Can it be...another ski manufacturer!!! Apollo XI

Just when you thought there was enough choice.....along comes another manufacturer.

These guys appear to be based in NSW (Australia).

I apologise if this company has been spoken about previously, but I have only just come across them and thought I knew all the players in the market for skis.

Apollo Craft XI is the name of the ski and it appears to be targeting the novice ski market.

Certainly something a little different from what we are used to seeing .







From the website pics it appears to be another chinese manufactured boat .
Has anyone seen/paddled one ?

The price looks good too, any new players in the market that get people into the sport ought to be cheered I reckon because regardless of the boat, once hooked like us it brings them into the fold and in the end the best manufacturers will rise to the surface like cream

Plastic?

It looks to be the hull and ends of a "Flash" which is a common class of flatwater kayak here in NSW. The normal sit in cockpit has been replaced with a ski cockpit.

The flash is a nice boat on flatwater with speed similar to a spec ski or XT. It's got very fine ends so it could be a handful in the surf or swell.

AP

Rightarmbad wrote:

Plastic?

from the site

Light Weight & Compact
Constructed from fibreglass, the Apollo XI is light enough to easily lift on & off the car and at 5.49m long will fit long ways in most garages and car ports.

At 15kgs and with a very fast yet stable hull design, the boat glides through the water with ease delivering brilliant return for effort through the water.

www.apollocraft.com.au/buy/apollo-xi

It almost looks like a surf ski version of a Thunderbolt. I once asked Doug Bushnell if he would consider building one of his T-bolts as a surf ski; I'll just say his response was less than enthusiastic.

it is actually the Flash for sure, it was shaped by Greg Slade from Sladecraft who owns the Flash molds.I saw Greg and his offsider shaping this late last year.The Client who requested Gregs involvement, has gone of with all the promises of return loyalties and having them built in Australia, By Greg.But as you can see they are fully imported and no returned loyalty agreement to the original owner of the shape. it will be interesting to see what transpires of this?.

On the Apollo website they almost admit it is a knock off of the "flash", ie the Sladecraft Flash 5.49 metre racing sea kayak. Amongst my fleet I have a Flash, which is primarily used by my good lady wife for training and fitness etc. These are purpose designed to comply with our "Medium Recreation Single Kayak" class and are THE boat in this class for marathon racing in events like the Hawkesbury Classic. (An annual 111Km overnight race down the Hawkesbury River near Sydney; 2010 will be the 33rd year of this event). The Flash is a "1st cousin" to the slightly longer Horizon Flyer, that Tom Simmat is currently leading the Yukon 1000 in.

However, I can't see these Apollos easily fitting into the rather crowded performance paddling ski/kayak scene here in Aus. They seem to be a bit of an orphan; not complying with our kayak regs, not being as quick as a race ski and not ideally suitable for ocean conditions.

any website is referred to?