upgrade to Fenn elite

Hello, I paddle Fenn xt and I want to upgrade. Can I upgrade to Fenn elite? Have I to paddle the swordfish before to upgrading to Elite? I paddle in lakes ( flat water) and the most important thing is speed. Sometimes I paddle in the open sea. What are your recommendations? Thanks in advance

It depends on how good your balance is, how much time you're prepared to put and the usual conditions on the sea where you are.

The Elite as you know is a lot more tippy than an XT, but some paddlers cope with it; expect to take a few months to get comfortable on the Elite.

On the other hand the Swordfish is one of the most popular boats on the planet, so you should be able to sell it for almost as much as you paid for it, if you look after it.

My recommendation would be to go with the Swordfish. Look after it and you'll be able to sell it again when and if you want to upgrade to the Elite.

I did the same upgrade but grew comfortable with the swap by spending 4 months on 2 inches of buttpads, The stability will be about the same. Now you could just get the easy option: Epic seat pad set

I was racing Dave last year and it was always close, sometimes him, sometimes me. Dave on his Elite.

Dave sold his Elite because he wasn't feeling comfortable enough in it. Dave wastes me in his new Swordy this year.

Moral of the story: If you can put down full strength into a proper stroke, you will be faster. This is a marginal sport - a few missed strokes every km add up really quickly.

2nd Moral of the story: I need to train harder to start catching up with Dave...

Ric i hope you catch Dave soon