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

Cape Point Challenge 2005 - Personal Story

Sunday, 18 December 2005 11:48 |

Cape Town, South Africa: 17 Dec 2005 

Trained and Anxious

Photo: Alain JaquesIn February this year, Dawid Mocke asked me what my goals were for the year.  "Well," I said, "last year I wanted to get to B-grade in Billy's races.  I achieved that in the last race that I did.  I think this year I'd like to do the Cape Point Challenge."

 

Pencil Flares DO Work...

Friday, 25 November 2005 20:04 |

by Rob Mousley - 10 October 2004

I had a minor adventure this morning involving wind, waves & flares.

A friend and I went out in Hout Bay for a paddle on our surf skis.  The Northwester was blowing, and usually in such conditions I wouldn’t have gone downwind across the bay – especially as my paddling companion is not very paddling fit at the moment.  However…  we went along the western edge of the bay towards The Sentinel and then (and the wind really didn’t seem all that bad) we cut across the bay downwind.  The waves got bigger and we had some small runs, and then my paddling companion said that he wanted to turn back.

And that’s where the fun started.

Sharks and Sea Kayaks

Wednesday, 15 March 2006 23:36 |

ImageA while ago we were sent the “Great White Following Sea Kayak” photo by someone who asked where it was taken and whether it was indeed genuine. Surfski.info published it and a lively debate resulted with the consensus of opinion being that the photo was a fake.

 

It’s not a fake. After unsuccessfully trying to find the photo on the Internet, I resorted to sending emails to shark tourism companies and one of them finally pointed me at the photographer who took the shot...

 

There's no such thing as a bad paddle?

Monday, 21 November 2005 12:35 |

rob_icon_small.jpgBy Rob Mousley - 20 November 2005

I've always held that, "there's no such thing as a bad paddle".  well I'm re-evaluating whether I'm going to say that again!

This morning Damian, "Big Mac", Rob and I planned to do the course of next week's race as practise.  Next week's race is the qualifier for the Cape Point Challenge - you have to finish within a certain amount of time after the winner in order to be allowed to enter the Challenge.  The course is 35km long - from Fish Hoek to the Clan Stuart wreck in Simon's Bay, to the other side of Smitswinkel Bay and back to Fish Hoek.

I knew that we were in for some sort of "challenge" today; the wind had been howling yesterday and was forecast to die during the morning today.  In other words we'd have the wind in our faces going out, but it would probably die around about the time we turned around - so we wouldn't be helped home.

2005 Men's Health Scottburgh to Brighton

Tuesday, 15 November 2005 11:37 |

Background: my paddling goal for 2005 was to take part in the Cape Point Challenge, a long distance (56km) surf ski race that takes place every other December here in Cape Town. Not having paddled many long distance races before - one only and that a mere 31km - I mounted a year-long campaign and started training in February. First goal in the campaign was to take part in the annual Men's Health Scottburgh to Brighton race off the Kwa-Zulu Natal coast.

The 46km distance of the race didn't worry me; by race day I'd have done nearly 1000km of training including a number of 30km+ paddles. No, what worried me was the notorious Durban surf.

 

Surfski.info Review – Honcho Guru

Saturday, 07 November 2009 12:35 |

We frequently receive emails from readers asking about beginner's surfskis, and until recently we haven't been able to reply with the benefit of personal experience...  but in the last couple of weeks I've had the opportunity to paddle some new skis aimed directly at the beginner's end of the market.

(All photos by Rob Mousley, www.surfski.info, unless otherwise indicated)

Stiffness and Stability

Sunday, 06 September 2009 15:51 |

 

We had the unique opportunity to compare two identical skis - identical that is except for the layup.  One is a stiff carbon ski; the other has a cork composite layup.  How does the stiffness of the skis compare - and what difference does it make to the stability of the ski?

 

Surfski.info Review – Epic Mid-Wing Paddle

Sunday, 21 February 2010 18:22 |

I was lucky enough to get my hands on the upgraded Epic Mid-Wing Paddles recently.  The new model has strengthened blades and a lever length-lock.

Surfski.info Review - Green7

Sunday, 21 February 2010 16:06 |

Bling Special…  This ski turns heads on the beach – and is one of the nicest boats I’ve ever paddled.  

Surfski.info Review - Kayak Centre Illusion

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 05:11 |

Some great technical innovations set this ski apart - but directional instability makes it sometimes uncomfortable to paddle.