Here's a new ski that has a design pedigree that stretches back twenty years or more.  Two weekends ago, Hein van Rooyen paddled the first Carbonology "What?" into second place in a Discovery Men's Health series race in Port Elizabeth, South Africa... 

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Great Start

"It's been a great couple of days...," he said after the race.  "Even after all the testing and shaping we went through the past seven months, it's still nerve-wracking - paddling your own ski for the first time.

"But we could not have asked for a better start."

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Design Pedigree

The ski was designed by Hein van Rooyen and veteran paddler and designer Rob Welsh. 

"It's based on my original design from the 1980s," said Welsh.  "It's a little narrower and we've shortened it a bit.

"Even back then we had single footwells," he added.  "But for some reason they never caught on."

"There's a gap in the market for a smaller ski for lighter people," said van Rooyen.  "So this one is designed for paddlers of 75kg and under.  It should be ideal for women as well."

"The ski has a very distinct feel to it much more like a canoe," he said.

"This boat is a standard, bulletproof construction glass ski and judging by its weight, we are expecting some pretty exciting stiff when it comes to building the carbon version.. Maybe as light as 7.5kg in carbon honeycomb?"

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First win

The weekend after van Rooyen upped his game, Springbok canoeist Greg Louw paddled the ski into first place, beating series leader Richard von Wildemann...

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Carbonology "What?" Competition.

Van Rooyen is looking for a name for the new ski - and is offering a Carbonology Sport paddle as a prize to first person to suggest the name that is eventually chosen for the ski.  

Post your suggestions here - or send them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Technical Stuff

• Designed and developed by Rob Welsh and Hein van Rooyen around a 75kg paddler.
• Built by Carbonolgy-Sport composite manufacturing.
• Length: 5.95m
• Width:  0.44m
• Construction: Glass Coremat Epoxy Vacuum
• Weight: 13.7kg
• Stability: "Similar to Fenn Elite"