Jackson Kayak Antix 3 -- A side by side with the Antix 2 and the Antix 1

The boat that kicked off the half slice party again: The Jackson Kayak Antix.

I know that there's folks chomping at the bit already to tell me how there were a bajillion half slice boats before this, and they aren't wrong... but this one put wind back into the sails of this category of boat and changed the game. At the time the Antix 1 was released most companies didn't have an offering at all, and what little was available was mostly a long in the tooth descendant of the RPM, the grandpappy of half slice surf boats with the affectionate nickname of the "Rapid Pinning Machine".

Leave it to Jackson to bring the FUN back to the industry (some folks will get this bad joke).

Sure enough... I think Jackson did just that with the Antix 1. Myself and a lot of other folks got the Antix 1, and what a hoot! The boats surely had the Jackson playboat background, but were far more approachable for the average boater who is going to peak at the high side of class 3 or the fun side of class 4, and then want a boat to make friendlier funs more engaging and fun... but will more than likely not want to cartwheel all the way down the river either.

Thus the Antix was born, and the half slice segment of whitewater was reborn. There's over a dozen offerings out there now and piles of quality used half slices at this point... the half slice segment is here to stay, and the Antix gets the credit.

A Review Of the Antix's and Their progression, as I've Experienced It

The Antix 1 was the shortest boat in the Antix progression. With slightly lower bow rocker and a surprising amount of stern rocker... this boat was pretty friendly to surf, but the edges were rather engaging. Having traded this boat between myself and other folks who had the Antix 2 in large, all of them commented immediately how much lower volume the Antix 1 felt, and I think as far as felt volume, it sure felt smaller.

The Antix 1 stern squirts well enough, though my personal boat (not in the picture) I squished the tail to make it very friendly to stern squirt and pivot. What the Antix 1 does amazingly well though is SURF on steeper more troughed out waves. Places were many boats pearl into the face of the oncomming water water the Antix 1 can dance around. Sure, the Antix 1 was a bit slower and couldn't catch longer flatter waves as easily... but it really just crushed that backyard playboat run wave surfing experience. The bow rocker was a bit less progressive and more of a blunted kick at the nose so it did okay boofing over things... but was a bit more engaging on aggresive steeper runs with more demanding boofs. Many of us made it work, I've run a bunch of waterfalls in mine... but with all three as options in front of me before going over a fall... the Antix 1 wouldn't by my first choice.

The Antix 2 was as late to the game as the Antix 1 was early. Every brand had a new half slice offering by the time the Antix 2 came out and they'd all taken some initial lessons from the Antix 1 and iterated on them, some even had multiple boat offerings by this time. Other brands oferings were all generally longer and faster boats and all the cool kids were running class 9 bajillion creeks, a place where the Antix 1 did not shine. While the Antix 1 had paved the way, the name was getting left behind in the dust. Thus, the Antix got a much needed facelift to keep up with the focus on more rocker, better boofability, and confidence when running "the sh~t".

The Antix 2 was a longer boat than the Antix 1. It had a notably more progressive bow rocker to come more in line with modern creekers at the time, along with more volume in the knees and right behind the boater. The tail itself ditched the high tail rocker of the Antix 1 in favor of a more normalized stern that went straight out from the back of the cockpit. The end result was a far more stable boat that was faster on the water and a lot more confidence inspiring for your average boater in challenging water. It could catch milder waves better as well with it's increased speed. All the good wasn't without some tradeoffs though, as the Antix 2 now surfed like a tanky creeker on a wave and really lost it's playboat roots in favor of the ongoing rockered creek trend of the time. While the Antix 2 could initiate the stern a bit easier... getting all the way vertical was a bit more of a challenge due to the volume right behind the boater.

I think the best way to compare the Antix 2 to the 1 would be my two experiences with it during different times of the year here in the PNW:

In the winter I was boating my Antix 1 and a friend was in their Antix 2. We switched boats, and about halfway down the run I found myself thinking "I hope they don't ask for the Antix 2 back, I'm really comfortable right now." Ultimately I was enjoying the additional confidence and stability of the Antix 2 to ensure I'd stay warm and dry on a very cold day. I enjoyed that comfort so much that I ran out and bought an Antix 2 for all of my winter boating from then on out.

In the Summer I hopped out on a weekday run in my Antix 2 and loaned my friend my Antix 1 to try out. Our group stopped to play, and with most of the group in far slicier half slices or playboats, I found myself struggling in the Antix 2 to get the boat vertical enough, and definitely was nowhere near a stall. The struggle was amplified by the mild low flow summer eddy lines. I was in that moment thinking: "man I hope my friend wants to give me my Antix 1 back".

The Antix 3... well this is "the perfect poridge": It's not too creeky, and it's not too playboaty. The Antix 1 undershot the half slice happy medium and wound up in playboat territory while the Antix 2 overshot the playside of half slicing and landed square in the the confidence demanding side of creeking. The Antix 3 seems to be just right for what I fancy most folks are after in a half slice.

The Antix 3 kept the bow volume and rocker of the Antix 2, but shaved a hair of it out. I think they increased the "edginess" of the boat by adding in some additional chines to the boat, and you can tell it when surfing on a wave. The Antix 3 on a wave actually turns when you put it on edge versus the Antix 2 where edging is more like gettiing in line at the DMV: take a number and please wait, we'll make that turn sometime soon. For all the addtiional responsiveness of the Antix 3 though I didn't feel the edges were ever trying to bite me or required any additional focus.

The Antix 3 TAIL is where I think the biggest changes happened. The tail rocker dropped substantially in the Antix 3, and they pulled a bit of the volume out right behind the boater. The tail is also a bit wider and flatter, which I find helps it initiate a bit easier AND stay slicing when vertical. As a whole, the tail is MUCH easier to slice, and I found myself doing rocket moves and other fun downriver tricks in milds class 2 that I couldn't pull off  in the Antix 2 without a higher volume of water.

The tail change though brought a negative to the boat... you can get bit in the tail FAR easier than any of the previous boats. I got in the boat and the seat was back one position and it was wildly unstable for me in even moderate class 2+ water. I've not found any of the previous boats had that experience for me. Scooting the seat forward one spot instantly restored stability and didn't impact my ability to get the boat more vertical either though... so "buyer beware" or more like "Buyer, be aware": if you get the boat, be sure take it on a friendly run and try a few different seat positions to see just what gives you the best combintion of play to stability.

Intestingly enough.... when I slid the seat forward on the Antix 3 it raised the tail up out of the water... but it also reduced the bow height a bit. Visually from where I was sitting in the the boat, the bow looked a lot closer to the Antix 1 bow height up front when compare to the Antix 2. I bet the actual position most folks boat the Antix 3 will actually reduce the bow rocker height over that of it's look in the comparison pictures.

Overall Thoughts on The Boats:

You can't go wrong with any of them.

None of them were half finished thoughts, they were all just progressions in the half slice category, each one investigating a slightly different direction and time in kayaking. Which one you land on really depends on what you're up to... and if you're access to all 3, there's a day for each of them!

I like the Antix 1 still for warmer weather lower flows where the waves I may be dropping into are more troughed out, or I want to get more vertical with ease. With my squished tail on the Antix 1 it's an absolute low water play toy.

I like the Antix 2 for winter boating where I want a bit of a confidence booster that I'm going to be dry the whole time, but I can still drop into an eddy and pivot or catch fun waves on the way down.

I like the Antix 3 for taking a class fun run and letting me really play with tricks and features while still being able to catch some of the faster waves and boof with a bit more ease than the Antix 1 or 2.

A quick comment on fit:

Fit is a very personalized thing with a boat. Some folks hate Jackson outfitting, others of us love it. Some folks found the wider knee position of early Jackson's comfortable, others found it unbearable. I like the fit of my 1 and 2, but found the demo 3 put my legs to sleep, though I'll admit it was a demo boat and not my actual boat so it wasn't outfitted perfectly for myself yet. You may find an Antix 1 fits you but nothing else does, as was the experience for my friend Leon. Such is boating, everyone is unique, and the boats themselves will play to different body styles as well.

Boat Comparison Photos:

In the first photo, the Antix 1 is on the left, Antix 2 in the middle, and Antix 3 on the right. The progression of the bow rocker and volume in general is quite visible. You can also catch a glimpse of the additional chines that makes the Antix 3, in my opinion, surf better than the Antix 2.

In this photo the Antix 3 is in the foreground, with the Antix 2 behind it, and then the Antix 1. You can really see the difference in the stern rocker on these boats along with the change in volume directly behind the cockpit. The Antix 1 had the most kicked up stern, while the Antix 2 went fairly flat in the stern for the deck line, and the Antix 3 is actually slanted DOWNWARDS from the rear cockpit... but I found in practice the Antix 3 tail will easily be underwater in a normal seated postiion requiring you to scoot the seat a bit forward... and then you've got a closer profile to the 2 but with less bow rocker ultimately... bringing it closer to an Antix 1!

A closeup of the behind the cockpit volumes of the 3 in the foreground, the 2 in the middle, and the Antix 1 in the background.

Here's a stern view of the boats. The change in stern rocker profile from the Antix 1 on the right to the Antix 3 on the left are very obvious.

And last but certainly not least is a shot of the boat that started it all, the Antix 1 in the foreground with the Antix 2 and 3 behind it. You can see the tail rocker profiles drop away down the line, along with see the bow rockers increase down the line as well. Though the picture does make the Antix 1 seem like the longer boat, it's just a matter of persepctive, it is indeed shorter than the Antix 2 and Antix 3.