, I'm sure that boat and many like it got many of us on our first rivers, and yes its not the play boat of today and there has been MANY advancments, but if it were free it would work just fine, its fast, rolls easily, can be sat in all day, and lights up on ender spots.....I paddled a prioutte s on the American, Kern, and Klamath and loved it. There is still a place for cheap old boats like the dancer and corsica that gets people on the river. Anyways, just thought I'd give a shout out to the boats that got us here, after all a good boat is always a good boat, there just happens to be better boats that come around, this was before a boat that is hardly 5' carried a price tag of $1,000.00.


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## Jay H

Like everyone else I would also advise not to buy a pirouette, which you seem to have already decided not to do

--but I just had to chime in with a "that was the first boat I paddled" reminiscence too--back in '99 on lake Fontana and the tuckaseegee in N. Carolina, with the NOC one-day introductory kayak lesson...too funny!


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## schubutt

*Buying a boat*

Like the rest of the folks... I had bad experiences wiht old boats. I got a Dagger Transition on the cheap and regretted it. Buy a newer boat and avaoid all the hassles I had


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## ENDOMADNESS

Buy it....

then drive to the Gauley (substitue east coast river, potomac, ocoee, natty)....throw in a flannel shirt and some rope for tie-downs and sell it for $400.

Them east coasters keep it real. I once saw 3 guys in seperate groupd paddling in flannel shirts on the Ocoee. Good Stuff!! 

Maryland---where the Corsicas and Pirouettes go to die.


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## river dog

free would be the price to pay, maybe a sixer of PBR at most. it would only be advisable to use this boat in the pool and up to CLII water, and i don't think you would enjoy your time on the payette fork of your choice. lots of folks have also made mailbox posts or flowerbeds out of these boats, if home crafts are a hobby of yours.

is the paddle a 90deg offset, with aluminum blades? if you are going for the "retro" look that would be one to get.

you should be able to find newer used gear with a reasonable price tag in a place like boise. newer gear, especially boats and 30-45deg offset paddles, will be easier to learn with and make your progression to CLIII-IV much easier.


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## saintjobe

I started paddling in an Old Town Mach 5. For those of you who can't think back that far it was fiberglass. You have really not had a rush until the top of your boat caves in on your legs during an inadvertent ender. Then I got a Dancer and thought I would never need another boat. Well, like in most cases, technology has taken over and the sport of kayaking has changed, dramatically. Now I have a BigEZ and most of you probably call that an out of date boat now. (Maybe that explains my slow transition into rafting, or maybe it is the ability to drink beer on the river) 

Anyway, a Pir S is outdated and there are certainly fancier play boats out there. But, you can run big water in one, people did it for years. I've run the Gauley many times in my Dancer. You can play in one, maybe not cartwheels, but you can certainly have some fun. It will be way easier to roll than any of the new boats too.

My advice, if you are a beginner, is pick it up for $100 bucks. Paddle it for a year to learn the ropes, then donate it to some outdoor program or high school and use it as a tax write off.


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## benrodda

I am thinking we need to have an old-school-boat only rodeo.... RPMs and older only! 

winner gets a bootie beer pass for the rest of the season.


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## AndrewC

*Didn't buy it*

Hello all,

I decided to pass on the Pirouette. I'm looking at a Perception Blaze 6.9 or a liquidlogic lil joe now. They'll cost closer to $400, but I may actually be able to find enough space to store them!

If anyone in Idaho knows a place other than Inland Surf that sells used boats (or has a boat they'd be willing to part with cheap), let me know.

-Andrew


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