Inflatable SURFSKI

With the recent trend to invite more paddlers into the surfski world, I have to admit that it would be nice to see some inflatable surfskis on the market. It would also seem that the first manufacturer to come up with a decent inflatable model (say in the 50cm in width, complete with an external rudder system) will have a definite edge.

I am not saying people on this board would jump and purchase one to race on them… but they could be made quiet rigid and fun - even for downwind applications. After all, today's inflatables are actually quite advanced and fused (very light, and capable of high PSI).

In fact, I know I would purchase one… for friends wanting to goof around, or simply for crazy stormy days like today… where I would catch a shuttle to an island and paddle back DW.

What are your thoughts?

Not so easy to make!
Companies have spent thousands of dollars trying to make but with no success.

I think they would stick to the water same as the SUP inflatables do, so the energie you need to unstick is too high that for downwinding it will be useless. I know I SUP are already better as they where before, stil don't like these myself yet, but it would be very very hard if not impossible to make a stiff ski in a longer length.

Beautiful things are happening for 2016 though:
Surfski are getting shorter (way shorter) - 5.50m to 5.80m.
Fusion of material is becoming more common.
Battens are being used.
Measures are taken to break the water surface.

The above should really help in stiffening inflatables, and will help with the "stickiness" experienced with inflatable Stand Up Paddle boards.

There was an inflatable surfski on the market for many years. The Jetsteam from the High End Folding kayak manufacturer Feathercraft. Dimensions were 600 cm x 50 cm. They discontinued it around 2014 because the sales were really low. It was not a pure inflatable though. It was a hybrid between a folding kayak and an inflatable with aluminium frame parts to make the construction stiffer. Assembly was quite fast and it fitted in a rucksack. Feathercraft ist still producing a wide range of these inflatable hybrids for recreational use. One reason for the poor sales might have been the high price tag of 3999,- € in Europe. I had the chance to testpaddle one when it came out in the 90s. It was quite nice but at that time I wasn´t into surfski paddling. When I first saw the SUP inflatables I had the same thought as you Ludovic. Wouldn´t it be nice to have an inflatable surfski with the High-Pressure SUP Technology . However the problem seems to be that it is so far not possible to produce these high pressure inflatable chambers in a round or V-Shape but if that will be possible in the future I would be very interested to buy one. It would be nice for long distance traveling and you wouldn´t need cars every time you want to run a decent downwind.

Michael

photofr wrote: Beautiful things are happening for 2016 though:
Surfski are getting shorter (way shorter) - 5.50m to 5.80m.
Fusion of material is becoming more common.
Battens are being used.
Measures are taken to break the water surface.

The above should really help in stiffening inflatables, and will help with the "stickiness" experienced with inflatable Stand Up Paddle boards.

The reason some companies go for shorter skis is for transporting cost everything above 5.80 needs a 12m container anything less than 5.80 fits in a 6m container, for us shorter skis is bad news.
I own 2 inflatable kayaks and have try an inflatable sup outside of the water looks and feel very rigid but in the water they flex

Surely, it's not the only reason.

Have you see the latest study?
It seemed rather extensive… and went to basically prove that someone like me should be using a ski that's about 5.45 meters long, and that the heaviest of paddlers should be using a ski in the 5.90 meters range.

Sure, there's the container problems too, just like the many tiny garages in Europe.

THERE YOU GO, recreational inflatable "surfski"

ok, looks like a SUP with a "waterfillable tent" on it ...

www.facebook.com/kxone.de/videos/582684998605765/



and you can use it as a "Surfski" or a SUP (more like it) ...

85cm wide ...

anyway: flat bottom surfskis/SUP crossovers lol:
www.surfski.info/forum/18-training/18351...-paddling.html#25032

During the Fastest Paddler on Earth, May 28th 2016: Lost Mills, Germany... stand up paddlers from all over the world showed up. This is one craft that caught my attention:

Clearly, there are some pretty cool innovations, right there!
We might be onto something... a great compromise for those with complete lack of space, storage, or always on the go.

Interesting. I wonder what price and weight?