The goal of the Mafia was seemingly impossible: design a small compact creeker that will handle anything you throw at it. The focus of the Mafia was to put a “high performance” design into the hands of paddlers who know how to paddle, and want a boat that will compliment their skills and take them to the next level.
The Mafia is supremely maneuverable. It responds to the smallest indication of your desire to change direction, boof a drop, or do a little dance through a gurgling sluice and rock garden. It is a kayak that wants to be driven, and will give back 110% of what you put into it.
But don’t confuse this delicate responsiveness with a boat that is hard to paddle. It’s not. A hard to paddle creek boat has no use. What the Mafia is, is different to paddle. But this difference is with purpose. It’s different because we have rethought the entire boat handling problem on creeks, and done everything we can to make a design which will always get you through the gnarr, no matter how nasty it gets.
The rocker shape through the nose, and carefully displaced volume make this boat move forward and away from the bottom of drops anything else would get stopped in, so you can be thinking 2 drops ahead at all times.
It takes a run or two to fall in love with the Mafia, but once you do, you’ll be hooked!
