V8 vs V8 pro

Hi, everyone!

I want to buy a stable surfski and I was reflecting on these two models.

I usually paddle in the Moroccan Atlantique Ocean and I only want to get joy without thinking about the stability.

I know that the V8 is highly stable, I could test it in rough conditions, but I hadn't the opportunity of testing his new brother.

My questions are, is the V8 pro much more inestable? What about the remount?

For info, I weight 78 kg and I'm 182 cm tall.

Thank you

Gaspar,
I haven't paddled either one, but, I find the PRO very intriguing.
From a long term ownership and enjoyment perspective I would go with the V8 Pro. Might have to dedicate some more time in the beginning to master it, but, in the longer term I believe you will be rewarded with your efforts.
Good luck.

Gaspar, I have a V8, which like you said, is very solid in regards to stability. I did paddle a V8 Pro at a demo day in May, and felt the bucket was around the same size, good for me being a larger paddler, but the V8 Pro felt significantly faster, on par with the V10 Sport. Not sure if the slight reduction in width and extra foot of length made all the difference between the two, but it was noticeable, at least on a subjective measure on how it felt to me. I did not break out the GPS for comparison between the two, but I wish I had. The V8 Pro was not as stable as the V8.....again, I liken it to my old V10 Sport for stability. My overall feeling is the V8 Pro and the V10 Sport are nearly identical, with the V8 Pro just having a slightly larger bucket when compared to my first generation V10 Sport I had. (i also lost 20 lbs so far in 2017 as part of my goal of 40-45 lbs total, so that factors into the bucket fit too).

My goal is to get my balance skills up with the V8 (I sold the V10 Sport because I couldn't paddle it on anything other than flat water and wanted stability over speed), and then get a V8 Pro at the end of this season or early next season for races, as I think it will have more speed than the V8 I would otherwise use.

I went the v8 pro in an ultra layup. I actually can find very little difference in stability between the v8pro and the v10 sport. I wrote a bit about it in this thread: www.surfski.info/forum/19-boats/18814-v8-pro-vs-v10-sport.html

The boat is great, I have taken it out in all conditions. I think the learning curve won't be that noticeable and you will easily grow into the boat.

It is definitely not a slow boat, it will keep up with the skinnier skis and it picks up runners beautifully.

Feens

A few other things:

I find the v8pro somehow to have a smaller bucket than the v10s - don't ask me how, it just "feels" that way. Perhaps because I am lighter (72kg) ?

I've kitted it out with hip pads and a seat pad. This has improved the fit significantly, along with comfort on longer paddles.

Remount is no issue whatsoever. It did conk me on the head once because I tried to remount without turning it into the wind, but that's the paddler, not the boat!

Thank you every body for your responses. I'm going to test it in two weeks and I will let you know my opinion.

I think that the V8 is better adapted to my needs but having a challenge is always interesting.

What do you thing about the solidity of their construction? My VOLO was cutting in two by a wave two waves ago and I realised that I need a solid boat.

Thank you one more time from Morocco

I think black nose is their strongest layup

I've recently started paddling a ski for the first time ever so I'm a complete newbie and I have bought a performance layup V8 Pro and a Club layup V8. I wanted to have a stable but fun ski for myself and also a second ski for a family member to join me or my kids to occasionally take a friend who is a complete beginner out.

I'm mostly padding on a river/estuary in Sydney Australia but am hoping to get into smaller waves over time. I'm 85Kgs and the same height as you.

The problem with trying them out once if you have never paddled a ski before is that ALL of them feel unstable for the first couple of days if you are roughly our size but very quickly you get the hang of either of them though. With the V8 - any kids or smaller adult can sit in and paddle away and it feels stable. Even the v8 Pro is stable if you are a kid or small adult after about 10 mins. The V8Pro is the favoured ski between my son and I and his friends already though because it is faster even in choppy conditions - it FEELS a lot faster probably than it even is. The Club vs Performance layout probably adds to this a little. If one of us is leaving the other behind, they swap to the V8 and it evens things up a bit!

The V8Pro is slightly harder to get back into for the first day or 2 but again, over the first month it has become a non-issue for us. We don't fall out much and we can get back into either easily.

I think the v8 is still a great ski and quite similar to the Pro - but you can feel good about putting anyone else into it - like a teenager who just wants to have a go for 20 mins and you can relax that they are unlikely to fall out etc.

I nearly bought 2 V8s (actually I was looking at a V7 and a V8) but the guy in the local shop convinced me to go for the v8Pro and I'm really glad he did. He said he's not really selling any v8s anymore now that the v8Pro is available. I also tried a V10 Sport and I don't think (as a complete beginner so FWIW) the V8Pro is much slower and it feels a little more stable. In hindsight I would've probably been very happy with the V10 Sport, but it would've meant the difference in cruising speed between out 2 skis was even more.

So if you want to be sure then try to get 4/5 sessions in the skis before you decide one is stable or not! What you think you know after 1 hour is pretty wrong in my short experience.

Otherwise if you are taking a chance on one and you plan to go for regular fitness paddles, the V8 Pro I think is a great sweet spot for a beginner that you can get going and be really relaxed after 4/5 paddles and really enjoy getting some speed and good technique after that.

The other thing I found was I originally didn't care how fast the ski went - I don't really plan to paddle with the guys who have V10 or V12s so I didn't see it as an issue. But the thing is that going a little faster is more fun. It's like riding a bike - without going crazy you get a nicer experience for a little more money and the extra speed feels nicer.

This is all very subjective, but anyway a few thoughts from someone who is just a little ahead of you who was looking for a similar thing. Good luck, push through and get any ski is the other advice! I'm having a blast - out every second day since I got it!

Good luck.

If your primary goal is to just enjoy the ocean in a great boat, the V8 is your answer. Nobody ever regrets buying a V8. The stability is close and remount is the same. The V8 Pro may take you a couple of more days to get the hang of but it won't be long. Some people seem to think the Pro is closer to the V10 Sport in stability than to the standard V8. I'm not sure I agree with that. I feel the Pro really splits the difference and should have been called the V9.

Thanks to everybody.

I bought the V8Pro black nose and I can say it was the good choice.

I tested it in really hevy conditions and It did its job perfectly.

It's stable, fast and the construction is really rough

One more time, thanks for your help and enjoy on the ocean