Remounting the V10 Double (and first looks)!

Splash! Helmet cam view just as I hit the water...

Second time out on my new V10 Double - in some challenging downwind conditions - and we take a swim...  Nothing like being 2km offshore to try out remounting a new ski!

First Looks

To me the boat is a thing of beauty - the finish is absolutely superb.

This is a V10 Performance - a vacuum glass layup - that weighs about 23.6kg, not bad at all for a glass double.

The buckets are really comfortable - I can't sit in the old V10 without getting a raw coccyx in a few minutes.  

(Forgive me for not posting photos - I'll be putting them into the full review in a week or two once we've had time to paddle it a little more.)

First Paddle

Last weekend there wasn't any wind so we took the ski for a session across to Muizenberg beach where we caught waves for while.  She handles well on the (small) waves and we were cruising 22kph before pulling out where the surfers were waiting in the water.

On the flat water we were cruising 12kph with very little effort and maintaining 13kph when we focused on putting a little more power, but more importantly synchronisation...  You can feel when rear paddler is out of synch and it's amazing to watch how the speed comes down when it happens.

First Downwind 

Yesterday afternoon the wind cranked up to a respectable 25-30kt SE so we hauled the ski out for a Millers Run.  Conditions were challenging: the waves were so close together and so messy that it was difficult to get on a run without dragging the rear paddler through the crest of a wave...  But near the lighthouse we started to get some longer swells and it was a joy to feel the boat accelerate down the runs.

Conditions made it difficult to maneuver the ski, but every now and then we were able to get going and I could turn and curve back so as to re-take the wave that we were on...

Taking a swim

At the back of my mind was the time we'd taken our last swim - paddling Dale's Fenn Mako Elite Double - about 500m from Fish Hoek Beach.  On that occasion we'd struggled to get back in the boat and I was very conscious that we should actually have practiced BEFORE taking the new boat on a reasonably hectic Millers Run!

We were speeding down a wave when I let my paddle come too far back just as the boat rolled - the paddle caught and in an instant we were swimming.

Letting the ski come broadside to the wind, we ducked under the hull and popped up on the windward side.  

Now to try the remount!

Truly it was a non-event.  I popped onto the boat, side-saddle style, and simply sat there with legs over the sides while Dale got on behind me.  A quick stab with the paddle to straighten the camera on the fore-deck and away we went, no trouble at all.

Part of the reason it's an easy remount is that the rails are low - the seat's quite shallow and that also makes it comfortable to sit there with your legs out.

So now we know that coming out isn't a problem - and I'm looking forward to spending more time in the boat.  We've got a downwind race scheduled for next weekend.  Blow wind, blow!

Here's the video:

V10 Double Remount from Rob Mousley on Vimeo.