Re: Epic V10 Sport vs Fenn XT

I own a V10 Sport in fiberglass and it is a great ski. Of course it was my first and initially I fell off........alot.
My blog has a chronicle of it all. The sport is fast and forgiving when you get use to it. If you buy it plan on getting pad for the cockpit

I've never paddled an XT, but after having the opportunity to race a V10 Sport (glass) on the weekend (as I'm waiting for my new ski!!) I don't think I'd bother!

The V10 is an awesome ski & I was very surprised at how it went in race conditions. I consider myself a very very new B class paddler and I was keeping up with some guys on the faster lighter mako 6 & V10's. ;D

The start was really congested and very choppy and at no time did I feel I was going to fall off!

All up great ski & would steer anyone towards a Sport over the slower XT.

(just make sure it comes with the side padding)

Happy paddling!!

A 19 foot boat will never be as fast as a 21 footer in flat water. But, in sloppy water the Fenn is the most friendly, comfortable, forgiving, and relatively fast boat I have used in my 25 years of surfsking. It is a wonderfully designed boat. I can't say enough about it. It has been a good friend through countless hours of paddling, and has placed well in every race it has been in. In the right conditions it can win. It is a natural progression from a spec ski. Get carbon, it is worth it. This boat is perfect for what it is designed for.

SuperTed,

Haven't paddled the standard FG version of the Sport, only the Ultra, which is extremely light at 23-24 lbs. I believe the FG would come in somewhere around 32 lbs. as the V10 does. That still makes it lighter than the 39 lbs. of the FG XT. For comparison's sake, my Huki S1-R comes in at about 27, fully opted (6" hatch, adj. footwells, etc.) I did paddle the carbon XT twice (picked up a beautiful one for a friend), and would definitely go this route over the standard if this was the boat you wanted and could afford the extra $$. It just feels livelier in the water. Using the 4" rudder vs. the standard 8" would give you a tick of speed as long as you weren't venturing into anything beyond its (and your) capabilities. I have both the 4" and 8" rudders for my Huki and it pays off on flatter water.

From my nooby perspective.

Ive now had a few paddles of a V10 sport performance and a V10 Ultra (swam alot). I really liked the sport, but slid around in the seat. What was epic thinking when they made the seat so big? (im 90kg) and id doubt even fit bigger guys don't have arses that would fill that seat.

Ive seen photos of the foam add-ons, but this seems like a cheap fix for an expensive ski. EPIC should offer two seat sizes (be interesting how many large seat version would sell then).

I plan to "test" an XT soon, hopefully can have a go on both the fg and carbon.

Thanks for the replies and input guys

I believe that Custom Kayaks in SA is making the V10 Sport under liscence with a smaller seat. Try to get your hands on one of them. If I could, here in Canada, I would. Its a great boat.
(correct I'm wrong about the mfgr)
Cheers
Sean

As far as i know Kayak Centre is only allowed to sell their Epic ski`s locally in South Africa. So in Canada or anywhere else you would need to go through Epic USA.

In Australia it looks like we get the chinese made EPIC V10 sport only. Could'nt be hard to get the chinese to copy the South African version, since a mould already exists.