I've been spending time in the Villain 3.0 S (final proto of the small villain)
I'm posting a review soon but what I've found at 5'8" and 160# (without gear) is that it's not quite as playful as the Hero but it's awesome for full on creeking... sort of an inbetween boat for the Rocker and Hero... but more like the Rocker. It's faster than either one and tracks much better than the Rocker. It has just enough edge to carve a turn (though not as tight of a turn as the Hero) and to carve out of a hole but not so much that you notice it otherwise. In fact I found that it completely ignored cross currents, weird boils, and the normal curlers that tend to throw one off line... It kept a solid direction no matter what, but that direction could easily be fine tuned or corrected if necessary... It does require a longer, more traditional boof stroke than the Hero, which requires a quick, late boof stroke for it's size... Sam found it difficult to get going but she doesn't have quite as powerful of a forward stroke.
It seems like it'll be great for beginners who are looking for a confidence boost and have trouble with tracking and great for experienced, paddlers who are looking for a boat with a lot of drive and have the skills to control it... but those inbetween might need to spend more than one or two days in it to determine if it'll be right for them. It seems like the intermediate/advanced crowd don't like it at first and then love it after a few trips/days in it... kind of weird.
Personally, I can't wait to get mine and Sam is looking forward to hers.... I'm tempted to get the large one so I can easily pack for overnighters in it.
Which brings me to another topic... who's interested in doing whitewater overnighters?
there HAS to be some besides linville in the southeast...
Boyd
