Elite level ski for the high and mighty

Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to find myself a ski that's as fast as the absolute top end skis

I'm 6'4", about 110Kg, currently paddling a V10S, but would love to have something like an V12 or Uno but unfortunately my hips are just too wide. I tried sitting in a V10 the other day and it just didn't work.

I do love my V10S, but I really do want more speed.

I have been looking around through all the big, and many small companies and anything that I would fit in (around 48cm/19" wide) are aimed towards beginners.

Any help is much appreciated,
Thanks

try the Honcho Rookie. It is the same length as the top end skis, but it seams to suit bigger Guys.

The Icon, not Synergy, has a wide and flat seat bottom.

The V12 seat is slightly wider and flatter at the bottom than the V10 seat.

Erik

The stellar ses is probably the fastest of the wide boats. Much quicker than the rookie. I doubt you will get the leg length in a v12.
I have paddled a mates glass ses (15kg) and was impressed with the speed while paddling next to a v12 ultra, and a red 7. I normally paddle a red 7 pro and felt pretty comfortable in the stellar. Very stable. Big Al is of similar size to yourself. This morning he paddled the performance ses and I had to paddle pretty hard to keep pace.

Thanks everyone

The ses says it's only 41cm wide? well, the beam at least. Or were you meaning the SR?

Looked at the icon, seems alright. No mention of width on the website, any idea about it?

Thanks again

sorry about that, I think it's the SE.

Don't concern yourself with the listed beam of a ski - that means very little when it comes to whether or not it will fit a wide hipped paddler because some hulls flare at the top of the bucket and have narrow rounded seats bottoms, whereas other skis have a higher flat and wide seat and might have lower gunwale height (so there is less flare and thus less width.)

Best is to search out the skis and sit in them. The Icon fits like its stable mate, the Mark 1. Cheers, Erik

Hi
I have a similar problem. 6ft 120kg area and 15inches at the hip. (BONE TO BONE) and no amount of dieting is going to change that. I have a Custom Kayaks Horizon which I chose after much research. I would love in time a fast Fenn Elite, Epic V10 or V12 but I just know I will not fit.No matter how the seat is tapered. My first surf ski was 420m/m wide at the seat and could not get a butt cheek into the seat. I have just done the surf ski reader survey and they left out an important question. Do you choose a surf ski on seat width? In my case yes. I chose the Horizon as by all accounts was the fastest of all the wide ski’s (or entry level ski). Would be great if someone could come up with a wide fast ski.

Greg

Once again I would rate the stellar se as fast as a v10. I spent the last 2 weeks paddling a v110 sport and a stellar glass while my ski was being repaired. The sport is more comfortable and directionally stable. The stellar was significantly faster but felt like it wandered around a bit.
I didn/t like the seat as much. Stability was very similar as was seat width. The sport seat was padded which probably helped with the stability. I felt like I was swimming in the stellar seat.

I did read (site Surfskiracing.com) that the seat (bucket?) of Stellar Se is wide, but trying to sit in one, I was disappointed: While the seat is wide high up, it is rapidly getting narrower towards the bottom, and I did feel press on bones on both sides.

To "qualify" this information:

1) I am comfortable in Epic V10 Sport, "first edition", the version they made before changing the seat in the new 2010 model.(I have not tried the new V10 Sport 2010.)

2) The seat in the plastic beginner ski Spirit PRS is comfortable for me, because the width is maintained from high up down to the bottom, it is said to be 41 cm at the widest, I have not measured.

3) The seat delivered in the Valley Rapier 20 and Rapier 18 ocean racing kayaks are to narrow for me, because they are tapered, they are to narrow close to the bottom.

End Note:

I am eager to find out if I will fit in the redesigned seat of Epic V10 Sport 2010. So far, I don't know. The width of its seat is said to be between the width of the seat in the old V10 Sport and the width of the seat in the V12, while the design of the new V10 Sport seat is said to be like the design of the seat in V12.

The width of seat in new V10 Sport is said to be maintained more towards the bottom than the seat in V10 and old (pre 2010) V10 Sport, while being narrower high up than seat of old V10 Sport (edited, I did originally write V10.).

I am also eager to learn about the width of the seat in Red7 (Green7) Surf70 Pro, and to learn if the width of this seat is maintained towards the bottom, or if it is tapered downwards.

If some information in my "End Note" is incorrect, I will be grateful for corrections.

My experience having owned 2 Epic V10sports in Ultra and performance is that you maybe in the only ski that will fit you with the exception of the XT. The bucket on the the SE(larger model)probably will not fit you. Why not just get an ultra in the older v10sport version if you can find one. The SR (stellar) is 19in by 19ft but bucket is similar to SE.

That's what I'm worried about Wesley. You would think that there would be at least 1 elite, or close to elite, ski big enough

It's an even bigger problem for flat water boats too. Anything wide enough to be comfortable is slow. Does anyone know of any racing sea kayaks along the lines of the Nelo Racing Sea K1, that are wider? If I have to go down that path I will, but I would much prefer a ski

I basically have the exact problem, wide hip bones that pinch in any of the high performance skis. Finally gave up after trying all skis and modified the bucket on my previous V10. Someday when I have time, I'll write up the process but the pics should give you the idea. West Systems Epoxy, Divinycell, couple of layers of 6oz glass and gel coat.

V10 Bucket Modification Photos

Without changing the dynamics of the seat, this allowed my hip bones to freely move and facilitate full rotation. I also did this mod on my Stellar SE. These projects were very labor intensive, but worth the effort after all my frustrations when moving up from my V10 Sport.

I also paddle a Van Dusen Mohican in flat water, a super boat. During the design process, Ted took into account the need for a wide flat bucket while meeting his design goals, and did a super job. I can paddle the Mohican for 3 hours with great rotation and no pain or discomfort at all.

Good luck, I sure can relate to your frustrations.
Chris

Great info about moding! Having never done any resin work, I'm kind of a bit tentative to do it on an expensive-ish boat first off

Would you be able to tell me the width at the seat of the Mohican, Chris? Did some reading up on it and it sounds great!

Thanks a heap

Yes, cutting into the boat is bit disconcerting!! My V10 was a few years old, so not too bad, but my Stellar was brand new. Fortunately I have done some of this work before with these materials building wind surfers which helps tremendously

I'll take some pics of the Mohican bucket with some rulers this weekend, as well as the bottom of the hull. The Mohican has a flat bottom right under the seat so Ted had room to work with to get the seat right for wider hip guys. The Mohican is not inexpensive, but I watched mine built step by step here in Northeastern USA...rock solid, all top materials, and it paddles great. Ted is a super guy, very modest and extremely knowledgeable about hull dynamics and hi-tech carbon manufacturing technology. I actually have a 19lb pre-preg carbon/nomex K1 he built for the 1995 US National Team that is a solid as the day he built it...although I swim in it more than paddle it

Chris

Haha, yeah, I'm hoping to get into a bit of maintenance for my club, should give me a bit of confidence in that field

Thanks for that Chris, Looking forward to the photos
I've heard a lot about Ted, many people I paddle with talk of him as something along the lines of the kayak-building god

I read somewhere that if Ted had made the hull round under the seat of the Mohican, and hence more unstable, like that of an ICF K1, it would reduce drag by only 0.5%, and only a fraction of that passed onto the speed. Simply amazing.

Thanks again,
Grizzly

Why don't you make a mould of the seat you like ,then make a seat on that mould and then graft that wider seat into a skinnier /faster/longer hull? It would be easier to smooth the edges i think (just don't cut the rudder cables)
If you live in the Sunshine Coast of Australia then Danny Topfer should do this with you also

Hi Grizly

At 2.0m (6ft7) tall and 115kg I guess I'm an XXL paddler. I've used a custom leg length XT (adjustable version at longest setting is too short) for 5 years and loved this ski, but found it a little bit low volume for my weight. I moved to the new V10S (with the adjustable version ok at its longest setting after cutting the footplate in half and sliding it over the bulkhead) as it offered a bit more volume, but had to order it with the older wide seat as the new standard seat is too narrow. All other skis are too short or too narrow (in the cockpit). Tried the faster skis (V10, Elite, new Synergy, Mako6, Red7) and they are all too narrow for my hips as are the Think Evo and all the Honcho boats (not tried the Guru but want a quicker boat). For the really big guys options are very limited if you want a faster boat as most of them are too narrow.

Latman, nice idea, but sounds like it would be expensive....
Hopefully I'll be able to find something that fits me as is. Fingers crossed that the Mohican is!

Jtresfon, Sounds like we are just about the same width. I have the "big boy" footplate in my V10S, and moved one hole in front of the bulkhead

Grizzly: Is this "big boy footplate" an optional footplate which may be bought from Epic? Or is it to be bought from another vendor?