I can’t thank you enough for all the efforts you put into my boat. It exceeds all my expectations. It will serve my needs well! My wife loved it!!!! Regards,

-Jamie, NY

"The illusion is my new favorite boat. After a 30 year love affair with my sawyer starlight, I think it is my "other people boat" now. sorry Ralph. The illusion is odviously light, and has equally great primary and secondary stability. it is fast, but takes a minute to figure out how to make it go straight. I had to modify the j-stroke to more resemble the c-stroke and found if you maintain a slight lean to the side you are paddling on it will track nicely. it will also go straight using hit and switch when up to speed. It goes without saying that it turns on a dime. This is exactly what i was looking for as all of my other boats tended to be go straight boats. The crew at Savage River built up the boat to my exact specifications with the tribold seat and foot brace. I come from a racing and tripping background and wanted a boat that turned more but have no interest in kneeling. The boat was picked up at the factory and I immediatly road tripped up to the rifle river in northern Michigan to put it to the test. We got luck with some high water and it was on. Solid class II with lots of surf spots and places to pull eddies. The illusion does dynamic ferries, front surfs like a dream, and I was blown away when I got multiple side surfs in holes that would have blown out the starlight downstream, or sent me into the drink The staff at savage river were friendly, and patient with me, and Ben spent a lot of time with me in the design process. They returned calls, emails, and such in a timely manner. I believe the illusion is marketed as a freestyle boat so I will be learning more moves in the future. Some good friends and I plan to paddle the entire huron river in Michigan over 5 days in July and will have gear for 1 in the boat. Will be interested to see how it preforms in that situation. Savage River boats are pricey but as soon as you paddle one you'll know you made the right decision on flopping down that kind of money. They are clearly at the top of their game at designing boats. I've had one of their solo race boat for many years and am very pleased with it as well. The michigan canoe symposium is where I discovered that savage river makes something other than race boats so I had to try one. If you do as well you won't be disappointed."

- Michael, MI