My experience with a new surfski

A bit of background about my paddling:
I'm a very average paddler & have always been lagging a bit behind the others I paddle with, I absolutely love paddling in the ocean & am thoroughly addicted to downwinds.I've been cruising on my current surfski (custom kayaks synergy 2) & really loved it. I've never had any balance issues on it but when I did fall out it was tough to remount.
Average pace 9-9.2km/h
Average downwind pace 13.5km/h

After wanting to buy a new ski for a while I knew it was time when I lost my ski in 40knots of wind down the beach.

I tried out a think evo II demo & on my very first paddle I averaged 10km/h+. I literally gained 1km/h just from the ski alone. My downwind improved about 0.5km/h instantly.

These are impressive increases but what it lead to was even greater. All of a sudden I was closer to the other paddlers & paddling has been a whole lot more fun. Since this initial increase in speed its picked up by about 0.5km/h on both flat & downwind in 2 weeks.

For the first time in my life I actually waited for paddlers on the downwind last week ( & it happened a few times!)

I don't think this has anything to do with the boat designs but merely the fact that my old boat was 4-5 years old & was quite heavy.

I would really recommend if you have an old heavy boat then trade it in for a newer one!