A crossover boat that truly excels in any water, the Katana was designed to inspire confidence in the paddler with a balanced rocker profile for speed in the flats and maneuverability in whitewater.- Dagger

I was kindly offered this kayak to paddle for a few weeks and to see what I thought of it.  To be honest I was a little sceptical, as I have never paddled a "crossover" kayak before and I had some preconceived ideas that it would be too big and awkward for whitewater and to slow for flat..

The Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Marathon or DW, is one of the toughest canoe and kayak marathons in the world. Held every Easter since 1948, the course covers 125 miles (201km) from the small town of Devizes in Wiltshire all the way along the Kennet & Avon Canal and the River Thames to Westminster Bridge in the heart of London City.

Over the Easter weekend there are two races taking place. The non-stop K2 event starts on Saturday and crews paddle non-stop through the night until they reach Westminster on Sunday morning. The second event is a four day stage race for senior K1's and Juniors that starts on Friday and finishes at Westminster on Monday morning.

This year I was taking on the senior K1 event for the first time. I  completed the non-stop K2 race in 2013 with Jim Mescal in a time of 20:49, but the K1 race is completely different challenge and there was a lot of unknowns going into the race. Like would I be able to get up each morning and race long distances 4 days in a row?