Re: footwells

In addition to the S1A (which is 16 inches wide and 18.5 ft long), Huki offers the S1X-Special which is their top of the line 17 inch wide ski. I believe that this is the ski that Zsolt uses. Additionally, there is the 19 inch wide S1-R, which is designed for big water.

The great thing about Huki boats is that each boat is custom made for the owner. You can pick cloth layup, colors (including custom paintjobs), various footwell systems, rudders (including overstern), venturis, handles, hatch covers, bungees, etc.

Obviously, for all of this custom work, you do pay extra--but for cost conscious buyers, Huki also sells some standard boats made in China as well as used boats in the "bargins" section of their website.

For me, the big advantage of the Huki boats is that I can buy one boat that I can take on the ocean, but is also sturdy enough to hold up on the river (scrape over rocks, jump over logs, etc.). Huki can make an amazingly tough river layup (4oz Sglass/5 oz Kevlar/foam core/1.7 oz kevlar--plus extra carbon reinforcement) surfski that weighs less than 30 lbs.

I apologise for where this question is slotted in 'so to speak' but I have paddled a Mark 1 for the last 6 years and am thinking of upgrading if you think think this is necessary ? My Mark 1 is the first verison with the higher seat configuration and I am very comfortablw in te boat -ie. no leg cramps or legs going numb , as I have experienced in a K1. I live in NZ so new surfski's aren't as plentiful as they are in SA (that's South Africa and not South Australia) and am thinking that a fenn Mako 6 is the next step up ? Who out there has any suggestions ?? the Epic V 10 and Soprt veisons are also a consideration although considerablt more expensive ? - What do you think ??

I have done some paddling in Epic V10, Huki S1X (and S1X Special), and Mako6. I am not an expert, but IMO, the hull shapes of these boats are very similar, and they offer reasonably comparable stability and speed, so the main choice between them comes down to tradeoffs between construction preference, weight, price, and misc features. If only one of these boats is easily available to you, just get it and don't worry about the others.