Carbonology Sport

A few days ago, Hein van Rooyan, CEO of Carbonology Sport sent me a photograph of a stunning wooden surfski.  “Ok,” I thought, “Looks cool.  Bound to be heavy though.  How much does it weigh?”  “11.5kg!  It’s a proper racing Carbonology Flash!” 

I’ve been paddling the Evo II for a couple of months – it’s a stable, comfortable ski that goes like a rocket downwind.  Well worth checking out if you’re in the market for an intermediate boat.

Carbonology Sport launches a new surfski into the beginner market today: the Carbonology Cruze.  The Cruze is aimed at the same market segment as the Think Eze, the Fenn Bluefin and other ultra stable skis.

When I was first offered the opportunity to demo the “Flash”, Carbonology’s first foray into the full-length elite ski market, I recalled Rob’s impression in his review of the Carbonology Atom, “it made me look like a paddling super-hero”.  But on my first encounter with the “Flash” the first impression I got was that it presented more like a mild mannered Clark Kent than some super hero.

“Ok, let’s sprint to the other side of the harbor,” I said.   Issuing a challenge like that to my training partner Dale Lippstreu always results in a ball-bursting, neck and neck, 110% redline effort.  This time though he just disappeared (behind me) and 200m later I looked back to see him paddling backwards.  “I thought I had something on the rudder,” he said.  Nah.  We did it again and the same thing happened.  I was on an Carbonology Sport Atom – and on flat water it made me look like a paddling super-hero.

The Lamborghini of surfskis?  Or perhaps the Volvo...  Italy and Sweden are the origin of the two of the new skis that are on the market in Europe...

There’s a whole crop of new and updated surfskis from around the world.  Here’s a round-up of just some of them.