Vanguard 12.0

I have paddled the Dagger Green Boat for years and have recently made the switch to a vanguard and I’m blown away at how much easier it is to driver. The rocker profile in the bow is unlike any long boat on the market allowing you to boost and skip over features in the river.

I didn't think Dagger could bypass the Greenboat in longboat performance. They went ahead and just blew it out of the water. The Vanguard is the most stable of the longboat designs on the market, but has the edge control and maneuverability of modern creekboats. This is the boat for the up and coming racer or the season veteran.

Once upon a time, long boats were uncomfortable, heavy, and generally sucked. The Dagger Vanguard is long, it's sick, and it can crush anything you put in its way (while looking like a supermodel). This boat can literally swallow entire flats of beer, two weeks' worth of camping gear, and provisions, while absolutely dominating big-water paddling. It's a 12-foot marvel of engineering and is not for the faint of heart. The rocker profile makes the Vanguard feel like a shorter kayak, allowing the paddler to execute moves and transitions that should be infinitely more difficult considering the length and volume of this craft. The width and waterline are a massive improvement from older iterations of long boats, providing so much comfort that you might forget you're seated in a rocket ship. I haven't raced this boat, but I have paddled it in big water. I can only praise it. Life is short, and you can't take your 401k down the South Fork Salmon or the Wenatchee River. Buy one immediately and prepare to become obsessed with sending 12 feet of plastic into the void at Mach 10. Overall, this boat is not the quiver-killer, but it is a toy of obscene value. If you like overnighters, if you enjoy surfing giant glass waves, or if you just like to go fast, the Dagger Vanguard is the craft you've been waiting for.

The Vanguard exceeded all expectations from the very first moment I got it on the water. It didn't take long for me figure out this was going to be one of my favorite kayaks ever made; the first few strokes kinda feel like learning how to kayak again, but the speed it constantly carries with only few strokes, gives you so much confidence that I personally felt there wasn't really anything I couldn't do with this boat. So far I've taken it down different styles of whitewater; from steep creeking on rivers like Palguin, to big water on the Futaleufu and tricky rapids like Mariman on the Trancura, the Vanguard takes your kayaking experience to the next level and is a super cool way to improve your skills on the water and then apply them to your creek boat. Highly recommend this kayak for anyone looking to go fast and cruise smoothly down your local run

FINALLY, A LONG BOAT THAT ISNT TERRIFYING TO PADDLE! Every other long boat on the market seems like a chore to paddle. They’re all comparable in flatwater speed, but once you start paddling rapids, the Vanguard blast ahead of the competition. No more fighting edges, no more spinning out, no more getting stuck in speed trap…. It honestly paddles as easy as my creek boat, with the joys of going fast. This boat took me from terrified of paddling a longboat down the green, to eager to do it as much as possible.

The best longboat on the market! This thing is wicked fast, super predictable and floats high and dry over so much chaos allowing smooth lines, no whiteout in burly rapids and crazy stability! From a flatwater perspective this boat isn’t as fast as the Greenboat or a sea kayak, but in whitewater this thing carries so much speed, and handles like a 9ft creek boat! Such a fun boat!

The Dagger Vanguard Is a high-performance race boat! This boat has helped me push the limits in my race training and other longboat adventures!