Re: Differences between V10

Good luck with that curly one Dave

The SA boats ive seen here (aus) are generally older >18months at least, with the Chinese boats being up to present day build. The chinese equivalent boats seem to be getting lighter as they refine the build process compared to the older SA boats and quality definately look better. (factoring in wear and tear??)

If you found a well built, non repaired/abused older SA boat at a good price then it may be fine but id rather have a newer low km's Chinese boat.

Bit like a car, series 2 and 3 are far better then series 1 as the bugs and minor design faults have hopefully been rectified.

Have'nt seen a new SA V10................email EPIC to what the differences are ;D

The main reason I'm asking is because we have both build's floating around here in the US. I've seen both boats and the two I've seen had excellent build quality (is the build quality consistant?). The newer Chinese built Epic had a few extra touches to it making it a tiny bit nicer. The main thing performance wise is I've heard the rudders were moved(forward?) on the latter built boats. Did it make a considerable performance difference? Were there any differences in seating position? Things like that.

Dave,
As far as I can tell from my vast ski experience and boat building knowledge, the difference between the SA and Chinese built V10s would be that they are built about 7,000 miles apart.
Hope this helps.
Good luck in you quest for a new ski

Dave: I live in US also, but nowhere near an Epic dealer so bought a used SA V10 ultra because it was available. Haven't seen a Chinese ultra so cannot really compare, but I'm not super impressed with the build quality of my boat. Deck isn't perfectly fair although the hull is. It's an older clear coat finish and is rapidly developing print thru even though it's stored inside: of course it may not have been stored properly by past owners. My boat has the old style rudder which seems more prone to collect weed compared to my other boats. After one summer of use the epic doesn't look as good as my 3 year old Mako. I really like the V10 design but wish that I had been able to at least look at a newer Chinese boat, I did get mine at a fair price. By the way I posted this exact question on Yahoo surfski forum but didn't get any really helpful replies.

Part of the problem with drawing comparisons is that there are several different "versions" e.g. there were the original boats built by Epic South Africa, then there are the Chinese boats, then Kayak Centre started building them under license in South Africa.

The earlier Kayak Centre boats were made in conventional glass layup and were around 19-20kg. I don't know whether they've reduced the weight since then.

The Chinese V10s in glass layup are, I believe, around 15kg.

The finish of the Chinese boats is, from what I've seen, of a higher quality than the Kayak Centre boats, but then they are approx. twice as expensive (at least in South Africa).

One thing I do know is that Kayak Centre's license is for South Africa only!

I am on my second V10 Performance (Chinese).

I had a small issue with the first ski but the guys at Epic replaced it, no questions asked. I have had the new ski for about 6months and no issues whatsoever.

However, there was a deffinate improvement in quality between the skis.

A buddy of mine has just picked up his first V10 performance.

What a difference. His weighs just over 13.5kgs (mine is 14.75kgs), appears much stiffer than mine and the finish is absolutely perfect.

Another change is the rudder cables (now grey), the whole steering system feels an awefull lot smoother and much more responsive.

I paddled both mine and his on a long paddle yesterday and it just feels better. If I was blindfolded I would have guessed I was on an Ultra.

The seat felt a little narrower than mine as well? Maybe too much christmas cheer?

It appears that Epic are trying to raise the bar with every batch.

The early V10's had some problems apparently but those were made 2+ years ago. The V10's I've seen in the USA in the last 12 months looked to be top quality and as good or better than anything I've seen from any manufacturer.

Great to see such effort being put into quality by the Epic people. Highly commendable.

Re: Chinese Epics

I don't know about the rudders being moved forward, but can say that the newer elliptical rudders are much more effective than the older trapezoidal. In big conditions I used to stall out the trapezoidal every once in a while, but not with the elliptical. You end up using less rudder, and have much more control over the ski. I'll be picking up a spare Ultra early next year.