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The Nightmare is an ultra short, dedicated pocket rocket for ocean surfing. The template is based on a Hipsquash surfboard. At 6'5", it's turny, especially off the tail (your coxis is a mere 25" from the tip of the tail) and very snappy off the rail. The boat isn't designed to outrun the pocket, it's designed to shred inside the pocket - that dynamic power zone where all the wave energy is stored, and where things can go from explosive and dynamic to an absolute nightmare in an instant. That’s the part of the wave I want to explore - not 2m out on the shoulder. Low tail rocker, but a constant curve from the coxis back, combined with a generous tail sweep of the template, and tucked drop rails that run into very sharp and defined tail edge in the last 16" will make this kayak snappy, and very fast from edge to edge, and accelerate very quickly to top speed. While its top paddle speed will never be anything like that of the 7'+ kayaks, this is not what the designer was after. This is the "shortboard" of kayaks, not a fun shape or "mini malibu" shape. It's a power thruster design. The first foot of the bow has a bit of a vertical sidewall to make it more forgiving, so to be able really smack the lip and come back in vertically without tripping over the nose rail, but it remains tucked on the underside. The centre of the kayak has a small 3/8" "safety" step, so the paddler can drop back onto the face at weird angles without tripping up. The designer is also running quad fins, these are not aligned, but stepped out so it feels more like a tri fin while on edge.