Genius Blu

Spent the weekend paddling the Genius Blu - Knysna Kayaks intermediate surfski.

On Friday paddled the Seadog time trial in Fish Hoek; on Saturday a very mild reverse Millers downwind run and on Sunday an out and back from Hout Bay into 5m storm swell.

In the time trial, after a bad start, I averaged 11.3km/h, not bad for me on such a tight course with so many turns (5laps of a triangular course). The ski handled well on the downwind and was a joy in the massive chop in Hout Bay.

It's a hand layup glass epoxy job, weighs about 15kg.

I'm looking forward to taking it on a proper big Millers Run (we have some great wind forecast for this week), but first impressions are that for me it's slightly less stable than the Swordfish - but not much. And Dale and I did a brief dice in the flat water of the harbour. He normally pulls away from me in such conditions - but not last night. He was on my Swordfish.

On Tuesday we have our last Tuesday Night race and with any luck it'll be a downwind sprint across the bay in a honking southeaster... Dale will be on my SF again; I'll be on the Blu.

But I reckon the Blu is well worth having a look at if you're after an intermediate boat.

I demo'd a BLU a while back.
Very nice boat, extremely well made - as are all Knysna Racing products.
My initial impressions were that it jumped onto small swells really well, but was not as stable as a Swordfish (I eventually went with a SF).
It seemed a large volume boat in front of the feet to the nose - probably good for surf but maybe too affected by crosswinds...?
Overall a great boat though!!!

Hi Rob
Any chance you'll be getting your hands on a G40 to demo...?

It seemed a large volume boat in front of the feet to the nose - probably good for surf but maybe too affected by crosswinds...?

You're right in that the Blu has significantly more volume up front than the SF. I think this will translate into the Blu being a less "wet" boat than the SF - especially for heavier paddlers.

I'm not sure that it'll mean "too affected by crosswinds" but I'm hoping to test that on Wednesday if the SE is still blowing and we get to do a Millers Run. The initial stretch out to Bakoven Rock is custom made for testing crosswind and cross-chop paddling! I've always found it tricky in my Mako Elite (although I've only fallen out there a couple of times) but it's a doddle in the SF or the V10 Sport.

coldwater wrote: Any chance you'll be getting your hands on a G40 to demo...?

Hope so! Albert did mention something about sending a boat down! I've heard good reports about it.

Genius Blu 2nd place under 18 category with rough sea conditions at Varsity College Surfski race on Friday at Marine Durban !

How would this ski hold up with a 110kg paddler?

I think the question is, 'how does any ski hold up with a 110kg paddler?'.

Better than it does with one that is 125kg

to add to this - I found it harder to balance than other ski's that ppl have said should be in similar category - swordfish, focus, vault...

I put this down to a weight issue at 75kg. Since so many other bigger paddlers seem to claim it is more stable.

After some feedback from fellow paddlers, the BLU recently had the seat area and knee hump lowered, making it alot more stable.

Rob is using this newer version for testing.

Current demo models will be replaced with this new version which is a "truer" intermediate ski, so before you think you disagree with Rob, make sure you try the new one. It has made the boat alot more stable, without losing any of it's speed.

awesome - update the Paddling Centre's demo and I'll look forward to a new try on it one of these weekends.

Dammit! I have the older one, and at 78kg I really struggle. It is more tippy than my Hybrid Layup Red 7.

RAB, if you're trying to start a punch-up with a 110kg paddler (or 125kg paddler), could I suggest you use the alternate thread specifically started for that purpose...and can I have a ticket?

Christopher wrote: How would this ski hold up with a 110kg paddler?

Given that it has a lot more volume than, say, the Swordfish, I'd think that it would suit a heavier paddler pretty well.

Paddled the Blu again last night in our end of season sprint race. For this event we all paddled in our own time across Hout Bay into a strong southeaster before lining up to sprint 3km back downwind... Great fun.

The conditions are great for this event (it's happened a couple of years running) because you start off on flat water, transition to small waves which grow bigger as you traverse the bay. About half way across you start getting diagonal runs mixing in too from the reflected ocean swells bouncing off the side of the bay.

Nice test for a boat because the runs are quite technical - they're short so you benefit by taking them at a diagonal, and you need to be stable in the boat because the chop is confused and you need to be able to manoeuvre, turning from one wave onto the next...

Just the right conditions in fact to expose any tendency to broaching.

I ended up dicing with Nick Pickard who was on his Vault. The last couple of races, when I've been on my Swordfish, he's got away from me pretty easily on small runs going downwind. Last night we were neck and neck on the flat; I got away from him when the runs started; he caught up again and I realised I was paddling too hard. I focussed again on working the runs properly and got away from him again as we approached the beach.

My impressions were that:
- The Blu catches runs well
- It doesn't have an excessive tendency to broach, but manoeuvres relatively easily (ie I was able to direct the boat to the next dip in the waves quite easily.)
- Some paddlers might find the seat relatively low (as opposed to, say, the V10 Sport where you sit relatively high in arguably a more comfortable paddling position).

Going into the wind I noted that the nose was caught by the wind to an extent and I was thrown off course a couple of times. The nose is appreciably bigger than the Swordfish.

But overall, I really like the boat and I'm looking forward to taking it in a big downwind. (Which by the look of the forecast is going to happen some time in the next few days, yeeeeha!)

Hi Rob.

Thanks for the write-up.
Can you compare the Blu to a Think Evo?
In theory they are both for intermediate paddlers and are a similar length.

Christopher wrote: How would this ski hold up with a 110kg paddler?

Hi Chris, there is a guy in Plett who is about 6'6" and built like Vladimir Kichkov, as a result he weighs a fair amount.
The boat handles his weight no problem and he feels it suits him more then his elite boat. Also due to his big bone structure he finds the boat more comfortable as his hips are not squashed into the seat.

Hey Rob, any vids with you piloting the Blu? Would be fun watching the action as in your past demos.

Yep, I have to get cracking again with the GoPros... Would have been good last night!

Had a cracker of a Millers Run on the Blu last night. Did 45:52, just a minute outside my PB.

Millers Run - Genius Blu

And that was with a shocking start - the sea was a bit messy at the top of the run and I just couldn't get going. The boat handled really well; but I'm hoping to put a slightly bigger rudder on. I broached a couple of times, not badly but enough to lose the run that I was gunning for, which was frustrating. I'm pretty sure this would be sorted by a bigger rudder.

To explain the broaches: Conditions yesterday were such that you could paddle a kind of S- bend to stay on the run. I'd catch a run, then be in danger of ramping up the wave in front and wallowing. I'd then steer off to the right, say, in order to stay on the run. Now I'm still on the wave, going fast but the wave is now overtaking me. Now steer left to come back onto the run. I was able to do this a number of (highly satisfying) times, but on a couple of occasions, the boat just wouldn't go left; the wave would end up going under me. I could then steer left and catch the next wave, but now I'm one wave behind where I should be. Not sure if I've explained it well!

And at least once a broach was caused by my own bad paddling - not moving fast enough. That would happen with any boat.

The trick, it seems to me, is to be moving just fast enough that you catch the run - you don't want to be moving too fast because you shoot down the face and wallow off the next wave. You need to be on the crest, moving the same speed as the wave, ready to accelerate only when you see the next dip. Then it's "explosive strokes", to quote Oscar Chalupsky, to accelerate, get onto the next dip, keeping the speed up.

It's all about momentum and average speeds; not about the top speed.

(I love downwind paddling and all the subtleties!)

Suffice to say though that I'm really enjoying the Blu. It has enough volume up front that it doesn't nose-dive to any great extent, but it also has a shape such that when it does dip its nose, it a) doesn't slew off to one side and b) doesn't stop dead in the water, but rather keeps its speed up.

And on top of that, although it's a little tippier than the Swordfish, it's still stable enough that I feel completely comfortable in it. As the big O says, "Sta-bility leads to A-bility"! Love it.