WaveMaster Racing Ski..any good???

Looking to get my first ski. I have been paddling an old West Side Excel for years and have been saving my pennies for something for open water. Found a great deal on a wavemaster (money is an issue)..but cant find any reviews. Any info on this boat?

Wavemaster is a small ski manufacturer in Scottburgh, south of Durban. You don't say which Wavemaster ski you are looking at, but I can only comment on the Wahoo SLSA spec ski.

Being a spec ski, the Wahoo is strong and also subject to the minimum weight requirement of 18kg. It is slightly more unstable than an entry level ski like the Horizon, but is still suitable to learn on : our club has 5 of them which we use for our surfski school.

Build quality is pretty good with the only problem being the rudder: the post is not very well embedded in the blade and we have had to replace all our rudders with better Custom Kayaks units. Bear in mind that our club skis take a fair bit of abuse, though!

Speed is pretty much as expected for a spec ski, which is at best equal to an entry level ski like the Horizon, so if speed is important, rather look elsewhere.

Bottom line is that its a spec ski, so great for playing in waves and pretty indestructible, and as spec skis go its not bad at all!

There's also a wavemaster spec ski and ocean ski made in Newcastle, Australia. Do you live in SA or AU?????

If you have the South African Wavemaster try www.wavemaster.co.za for more info.

I have a Wavemaster Tsunami ocean ski. It is an intermediate ski and reasonably quick for the class. Rides waves and runs well and is easy to handle on runs. Mine is a bit heavy but appears to be very strong. I have fitted a self bailer as in choppy water it filled up more than what I liked.

I hit a rock at speed with my rudder. Nearly took my teeth out and took a piece out of the rudder but the shaft remained firmly in place and suffered no other damage. Maybe mine has a later rudder than those mentioned elsewere.

Enjoy your paddeling.