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

Oscar Chalupsky Clinics (Australia)

Monday, 30 November 2009 01:32 |

Watch Australia, here comes the big O...!  Oscar Chalupsky will be running clinics in Byron, Melbourne, The Gold Coast and Sydney between 12 and 18 December.

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Nelo’s First LD Surfski

Wednesday, 11 November 2009 16:15 |

In surfski the dominant brands are Fenn and Epic...  Ask anyone to name the dominant brand in the K1 world, and it's highly likely the name "Nelo" would spring to mind.

Can a K1 manufacturer really compete with the giants of the surfski world?

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New Ski - Carbonology Sport's "what" ski ** Name-the-Ski Competition **

Wednesday, 11 November 2009 15:38 |

Here's a new ski that has a design pedigree that stretches back twenty years or more.  Two weekends ago, Hein van Rooyen paddled the first Carbonology "What?" into second place in a Discovery Men's Health series race in Port Elizabeth, South Africa... 

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Surfski Paddling hits the big time - BBC TV!

Wednesday, 11 November 2009 15:10 |

UK Women's Surfski Champion Chloe Bunnett, UK Olympian Ivan Lawler and a few friends recently hosted BBC Sports presenter Mike Bushell in Poole, UK...

Bushell had come to find out what the sport of surfski paddling was all about...

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Live Video of Molokai OC6 Race

Sunday, 11 October 2009 12:00 |

Here's something radically innovative - and something we want to do for Surfski in the not too distant future...  Live video streaming of a paddling race...  This is the Molokai Hoe OC6 race in Hawaii...

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First Pre-production Nordic Kayaks Fusion Skis (Sweden)

Saturday, 10 October 2009 06:28 |

A few months ago we posted an article on a new surfski designed by Nordic Kayaks in Sweden. Notable was the innovative hardtop option, designed to keep the paddler dry during winter paddling when the water approaches freezing point.

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Pic of the Week - Fish River Surfski!

Monday, 05 October 2009 03:14 |

The Fish River Marathon is one of the biggest paddling races in South Africa - this year's race had over 1,400 competitors...  The pic shows the only surfski [Editor: "only"? maybe not - see comment below] in the event, paddled by Tom Schilperoort! 

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International Surfski Federation

Tuesday, 15 September 2009 05:46 |

Is it time for Surfski racing to have its own International Federation? In my opinion, the answer to that is a resounding yes…

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Surfski Paddler Dies at Sea – Port Elizabeth

Thursday, 03 September 2009 06:52 |

3 September 2009, Port Elizabeth, South Africa: The body of 37-year-old Barry Guy Marshall was recovered from the sea 10nm off Port Elizabeth according to NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon.

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Attracting Novice Paddlers to Surfski Races (Aus & SA)

Saturday, 20 February 2010 13:30 |

While some debate as to what should constitute a surfski race – open ocean, downwind, 10km, 25km, triangle course – it occurred to some race organizers in Australia and South Africa that one group of paddlers was being neglected: the novices.

Novices are the life-blood of any sport.  To nurture and grow surfski paddling, we need a steady stream of new participants in races around the world.  But novices often find the bigger races intimidating – to satisfy the demands of the more experienced paddlers, the races are often held in challenging conditions.

So – this season two race series, one in Sydney, Australia and one in Cape Town, South Africa, have started up – aimed directly at the novice paddler.

Seadog Series: Fish Hoek, Cape Town

Dawid and Nikki Mocke have been training people to paddle surfskis since 2003.  But they noticed that nearly all their “graduates” remained social paddlers, in spite of the many and varied races on offer in Cape Town.

Dawid and Nikki Mocke

Dawid and Nikki Mocke (Pic: Meds Martin)

After doing some research, they discovered that many of the paddlers felt intimidated by the big series races.

So, along with Tom Schilperoord and Adam Bothma they started the Seadog Series in Fish Hoek Bay.  It’s been a great success – with over 210 paddlers registering and an average of 40-50 finishers on any given night with the highest figure so far being 135.  “I say ‘finishers’,” laughed Nikki, “because the races are run whatever the weather.  Our motto is ‘never cancelled’ and this means that the conditions are often quite hectic.”

Nikki attributes the success of the series to a number of factors:

  • The “never cancelled” thing works well, she said, because people know that there will always be a race.
  • The races are held in the semi-protected waters of Fish Hoek which makes them safe.
  • The prizes are given away on a lucky draw basis.  There’s also a R250 cash prize giveaway that can be won by any registered paddler – not just the racers on the night.  It’s drawn once per race and if the winner isn’t there, it rolls over the next week.  “We also give away some branded kit – shirt, towel,” said Nikki.
  • The venue is great – apart from the safety aspect, the Fish Hoek Surf Lifesaving Club is a friendly, accommodating place.  The bar is always packed after the races.

“We’ve really tried to target the surfski school type paddler,” said Nikki.  “The races are not intimidating, yet they can be challenging and they definitely give the guys a goal to work towards.”

Sydney Harbour Series

[Editor: the first race of the Sydney Harbour Series attracted close to 100 paddlers.]

The Bing Lee/LG/Epic Kayaks Harbour Series has been designed for paddlers who may never be in the elite class but want to enjoy competitive paddling on a ski, sea kayak or outrigger canoe on the beautiful waterways around Sydney.

Sydney Harbour Series

Awesome Scenery! Sydney Harbour Series

It is also good for that large group of paddlers who are itching to get out on the ocean but don’t yet quite have that confidence to enter an ocean race. Just do a few of the Harbour Series races and you may well be ready to take the next step.

The first race was held at Balmoral on Sydney Harbour early Saturday 23rd Jan in a fairly stiff breeze on what turned out to be a baking hot morning. The mass start got everyone jostling for position with the usual quick starters getting out ahead and the beginners in the usual panic at the back! The course took you into the wind to Fairlight Beach and then came the downwind dash towards Bradleys head. Those less focussed on the competition could take in the beautiful views of the cliffs of the harbour foreshore and the beachside suburbs of Vaucluse and Mosman.

There were plenty going for a swim, mainly around Middle Head, but the Lifesavers from Long Reef Surf Lifesaving Club were there in their inflatable rescue boats and everyone was able to get back on and either finish or else think about how they would finish the next race, which is at Cronulla Bay on 13th Feb.

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The series is run by Harbour Racing Incorporated which is an initiative of a group of surfski paddlers operating under the umbrella of PaddleNSW. It is a ground breaker in that all the paddlers entering the events are insured under the AC insurance scheme. Before this, the organisers of surfski events have been insured but not the paddlers.

These events are good for a wide range of paddlers, beginners young and old, women and men. Just grab a ski, outrigger canoe or sea kayak and see how you go! Find all the details at www.harbourracing.org.au