The GENiUS story...

GENiUS 20 THE STORY...


The thought of building my own ski started nearly two years ago after finishing the 2008 PE_EL aka “The Challenge”, now known as the Southern Shamaal. I thought how great it would be to finish this race in my own boat. A boat that I would design and build, to complete in the 2010 Challenge...The ultimate endurance Surfski race.

I have been actively involved in water sports from a very young age, competing in Lifesaving as a Nipper from 8 years old. I started paddling surfski’s when I was 14 years old.

My thinking behind this new surfski was designing a boat for smaller, lighter paddlers (like myself), while being an awesome downwind machine as this is where my strength in paddling lies. I felt that a lot of the top end models available were too big for me. (I am 5’7” and weigh about 74kg.)

I designed the boat on a CAD program and then cut the shape out of polysterene on a CNC machine, after which I fine tuned by hand and then epoxy glassed the foam.

Above: hull side being cut out
[img]Above: Right hand centre piece complete (pointing towards you) [img]http://www.surfski.info/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/js800_FOAM_SANDED_READY_TO_GLASS.jpg[/img]
Above: Polystyrene sanded and ready to be glassed

Above: Epoxy Glassed and sprayed up finished product.

Some stats of the “foamie”.
Polystyrene weighed 3,0kg.
Finished boat weighed 14,1kg (complete, including set up)

I was very excited about the end product, it was fast and it performed well in the runs. Well beyond my expectations.

Albert Wasserman from KNYSNA RACING KAYAKS heard about the ski I had built and when he saw the finished product said that he would like to make a mould and manufacture them.
After conferring about some slight changes from the “foamie” I started cutting and building the plug for a production model.


Initially the ski was going to be called the Genius 620 (because of its length), but I came across another ski called the 660, so I dropped the “6” leaving the 20, hence GENiUS 20.

Dimensions of the ski:
Length: 6200mm
Widest point: 430mm
Height: 330mm

Be sure, the GENiUS story is not over...

Some more pics of the first ski out the mould below (a plain glass boat weighing in at 15,9kg):



Well since I put these words together last year, I have done some more improvements to the original G20.
I also built a stable, fast novice boat called the CLK, some pics below: Dimesions are 5,8m long. 480mm wide.




This is also Michele Eray's boat of choice training a top cyclist who has never paddled before to race in a 25km race in 4 weeks, coming up over the Easter Weekend.
Follow "Zero2Hero" on Multicoach.co.za

There will also be a intermediate level boat with similar lines to the G20 and CLK available in the next week or two.
This boat is the BLU and pics will be available shortly.
Dimensions are 6260mm long and 462mm wide

KNYSNA RACING are currently updating their website and more pics and specs will be available on there.

From my original intentions of building a ski for myself to enjoy this has now turned into an opportunity for others to also get a chance to enjoy the ocean and the sport the we all love so much.
Take care,
Neal Stephenson

Very cool...what I love about surfski is exactly this element - no limits on craft design so anyone with a technical mind and a bit of experience in a boat can bring out their "perfect" boat!

Well done!

Is that the same Neal Stephenson from Plett (shark attack survivor from some years ago)? This guy's name often pops up all over the place and he has accomplished what most only dream of. Surely the best model should be coined the 'Raggy'

Yes, it is.
The same Neal Stephenson that lives in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, that survived a great white shark attack in 1998.

Hi Neal,

I am very interested in trying this construction type and I would appreciate if you could provide some information on the CNC cutting process. I have been playing with some hull shape & hydrostatic software which I intend to take to a local CNC cutting service to cut.

The main question I have is, did you have a machine large enough to cut half the hull in one go, or did you have to cut it in stages. If you had to cut in stages how did you do it.

If you would be prepared to contact me send me an email to jonojnr @ gmail.com and leave you number and I will call you back.

Thanks

Jonathan

Hi Neal

I just paddled the very first Genius Blu that came out of the mold from Knysna.

I have been paddling for about one and a half year, so I am not quite novice but also not a mid-packer yet. I found it to be a fun boat to paddle. A bit twitchier than say an Evo on primary stability, but it has a very good secondary stability. It's like it doesn't even get affected by side chop. As a result, it is also very easy to remount, even though the bucket is slightly deeper and have a more snug fit compared to the Evo. Was it designed that way?

The bailers also work really well. The boat was very dry.

It's faster than the Evo, but can't yet say how much until I did a proper paddling session. I was certaily able to maintain 10km/h doing some figure 8s in the bay.

The one I paddled was a Glass lay-up and felt much lighter than the Glass Evo I have. I guestimate the weight between 14 end 15 kgs.

BTW, mine should soon be here. Can't wait.

Hi Rubberduck,
Glad you enjoyed it.

When I did this boat, I was aiming at the intemediate level paddlers that were ready to go to the next level.
Something with better glide then the entry level CLK.

I would not be surprised if some paddlers that use elite level boats for flatter conditions, go with this boat as their 2nd boat for those bigger downwind conditions.

Knysna Racing will be manufacturing in a layup of your choice, including the popular glass vacuum lay-up.

I will post some pics shortly.

here are some of the pics of the new GENiUS BLU




here along side the CLK which is shorter and slightly wider

Hi Neal,

I have bought the Genius CLK in Germany 4 weeks ago and I can say 'i'm loving it'.
Before this Ski I have balance problems with the other skis.
In the beginning of Mai I have the change to try some skis and i fall in love with the genius. Also it has the right measures for lifesaving events
They was very stabile and so now I can train to paddle and not train to reenter the boat.


To read the story of this ski was very interessting.

Thanks for these from germany.