Uno max vs Fenn Elite/SL

Anybody here owned both and can give me a good rundown on both boats?

I've had a 5km paddle in an SL including a some ocean but only a short demo in a Unomax with no true ocean paddling.
At the time I was way out of touch with the water and it was some time ago and my impressions are fading.

Listen to any and all opinions.

i owned a Uno Max for 3 months and could not stay on it offshore... previously I had a Fenn Mako6 with which I had some trouble offshore when the going gets tough.

The Uno Max was in my mind the fastest craft I had ever tried at the time on flat water with the vent closed and the most comfortable, but dare I say it is not for a mid pack paddler like me... it is an elite ski for elite paddlers. I once compared it to an 'angry bull pricked in the balls' ...

The seat is extremely comfortable and after each paddle, I do remember the feeling of having exercised well and yet feeling good, with no aches as the Mako6 used to give me lots of back and neck aches after a big effort, not the Uno Max.

Build quality at the time was not up there, soft spots was a key issue. I hope that they have addressed this.

JDF

From my limited time demoing both skis I felt the Elite SL is more stable than the Uno Max, and the Uno Max was faster on the flat.

I really like the Uno Max, but felt I wasn't up to it just yet.

I may try one again soon though after a mate who had been paddling a plastic ski up until a couple of months ago bought one and in his first race almost beat me

When we had our skis on the roof of my car together (Uno and Flash) you could see that the Uno Max has much less rocker, and the Elite has more rocker than the Flash, so I would imagine there would be big handling differences downwind.

I own an Uno Max and have been testing out a mates Fenn Elite SL for the past few weeks....

First of all I better state Im not the ideal weight to be paddling the Uno Max as its made for the bigger guys and Im built like an anorexic racing sardine at 6 foot 4 and 74kg....

Love the bucket in the Uno, havent found anything else as comfortable. The Fenn is still comfortable, but not as nice....

I find the hatch in the think jsut great for shoving a jacket, spare drink bottle, or drybag with change of clothes in... Miss not having the hatch or even the bungies on the back deck with the Fenn....

I've got the slightly older model Uno Max with the enamel paint job and have to agree with another thread on the forum where they talk about how easily it scratches and marks, but the new Uno Max have gone for gelcoat finish to improve this Im pretty sure....

The chined hull on the think takes a bit of getting used to, especially in big water... Theres definetly a distinct jump from primary to secondary stability, but once there I find theres heaps of secondary to really dig that edge in and it flies across waves faster and tracks straight across waves than anything else I've paddled when you start doing this.

Its great downwind, but I would ahve to say the gunwales seem lower than the Fenn and you seem to get more water splashing into the bucket in the Think, but ti drains quickly... The lower sides definetly make the think easier to remount though....

But on flat water the SL was definetly faster than the Uno Max, and in moderate seas, especially the longer flatter ones I found the SL picked up the little lumps and bumps with a lot less effort than the think.... In bigger stuff the SL didnt feel as stable to me, but that could jsut be how much time I've spent in the Uno compared to only a couple weeks paddling the SL....

I've paddled a standard elite a fiar amount too and definetly feel that the SL is somewhat tippier, and found that I couldnt get the power down as easily in bigger stuff as at that moment when you need to put big power in to get down onto the wave at the top it wanted to wobble underneath me...

Fenn SL in vaccum glass was welcome change from the std elite glass boat of ~17kg I had paddled previously, and finish is nice and clean in white as always with the Fenns...

Dont like the fin shaped rudder of the Fenn though and find the Uno a lot easier and more responsive to turning... And its great being able to get hold of many different types of rudders for the think...

Anyways, hope that helps