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

Surfski.info Ski Review: Red7 Surf70Pro

Wednesday, 06 February 2008 03:29 |

Red7 recently sent us one of their new Surf70 Pro skis to try out.  I've found it a fast boat with exceptionally good downwind characteristics.  After paddling it in two races and about fifteen downwind runs (some in extreme conditions) here's my view from the cockpit...

Red7 Surf70 Pro Surfski in action

The Red7 Surf70 Pro in action on a recent Millers Run

Review: Updated Robberg Express

Wednesday, 05 September 2007 17:07 |

Surfski.info last reviewed the Knysna Kayaks Robberg Express in April 2006 and at the time we had a couple of reservations about the ski -in particular, in choppy water the cockpit filled with water.  I've spent the last few weekends paddling the updated model and found it much improved.

New Robberg Express Logo

 

Red7 Surf70 Pro – First Glimpse

Friday, 20 July 2007 17:00 |

ImageRed7 brought the first examples of an all-new surf ski design to Durban for the 2007 ARB World Cup.  Red7 CEO Peter Mote asked me not to take any photos as the skis were not production grade... 

But I received a selection of images via email today - the secret is out!  Here they are along with some video shot of Tommy Woodruff paddling the ski in Durban.

Surf Ski First Looks: Honcho Oceans Pro

Sunday, 17 June 2007 17:59 |

ImageIt's not often that a totally new ski from a new manufacturer is released onto the market - but we were lucky enough to lay hands on just such a one in the form of the Oceans Pro ski from Honcho Surfskis. 

Here's what we found.

Surfski Shootout Down Under (The Big Kayak Test)

Saturday, 10 March 2007 05:58 |
ImageIn July 2006, Rapid Ascent (one of Australia's leading Adventure Racing organisations) undertook a massive evaluation of different categories of kayak – including surf skis.

Review: Red7 Surf70

Wednesday, 06 September 2006 22:11 |

ImageSome time ago Red7 announced that they'd redesigned their entire range of surf skis and had added a couple of models to it.  They said that they'd made extensive use of CAD systems in the redesign to make the skis both faster and more stable.

The first demo models arrived in Cape Town and we were quick to take the Surf 70 out for a test run in Hout Bay.

 

Review update: Paddling a Carbon Fenn Mako 6

Monday, 19 June 2006 22:47 |

ImageI recently bought a Carbon (vacuum bag lay-up) Fenn Mako 6.  I’ve had my new ski for nearly five weeks now and have paddled it in a variety of conditions.

 

I’m astonished at the improvement to my paddling – both in terms of race results and sheer enjoyment.

 

Review: Kayak Centre V10

Sunday, 18 June 2006 22:31 |

ImageOne of the perks of writing for Surfski.info is that I sometimes get the opportunity to test drive new skis... and the latest was the Kayak Centre V10. 

 

Kayak Centre, in Durban, have a license to manufacture the Epic skis for the South African market and the first production units arrived in Cape Town at the end of May.  I went in to (the all new refitted and snazzy) Brian's Kayaks and Sports to have a look at the skis (they had a V10 Sport there too) and the following weekend I took the V10 for a paddle in Hout Bay.

 

Surfski Shootout

Wednesday, 26 April 2006 22:44 |

ImageWhat's the fastest ski on the market?

Ask any six paddlers and you’ll likely get six different answers… And you can bet that the answer will likely be: “the ski that I own”!

A group of Cape paddlers got together on Sunday to try to answer the question objectively. This article describes the method used, the results and conclusions…

Review: Garmin Forerunner 305

Wednesday, 25 January 2006 09:46 |

 (by Rob Mousley)

Garmin Forerunner 305 
 Forerunner 305

The Garmin Forerunner series of GPS units proved an instant hit with paddlers when they were released a year ago. Garmin has just released the next generation of units in the form of the 205/305 series.

I was fortunate enough to lay my hands on a Forerunner 305 for a weekend. In what I'm told is the first independent public review worldwide of the Forerunner 305, here’s what I found…