Knysna SonicX kid’s ski

I just got a Knysna SonicX kids ski for my 8 year old daughter. I wanted to post because there is almost nothing on the web about the ski, not even on the knysna website. We took it out for the first time this morning and it is awesome. It looks fast and sleek. The quality of construction and fittings seem on par with modern adults skis. The size seems perfect. It is listed as 415x47 cm and 12 kg. The weight range is listed as 30-60 kg. My daughter who is 134 cm (53”) sits  with her leg length in the middle of the foot board. I see the age range listed as 5-14; my 5 yr old son who is 112 cm (44”) can just touch the footboard in shortest position but only if he makes his legs completely straight. The water line looks appropriate on flat water,  in contrast to the knysna guppie and jester skis which tend to sit with a fair amount of bow out of the water. My daughter is a few kg under the 30 kg minimum, and primary stability was a touch wobbly her first time in a ski, which seems perfect to me; it is not barge stable. She never came close to tipping on flat water, and seemed comfortable cruising around right away. The boat she has been using until now is a 6 foot rotomolded sit on top and she really noticed the speed.  Turning radius is small of course. Bucket seems about right. Hump is low. Cockpit rim is wide and flat making remount painless and my daughter figured it out pretty quick. There are 2  venturis with bullets.  

In summary this is a great option in a dedicated kids ski, and as far as I can tell it is the shortest kids ski on the market.  I got mine from Bruce Gipson at Venture Sport in Florida. 

 

Thanks for posting this.

I just called KR Kayaks and they said that they're in the process of revamping their website and they'll have more info about the ski on their site in the near future.

They said that the hull is based on the hull of their Guppy K1, which has been used to teach generations of kids to paddle K1s and they figured that it would work just as well to teach kids to paddle surfskis...  

It's only been in production for around 7 months.

I love seeing a new boat on the water - and even more when it's a kids' boat.  

From their Facebook page. I have a Knysna/Genius CLK and have been on their page for a few years. They had a post on the sonic, and I really like the decal they put on it. I think their whole line of ski's get overlooked....

Your daughter has very good form for the first time out - forward catch, straight arm. You are training her well already

Thanks for the compliment Marcus! I actually haven’t given her any advice or coaching. My goal is just to make it fun with the hope that she will actually want to do it. I have no idea if i will be successful. 

I thinks it's good that kids can enjoy a nice light boat over the typical heavy and awkward rotomolded choices....and that looks like a very nice boat too. Kids seem to have pretty good balance anyways, so let have have some fun...which is what it's all about. I have a Think Eze that I don't paddle much but keep it around incase the grandson's would like a stab at it. They have paddleborads and it's all about having fun at this point.