I am not a great paddler ( understatement ) and despite years of riding my butt still rails against the dreaded boat seat; you get wet, tired, chafed and emotional after hours paddling if you are soft like me.

I asked site sponsors iRULE if they had anything that could work for me and they sent me a pair of TORPEDOES which, like a lot of their kit I knew nothing about ahead of time.

There was some familiarity out of the box in terms of the fabric used, it makes use of the same Meryl Nateo as the best selling MOTUS AR and multi-sport knicks from i-RULE. This was good news as the fabric does all the right technical things in terms of moisture management and airflow but has the bonus of being comfortable as heck and long lasting. The shorts themselves are a longer cut which your legs will welcome.

What was vastly different however was the chamois ( compared to MOTUS ) it covers a sensible area exposed to the seat but is still lightweight. It is made of a fabric called Hydrotex Chopper which looks benign enough, something akin to a very smooth soft no pile synthetic chamois which is a few mms thick. It’s not until you put your back side in the  boat at 5.30am on a drizzling, cold morning and head out on a long paddle that you start to understand how the chamois works. The outer surface keeps the water out and the inner surface allows you to breathe while wicking away sweat. This makes for a comfortable paddle in any condition.

I’d still opt for for MOTUS in a multi-sport race but in doing a kayak race or a whole day leg in an expedition event in the  boat, I’d never look past the TORPEDOES - your butt will thank you.

The TORPEDOES are also currently crazy value for money ( given they are hand made in NZ like all the iRULE kit). Apparently the i-RULE guys are working on an awesome new paddling top - now that wil be worth waiting for.