epic kayaks

[Editor: Sune Wendleboe (engineer, photographer extrarordinaire and mad keen surfski paddler) has owned no fewer than 27 surfskis in the last few years.  He recently took delivery of an Epic V11 Elite and in this article shares his impressions of the sleek black paddlling machine...]

Just how do you go about improving one of the all-time classic surfskis? Epic Kayaks just launched the third generation V10 – and I spoke to Greg Barton, Epic's CEO and chief designer, to find out how and what he changed in the design.

Sune Wendleboe is a mad keen Danish paddler living in Oslo, Norway; he's owned 16 surfskis in the 6 years he's been paddling!  He's just had the opportunity to try out no fewer than four of the latest, fastest elite level surfskis from around the world.  Here's what he found.

[Editor: Author Erik Borgnes recently took delivery of two of Epic Kayaks latest surfskis: a V14 in the Ultra layup and a "New V10" in the sexy black Elite layup.  I asked him to give us his impressions of the new skis - it's a great read!]

Know this: I'm a member of Epic's regional racing team and I'm partial to how Epic's skis fit and perform.   Although I have paddled and owned Fenns and Thinks in the past, my intention in this article is not to make a comparison between brands but to introduce and parse out the differences between two of Epic’s latest offerings. 

The jetlag is still pretty bad; at 6am my body tells me it’s really midnight and I should be deeply unconscious.  I reach across for my friend the iPhone (bought a local sim at the airport, HK$88 for 7 day unlimited data plan, awesome!) to check the latest weather forecast for race day…

I have had the opportunity to spend some time with an Epic V12 this spring.  The following is a review of that ski plus additional uninvited and personally biased commentary.

"We're taking the team up to Mauritius to test the new boat," said Epic Kayaks CEO Charles Brand. "Would you like to come?" 

And so three days ago I found myself on an Air Mauritius flight from Cape Town, heading towards the tropical paradise of the "Ile Maurice".

It has been my good fortune to have an Epic V10 Ultra to paddle for the last month - and it's been a treat. 

Finish and appearance

Epic lifted the bar by introducing computer aided design and a CNC machined plug for the first V10.  The new Ultra skis have lifted it further.  The vacuum moulding process and nomex/honeycomb laminate totally eliminates the waviness or "oil canning" which is usually present in GRP products laid up by hand.  There is a small amount of waviness remaining in the seams but no doubt somebody will solve this as well in the not too distant future.