Latest Surfski News

Tuesday, 17 October 2023 07:11
“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” I thought to myself a few moments after launching on the brand new V10 4G for the first time. It was getting dark; it was raining; the squalls were lifting sheets of spray off the water… directly offshore. What WAS I thinking? The answer is that I’m a sucker for new toys – and if I get my hands on one, I HAVE to play with it. Damn the weather, full speed ahead… Since then I’ve paddled the boat many more times, in much pleasanter weather. Here’s what I think of this,…
Thursday, 08 June 2023 12:42
East London, South Africa: Angus Warren watched helplessly as the shark’s teeth crunched through the hull of his surfski. “It seemed to go on and on,” he says, “pushing and chomping. I was thinking, why is it not working out that it isn’t food? “I can’t tell how long it took, but I had enough time to shout a couple of times to the others.” The next thing he knew, he was in the water…
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Thursday, 27 April 2023 18:42
CAPE TOWN - Hank McGregor and Josh Fenn convincingly claimed back their Prescient Freedom Paddle title on Thursday in a dramatic race marked by tough conditions and a rain-delayed start.  Conditions were extremely tough - a brisk northwester blowing spray from the big confused chop into the paddlers' faces as they headed out to the island.  Huge breaking surf on the far side of the island ensured a wide line but the wind dropped as the fleet started on the journey back to the finish, making it that much more difficult and energy sapping to catch the runs.  
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Tuesday, 25 April 2023 11:50
Last Friday, however, I paddled with Dawid on a windless autumn evening in Cape Town. Cruising from Fish Hoek to Muizenberg, we paddled together, stopping at all the coves to surf a few waves. In short, the operative word was "fun". This was a different Dawid - off duty - and, well, I've never paddled with anyone so noisy before. Whistling, singing, shouting to folks on shore - yahooing as he caught a wave. Heading home at dusk we crept up behind a group of seals lazing on the surface. Dawid began barking like a five-year-old paid by the bark...until…
Thursday, 09 February 2023 07:39
A look back - aaaaargh! A mountain. Let it go through... A smaller one, with a glimpse of something massive lurking further out to sea. Catch it, catch it! Sprint, sprint, you’re on it, here’s the break zone, keep going, keep going, the roar from behind and the sudden acceleration as a massive foamy caught up to me, keep it straight, keep it straight... Phew. Arrived. Panting. Stop the watch. ok. Made it. Empty the boat, pick it up to prevent it knocking you down. Done.
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Saturday, 26 November 2022 17:16
The South Africans cleaned up today at the most prestigious surfski race in Australia – arguably the most prestigious race in the world - taking five out of the top six places and the entire podium at the Shaw and Partners “The Doctor” in Perth. Defending women’s champion, Kiwi Danielle McKenzie won the women’s trophy.
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Saturday, 19 November 2022 13:01
Gold Coast paddler, Cory Hill, took first scalp in the five-event ocean ski racing series, the Shaw and Partners WA Race Week, winning the inaugural race today, the 24km Fenn West Coast Downwinder from Fremantle, just south of Perth, to Sorrento Beach. In fine conditions with a 16 knot SSW wind courtesy of the famed Fremantle Doctor, the start off Port Beach was intense with the top paddlers in a terse battle to make the first break.   But it was 33-year-old Hill – the 4-times DOCTOR champ who relishes the Perth conditions – who was able to shake the field…
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Tuesday, 16 March 2021 13:54
It’s not easy to catch a rolling, runaway single ski in 30kt of gusting wind – and as they attempted to grab it, Alex and his doubles partner lost their balance and fell into the water. By the time they’d remounted, the single ski was gone – blown away by the strengthening near-gale. They turned and paddled back upwind to find their buddy.
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Wednesday, 03 March 2021 12:08
Accident reports are easy to write when the story ends happily, but this one didn’t and it’s with a very heavy heart that I’m writing this, with a view to learning what we can from it.
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Wednesday, 15 July 2020 09:13
When the NSRI found Duncan MacDonald, he was approximately 6km off Smitswinkel Bay, drifting rapidly further offshore. Gale-force squalls whipped sheets of spray off the waves, reducing visibility almost to nothing. What Happened? Given the small size of the surfski community, there’s always intense interest whenever there’s a rescue. What happened? What did they do wrong? What can we learn from it? Clearly there are lessons to be learnt from any mishap – so here’s a description of what happened, shared with the permission and cooperation of the folks involved in the hope that we might all learn from this…
Friday, 24 April 2020 11:41
Durban – As the continued coronavirus lockdown grips the country, Canoeing South Africa will host a 24 hour Canoeing4COVID-19 event this weekend as a way to raise funds for members of the broader paddling community that have been badly affected by the lockdown.
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Wednesday, 11 March 2020 14:35
“Hey, Rob! Help!” The shouts penetrated the sound of the howling wind and crashing waves – and even through the noise it was obvious from the tone of his voice that something was seriously wrong. I turned and headed back upwind.
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Tuesday, 03 March 2020 14:43
Many paddlers use Personal Locator Beacons, or tracker apps like SafeTrx on their mobile phones. But handheld VHF radios are also a great choice to consider – especially when they’re DSC-capable like the Standard Horizon HX870E.
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Monday, 24 February 2020 12:01
I finally got my hands on a demo Fennix Swordfish S this weekend and did two Miller's Runs in succession to see if I could feel any difference in handling between the 2018 Swordfish S and the new Fennix model.  Conditions were challenging: False Bay was covered in whitecaps, whipped by a combination of a 25-30kt southeaster and small, confused seas.  The result?  I definitely want to spend more time in this boat.
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Thursday, 26 December 2019 10:30
The shark smashed like a freight train into Roger Swinney’s surfski in an explosion of noise and spray, knocking him off into the water.  “I managed to get back on the ski,” he said, “but I fell off again and as I remounted the second time, I saw the swirl and tips of the shark’s fins. “I didn’t see it clearly, but from the force of it and the movement in the water, it looked big!”
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Surfski.info Review: Carbonology Sport Atom

Sunday, 12 June 2011 18:47 | Written by 
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Carbonology Sport Atom Carbonology Sport Atom Credits: www.surfski,info

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.

Build: Plain and Simple

Well, perhaps “elegant and simple” would be closer to the mark.  I’ve seen a number of skis from Carbonology Sport (including the innovative Green7 built of cork composite under license from Red7) and I’ve been uniformly impressed with the quality of build.

The boats are light and strong and the finish is comparable to most manufacturers around the world.

The ski is relatively short (5.95m/19'6") and narrow (.44m/17.3").

Being physically quite small, and vacuum moulded, the skis are light: 9-14kg/20-31lb depending on the layup.

Carbonology Sport Atom

The Atom (bottom) is a relatively small ski - EOS 660 (top) and Zeplin (middle) by contrast 

Setting the boat up

Installing the rudder was simple – the tiller bar being attached with a self locking nut; the shaft is beveled to lock the bar at 90 degrees the rudder.

The tiller bar is particularly accessible on this ski: the entire assembly stands proud of the deck, covered by a tear shaped blister.  Simple.  Elegant.

Carbonology Sport Atom

The tiller bar stands proud of the deck

Carbonology Sport Atom

...and is protected with a simple cover

The rudder lines comprise steel cables running from tiller bar to cockpit joined to rope that runs through the self-adjusting rudder pedals.  So, setting up the footplate on the beach was a quick and painless exercise.

(Having used a wide variety of rudder lines over the years, I like this arrangement – in my opinion, steel cables are still the most robust, reliable solution.)

The footplate ended up near the limit of its adjustment, emphasizing that this is not a boat for very tall people.  (I’m 1.87m/6’2”).

Carbonology Sport Atom

Paddling the ski

I paddled the ski in a variety of conditions ranging from a race on flat water, to a fairly hectic downwind run and on choppy water in Hout Bay.

The cockpit is snug and I felt secure – although my coccyx was left raw after a couple of hours in the boat.  This is a personal affliction – and I’m pretty certain that most paddlers (provided they have a narrow backside) will find the Atom comfortable to sit in.

Carbonology Sport Atom

Flat race

This was a round the cans race in Fish Hoek bay.  My impressions of the boat were:

  • It seemed fast; I was slightly ahead of where I’d be normally.
  • I felt quite tippy.
  • It seemed very responsive and quick onto the small bumps
  • It turns on a dime

And these impressions were reinforced with all the other paddling that I did in the ski.

Choppy, messy water

We paddled in Hout Bay one evening in classic conditions for the area: Hout Bay is surrounded by cliffs on two sides and the incoming ocean swells bounce off them, sending reflected waves in all directions.  The resulting chop can be challenging, but often offers runs wherever you’re heading.  It can be a lot of fun to paddle there.

That evening though, I really battled, focusing more on staying upright than paddling fast.  Both upwind and downwind, my paddling buddies were able to drop me.

Back on the flat protected water of the harbor, however, it was a different story.  We did a couple of sprints and every time I paddled away from the other skis.  After the first run I looked back to see my buddy reversing.  “I thought I had some plastic on the rudder,” he explained.  He hadn’t.

Carbonology Sport Atom  Carbonology Sport Atom  Carbonology Sport Atom

Downwind

I did a Millers Run (my favorite 12km downwind route here in Cape Town) in the ski on a blustery day, 25kt of SE with 3-5ft waves.

The conditions were classic for this run: not much in the way of big ocean swell; the waves were short, steep, wind generated.

Considering my feeling of twitchiness in the choppy water in Hout Bay, I felt surprisingly stable, both going out to the turning rock (800m diagonally into the wind and waves) and on the runs downwind.  Going into waves I often find it easier if there’s a strong wind (unless it’s right on the beam); it seems to give you something to push against.

Skis are often at their twitchiest as you move through the crest of a wave, as you’re about to accelerate; It’s frustrating sometimes to have to brace at the exact moment you need to make the strongest strokes and many a wave has been lost this way.  I think the low volume of the Atom helps in that the ski may sink into the wave more than some others – creating stability just at the point it helps most.

Carbonology Sport Atom  Carbonology Sport Atom

Broaching

I did find that if I wasn’t careful, I could let the ski broach quite easily.  I suspect that here in Cape Town we have these short, steep, wind swells more frequently in other parts of the world – and that any tendency to broach might not be as important elsewhere.  Suffice to say that I lost control of the ski on several occasions.  The broach wasn’t as vicious as on some other skis I’ve paddled, however, and by keeping speed up I was usually able to turn downwind again without wallowing.

I found the boat quite wet.  I weigh around 83kg and if I buried the nose, the water would come over the foredeck and fill the cockpit.  With dual Red7 Bullet scuppers the footwell drained fast and, in contrast to some other skis I’ve paddled, the Atom was still responsive and easy to accelerate even with the weight of water in the flooded cockpit.  (The cockpit is relatively small of course, so the volume of water is too.)

I did the run in 48min – which is what I’d expect to do in those conditions on my usual ski.  So given that I was unused to the boat, and broached a lot, it was an excellent time – highlighting once more that to me, this is a fast craft (especially if you know what you’re doing!)

Carbonology Sport Atom

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sidex600

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Carbonology Sport Atom

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What I like

  • The high quality build
  • The aesthetics of the boat – simple and elegant
  • The feel of the cockpit overall – felt snug and secure
  • The speed and acceleration onto runs
  • The turning ability of the boat, especially on flat water
  • The lightness of the ski

What I don’t like

  • The tippiness; I found it a handful in messy, choppy water
  • The bucket!  (My coccyx suffered – but most people seem comfortable in the ski)
  • The low volume – perhaps it’s a personal thing, but for my weight, I like to have more volume in the nose of a ski.

Carbonology Sport Atom

“Fast, but you need to know what you’re doing”

When Hein van Rooyen (who owns Carbonology Sport) sent me the ski, he said, “It’s a fast ski – but you need to know what you’re doing.  It’s not a beginner’s boat.”  For once I am 100% in agreement with the manufacturer; it is really fast – amazing, considering that it’s a relatively short ski.

As a 48 year old mid-packer though, I found that my balance and skill level weren’t good enough to get the best out of the ski in rougher conditions.

But for elite or A-grade paddlers - especially if they're on the smaller side - this ski is well worth a look.