Latest Surfski News

Tuesday, 17 October 2023 07:11
“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” I thought to myself a few moments after launching on the brand new V10 4G for the first time. It was getting dark; it was raining; the squalls were lifting sheets of spray off the water… directly offshore. What WAS I thinking? The answer is that I’m a sucker for new toys – and if I get my hands on one, I HAVE to play with it. Damn the weather, full speed ahead… Since then I’ve paddled the boat many more times, in much pleasanter weather. Here’s what I think of this,…
Thursday, 08 June 2023 12:42
East London, South Africa: Angus Warren watched helplessly as the shark’s teeth crunched through the hull of his surfski. “It seemed to go on and on,” he says, “pushing and chomping. I was thinking, why is it not working out that it isn’t food? “I can’t tell how long it took, but I had enough time to shout a couple of times to the others.” The next thing he knew, he was in the water…
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Thursday, 27 April 2023 18:42
CAPE TOWN - Hank McGregor and Josh Fenn convincingly claimed back their Prescient Freedom Paddle title on Thursday in a dramatic race marked by tough conditions and a rain-delayed start.  Conditions were extremely tough - a brisk northwester blowing spray from the big confused chop into the paddlers' faces as they headed out to the island.  Huge breaking surf on the far side of the island ensured a wide line but the wind dropped as the fleet started on the journey back to the finish, making it that much more difficult and energy sapping to catch the runs.  
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Tuesday, 25 April 2023 11:50
Last Friday, however, I paddled with Dawid on a windless autumn evening in Cape Town. Cruising from Fish Hoek to Muizenberg, we paddled together, stopping at all the coves to surf a few waves. In short, the operative word was "fun". This was a different Dawid - off duty - and, well, I've never paddled with anyone so noisy before. Whistling, singing, shouting to folks on shore - yahooing as he caught a wave. Heading home at dusk we crept up behind a group of seals lazing on the surface. Dawid began barking like a five-year-old paid by the bark...until…
Thursday, 09 February 2023 07:39
A look back - aaaaargh! A mountain. Let it go through... A smaller one, with a glimpse of something massive lurking further out to sea. Catch it, catch it! Sprint, sprint, you’re on it, here’s the break zone, keep going, keep going, the roar from behind and the sudden acceleration as a massive foamy caught up to me, keep it straight, keep it straight... Phew. Arrived. Panting. Stop the watch. ok. Made it. Empty the boat, pick it up to prevent it knocking you down. Done.
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Saturday, 26 November 2022 17:16
The South Africans cleaned up today at the most prestigious surfski race in Australia – arguably the most prestigious race in the world - taking five out of the top six places and the entire podium at the Shaw and Partners “The Doctor” in Perth. Defending women’s champion, Kiwi Danielle McKenzie won the women’s trophy.
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Saturday, 19 November 2022 13:01
Gold Coast paddler, Cory Hill, took first scalp in the five-event ocean ski racing series, the Shaw and Partners WA Race Week, winning the inaugural race today, the 24km Fenn West Coast Downwinder from Fremantle, just south of Perth, to Sorrento Beach. In fine conditions with a 16 knot SSW wind courtesy of the famed Fremantle Doctor, the start off Port Beach was intense with the top paddlers in a terse battle to make the first break.   But it was 33-year-old Hill – the 4-times DOCTOR champ who relishes the Perth conditions – who was able to shake the field…
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Tuesday, 16 March 2021 13:54
It’s not easy to catch a rolling, runaway single ski in 30kt of gusting wind – and as they attempted to grab it, Alex and his doubles partner lost their balance and fell into the water. By the time they’d remounted, the single ski was gone – blown away by the strengthening near-gale. They turned and paddled back upwind to find their buddy.
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Wednesday, 03 March 2021 12:08
Accident reports are easy to write when the story ends happily, but this one didn’t and it’s with a very heavy heart that I’m writing this, with a view to learning what we can from it.
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Wednesday, 15 July 2020 09:13
When the NSRI found Duncan MacDonald, he was approximately 6km off Smitswinkel Bay, drifting rapidly further offshore. Gale-force squalls whipped sheets of spray off the waves, reducing visibility almost to nothing. What Happened? Given the small size of the surfski community, there’s always intense interest whenever there’s a rescue. What happened? What did they do wrong? What can we learn from it? Clearly there are lessons to be learnt from any mishap – so here’s a description of what happened, shared with the permission and cooperation of the folks involved in the hope that we might all learn from this…
Friday, 24 April 2020 11:41
Durban – As the continued coronavirus lockdown grips the country, Canoeing South Africa will host a 24 hour Canoeing4COVID-19 event this weekend as a way to raise funds for members of the broader paddling community that have been badly affected by the lockdown.
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Wednesday, 11 March 2020 14:35
“Hey, Rob! Help!” The shouts penetrated the sound of the howling wind and crashing waves – and even through the noise it was obvious from the tone of his voice that something was seriously wrong. I turned and headed back upwind.
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Tuesday, 03 March 2020 14:43
Many paddlers use Personal Locator Beacons, or tracker apps like SafeTrx on their mobile phones. But handheld VHF radios are also a great choice to consider – especially when they’re DSC-capable like the Standard Horizon HX870E.
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Monday, 24 February 2020 12:01
I finally got my hands on a demo Fennix Swordfish S this weekend and did two Miller's Runs in succession to see if I could feel any difference in handling between the 2018 Swordfish S and the new Fennix model.  Conditions were challenging: False Bay was covered in whitecaps, whipped by a combination of a 25-30kt southeaster and small, confused seas.  The result?  I definitely want to spend more time in this boat.
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Thursday, 26 December 2019 10:30
The shark smashed like a freight train into Roger Swinney’s surfski in an explosion of noise and spray, knocking him off into the water.  “I managed to get back on the ski,” he said, “but I fell off again and as I remounted the second time, I saw the swirl and tips of the shark’s fins. “I didn’t see it clearly, but from the force of it and the movement in the water, it looked big!”
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Rob Mousley

Dean Gardiner Claims French-Polynesian Title

Tuesday, 11 September 2012 11:47 |

You’ve got 200m on Lewis (Laughlin)!” shouts race-organiser-extraordinaire Sebastien Mosole to Dean Gardiner, as the course doglegs north from the Turiroa lighthouse. The 20 knot tailwinds and 3m swell conditions that Dean revels in have served him well for the last 31km’s, but the race is his to lose as paddlers battle against this same wind for the final 8km’s entering the only ‘pass’ through Bora-Bora’s otherwise impassable reef.

Video of the week: Paddling with dolphins (Hawaii) ** updated **

Sunday, 09 September 2012 12:50 |

It's always a treat when dolphins come to play - but I've never seen them behaving like this...  "Hyprian" aka Ian Foo went out for a paddle after work near Kaiwi Point on Hawaii Island, Hawaii.  Dolphins came out to play - and stayed with him for 30 minutes...

Mocke Brothers Dominate Nelo Summer Challenge (Portugal)

Monday, 03 September 2012 06:44 |

The video feed was just clear enough that we could make out two white-clad figures paddling two white boats - the Mocke brothers, hammering it out in front of the 138-strong fleet of surfskis...

Video of the week: Big downwind in Portugal

Saturday, 01 September 2012 09:28 |

Later today some of the top surfski paddlers in the world will line up for the 10km Nelo Summer Challenge downwind race, among them world ranked #1 Dawid Mocke, his brother Jasper (currently ranked #3), and fellow South African Sean Rice (ranked #9). Last year's winner Australian Kenny Wallace is there, his compatriots Jacob Clear and David Smith, along with a host of top sprint paddlers including 1000m K1 Olympic gold medalist Eirik Larsen (Norway).

Ocean Paddler World Series moves to French Polynesia

Tuesday, 28 August 2012 12:52 |

Race 12 of the 2012 Ocean Paddler World Series kicks off in just under 2 weeks time. Named after the southeasterly trade-wind that blows persistently over July/Aug/Sept dry season, the Mara’amu is a downwind course, designed to maximize the open ocean swell of the Pacific. This Mara’amu is promised to blast (or at any rate, blow) paddlers from the sheltered reefs of Tahaa island 38.1 km’s to the finish on Bora-Bora, easily the most famous and supposedly the most photographed island in the world.

Video(s) of the week - surf riding in Aus

Sunday, 26 August 2012 11:30 |

Two videos this week - one from Sean Smith, the (in)famous Fat Paddler in Manly and the other from Adam Fahey in Mandurah, WA...  Both showing the paddlers having fun in waves.  

US Surfski Champs - the Rambo Video

Friday, 24 August 2012 06:37 |

Despite the un-video-friendly conditions (low light/foggy), Rambo did a great job of this one.  Look out for the flying ski in the surf at the start...!  

Video of the week: Big Saturday in sydney

Wednesday, 15 August 2012 08:04 |

Trees blown down on powerlines, roofs ripped off buildings, yachts blown ashore...  Downwind time in Sydney, Australia!

2012 Oceanpaddler World Rankings - Mocke extends lead in USA

Thursday, 09 August 2012 10:27 |

Two more races down - the Norweigen ASKR race and the US Surfski Champs...  Jasper Mocke beat Sean Rice to take the ASKR event, while Dawid Mocke dominated in San Francisco.

US Surfski Champs: Masterful Mocke Dominates

Sunday, 05 August 2012 12:38 |

As they raced under the Golden Gate Bridge, Dawid Mocke and Simon van Gysen were neck and neck, charging towards the Fenn Hotspot and its $1,000 reward.  The last time they’d raced, in Spain, van Gysen had pulled away and won.