"Thought you might like to hear that we have now used our "Sunny" double in adventure races, and in ocean, river, and lake environments. We competed in the Lake Champlain Challenge (six miles in the lake in Burlington, VT) and the Jacksonville (FL) Open Water Series, a one-mile ocean paddle. The Lake Champlain event was in windy, open conditions. We had to stop on an island halfway to empty the boat. Chop was about 1 1/2 foot, and swells maybe 2-3 feet - about the limit for the boat I think."

"Of some slight special note, we were crowned the champs in the "Mixed Married Masters Tandem Inflatable Kayak" at both events. We actually won the double kayak category in both the events, but the organizers thought it was a hoot that we are married, masters, and using an unconventional boat. It would be more impressive if we had more competition, though we did beat other people in "normal" kayaks."

"A bigger challenge for the two of us was the Beach Endurance Adventure Race (BEAR) The BEAR course is complex, with many 'special' events, but featured three kayak legs, two of about 4-5 miles each, and another of about 2/3 of a mile. The first two were interrupted with a land navigation challenge. The break between the 2nd and 3rd leg required a very long (~2 mile) portage, the short paddle, and then another 1/2 mile portage. We had a tremendous advantage on the portages with our light and easy to carry double kayak - we put it on our heads and just walked, while others wrestled with plastic and fiberglass boats. Had the portage been even longer (no thanks!) we could have deflated the boat and run with it in the pack. The boat seemed to be pretty tough also - we had to beach on oyster beds and thorn bushes several times, and I thought we might puncture, but that hull material was fine. Very cool. We finished third coed team overall, and first Masters."

"We fielded a lot of questions about the "Sunny", both during, and after all three events.
We spread the word that we love our boat!"
Terry and Rebecca Ryan, Florida

“Thank you for the Helios 380. Everyone that sees it is impressed with its design and quality of construction. Your 380 packs down into the smallest size serious boat any of my Rangers has ever seen. This is invaluable to us. No roof rack necessary, fast, fits easily into any car, pickup truck, helicopter, float plane or power boat.”
Sgt. Myles Morrison, Patrol Leader, Canadian Rangers, Ucluelet Patrol

In May I purchased a Safari from you and would like to take a moment to give you my impressions. I have paddled the kayak on lakes, slow moving rivers, and in Class II whitewater. My Safari has performed wonderfully in all conditions met so far. I have scraped rocks, got hung up on logs, played in the rapids, worked the wind on a lake (25-30 mph), and even passed up a pontoon boat as I approached a dam on a local Michigan river. The Safari is river ready in ten minutes and ready to go home just as fast. It seems very durable (no punctures yet anyway) and the 303 protectant does a nice job on the finish of the boat. The touring seat is quite comfortable-recently I took a 21 mile trip on northern Michigan's Pine River with only 2 breaks of 15 minutes. I could not have done that in my hardshell kayak without a dead back and legs. I will continue to use the Safari at least once a week until the season ends. One last thing--your help both on e-mail and on the phone were the personal touches that helped me in finally deciding on the inflatable Safari and I thank you personally for your time and expertise because with no local dealer and no personal experience with Innova; I probably would have purchased a different brand of boat."
Paul Maki, Kentwood, MI

“I am pleased to tell you I love the boat and recently took it to Kauai with my wife and we had a great time with it there... I’ll be going to Brazil soon with my Helios, too.”
Brad Frank, Turlock, CA

“The three months of Summer were spent training for my journey across England and familiarizing myself with the Junior. I will say that it performed better than expected in its ability to track. It was more maneuverable than any of the other inflatables of my experience...The fact remains, no other boat would have offered the advantages of light weight, ease of transport, or overall performance, that the Junior offered. I don’t believe I could have paddled the 190 miles I did paddle in 19 days with any other boat.”
Beth A. Smith, Emeryville, CA

“We received the Helios a couple of days ago and took it out for a spin this evening. It sets up very quickly; we had no problems at all. The kayak performs amazingly well and is much faster than we thought it would be. It handled the windy Potomac River nicely. We are very pleased with the Helios--it is much more suitable than a folding kayak given our housing and storage situation.”
Edward Prados, Washington, D.C.

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"Here's a photo of me surfing a wave at Scudders Falls on the Delaware River near Trenton, NJ in the Traveller. The boat handled amazingly well. I was able to do snappy eddy turns and peel outs and as the photo shows, the boat surfs quite well. I was able to carve back and forth across a wave as easily as I can in a hard boat."
Scott Fairty, Browntown, VA

“We call our Helios the Fancy, because she will enable us to follow our fancy to the water of our choice anywhere. The boat offers a special advantage to senior citizens who are tired of wrestling large, heavy, bulky hard bodied canoes & kayaks on to the roofs of their cars for short paddles. Plus, she is fun.”
Joseph Levine, Silver Spring, MD

“It [Helios] will endure an amazing pounding from a wave that breaks over it without flipping. You’ve designed a dynamite kayak!”
William Mills, Great Falls, VA

“THE HELIOS IS A GREAT BOAT!!! The rudder really helps in wind and heavy chop. Did some easier Class III with some trepidation...a piece of cake! LOVED IT!!”
Mark Farber, Washington D.C.

“I used the Helios 380 for five continuous months in Micronesia this winter. Conditions ranged from glassy calm to the feeling of the breath of Typhoon Dale in November. The boat handles well under almost all conditions. I was able to hold enough gear and supplies for two weeks by myself or one week with a partner. I would also like to comment on the ruggedness of the boat. During the five month expedition, I never had to patch the boat, coming home with only superficial scratches on the bottom. The Helios 380 is a serious boat that can take you places no hardshell can be taken, for a fraction of the cost of a folding boat...My fiancee and I took your boat to all the Society Islands of French Polynesia and Kandavu and Vanua Levu in Fiji. In Fiji we loaded up all our gear plus presents for the local chiefs, and headed way off the tourist map. We stayed in villages that white people hadn't been to, and the locals were fascinated with the boat...After three months of hard use, still no patches, and this is after 5 months continuous use the year before! When we moved on to the trekking portion of our trip, we just washed the boat off and put it in a box and mailed it home. At the end of our journey, we swung through southern Thailand and rented sit on tops. We would really have rather had the Helios with us."
David Nitsch, Los Angeles, CA

“I thought that you might be interested in knowing that the Helios I bought from you has now been used on Shkodra Lake and a river in Albania, as well as on the Adriatic Sea off Montenegro, in northern Albania, and on the Ionian Sea of southern Albania. It has been a fun boat, easy to inflate and unsinkable.”
Jim Van Dam, Grand Rapids, MI