Anyone who was paddling in the mid 1990's will remember the iconic Fury - arguably the most significant kayak design in the last 20 years as it effectively brought the concept of the planing hulled kayak to freestyle kayaks. While there have been breakthrough designs since the Fury, it was this kayak that effectively started the planing hull design revolution - the base concept which ALL modern freestyle kayaks are based on.
The Fury was revolutionary for many reasons past the planing hull. It was very short for the time, was the first kayak with sidecut to improve carving, dimples on the bottom to break surface tension, and had slicy ends so it could be cartwheeled on flatwater. So many things were exciting about that design.
In fact, it was so amazing, that Soul designer Corran Addison, who was responsible for creating the Fury, has begun working on a new design that is inspired by the original. Although there were 6 versions of the Fury, and it was the second prototype that took the silver medal at the worlds, the final one was simply called Fury. Given the Fury "2" success in competition, we are currently naming this new version Fury II.
What is special about Fury II? It's an evolution of the original Fury 2, not a revolution. The sidecut is still there, but it's toned down compared to the Fury 3-6. It has more of the "river running" capacity of the Fury 2 than the 6, and has a volume distribution in line with modern design concepts. It'll spin and carve with the best of them, but it'll do it with a bit more of the feeling that was generated from the Fury sidecut.
This is of course a work in progress, and this is just the beginning of the design, but we're excited to be working again on this iconic boat.
