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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Cool Kit #2

Sunday, 14 September 2008 04:10 | Written by 
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We did an article a couple of months ago on cool paddling gear - here's the second of the series.  We'll continue to put together these reviews of Cool Kit...

Manufacturers! Send us cool stuff, we'll review it and post our findings on the site!

Surfski cradles
Home-built cradles - note the bungee cord

Ski Cradles

Surfskis and hard surfaces are not made for each other. At best, each time you put your ski down next to your car, it acquires some scratches on the gelcoat; at worst, if you put it down on a sharp stone, you may put a pinprick hole in your ski - especially if it's a high-tech, expensive carbon model.

Surfski cradles
Cradles, front & back.

Some time ago my paddling buddy David Cade built himself a set of wooden cradles to keep his beloved ski off the ground.  Consumed with jealousy I vowed not just to make some of my own but to improve the design.  Some two years later, I got off my butt, found some scrap wood in my shed and hacked out a pair.  I covered them with hard foam rubber from a hiking mattress. They're pretty rough and ready, but the skis are grateful.

What's cool about them?

  • Note the cunning bungee cords with plastic snap hooks on the ends that can be used to hold the ski down on the cradles.  (Another characteristic of light skis is that wind just loves to blow them around.)  By not making the bungees too tight, I've allowed for the ski to be rolled over in the cradles for rinsing/drying.
  • Where are they available?  C'mon, get down to your hardware store for the wood, screws and contact adhesive; a rope shop for the bungee cord and plastic snap-hooks.  Get the foam rubber from a camping store.  They're not difficult to make and they sure add to the longevity of the good looks of your ski!

Butt-pad by Lincke Kayak Equipment

Lincke Seat Pad
Lincke Seat Pad

Having a bony ass that seems to be rubbed by almost any surfski bucket, I have a deep and abiding interest in butt-pads.  I've tried several over the years ranging from the standard hard rubber (poor for rotation) to a squoosh pad (comfortable but impossible to attach to the ski).

Jack and Mary Jo Lincke sent me one of their "Surfski-Kayak Seat Pads" - and I love it.

Lincke Seat Pad
Velcro fastners
Lincke Seat Pad
The pad in place

What makes it cool?

  • It's made of four pieces of Minicel Foam - so it fits easily into the curved bucket.
  • It has Velcro sewn onto the bottom of the pad - which mates with self adhesive Velcro that sticks to bucket - so it's really easy to remove when necessary.
  • It's covered with 70 Denier waterproof nylon - which is slippery and aids rotation.

The pad goes for US$36.00 and is available off their website: http://tinyurl.com/4anqr7

Paddle Bag by Mocke

This is the be-all and end-all of paddle bags.  Dawid Mocke put a great deal of thought into this bag and it's ideal for both the casual paddler and the professional who travels.

Mocke paddle bag
The be-all and end-all of paddle bags - the Mocke bag

What makes it cool?

  • It takes two split shaft paddles (i.e. 4 blades) in a protective padded compartment.
  • It has "Fragile" markings sewn onto it - great for travelling on the airlines.
  • It has a transparent pocket for your name & address - ditto.
  • It has two waterproof pockets: you can store your dry clothes in one and your wet kit in the other.  (Don't get them mixed up!)

You can get them from The Paddling Centre in Cape Town: www.thepaddlingcentre.com/

GoPro Hero3 Camera Gear

We're having a lot of fun with our cameras - as you may have seen from the video clips that we've been posting.

GoPro camera gear
Surfski.info's camera gear

Here's the kit that I'm using at the moment:

  • A home-made helmet-cam mounting made by Alain Jaques from an old cycling helmet.  Since then, GoPro have started selling a mounting that can be attached to any helmet.
  • A sucker-mounting that can be attached to almost any surface, flat or curved.  I use this to mount a camera on the back or fore-deck of the ski.  It works really well - but I also use a piece of cord as a safety measure - taped to the deck or attached to one of the adhesive mountings that came with a kit also sold by GoPro

The easiest way to see what's available from GoPro is to go to their website: www.goprocamera.com/   

To buy the stuff, go onto Amazon.com and search for GoPro.

Video editor - Pinnacle Studio 12 Plus. 

I recommend Studio.  I've been using it for years and although they went through a couple of terrible, buggy versions, the latest - version 12 - works well both on desktop and laptop.  I can edit the GoPro files directly and I can upload from my camcorder via a Firewire cable...

A great resource for hints and tips on using the gear may be found on Rambo's blog site:

http://rambos-locker.blogspot.com/

Surfski.Blip.TV

Blip.tv is a really cool service - and seems to work a lot better (for me at any rate) than youtube.

(Click the image or here to get to surfski.blip.tv) 

We're going to continue to post our video clips up there including

  • Interviews - look out for clips with Dawid & Nikki Mocke later today...
  • Our own paddling clips like the storm and downwind paddling videos we put up recently
  • We'll strap the cameras to some elite paddlers in the not-too-distant future - how about watching Dawid or Oscar paddling in a big downwind - with them commentating on technique?  Wouldn't that be cool?
  • Humor - we're looking for humorous paddling clips too.  The first of these is up right now entitled "Clown Around".  This was taken at the beginning of a 46km crossing of False Bay.  The water was freezing and the last thing I wanted was to get wet on the way out.  Fortunately there were massive gaps between the waves so it was easy to avoid them.  But, however... well, you can see what happened next in the video below!