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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New Skis from Red7.

Sunday, 18 June 2006 00:47 | Written by 
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ImageRed7 have been awfully quiet for the last couple of months. 

 

An advert in the latest SA Paddling gives a hint about what they've been up to...

 

Red7 have been busy: gearing up to manufacture no fewer than five new skis.  They've gone the CAD and modelling route, with all the designs being submitted to Intelligent Fluid Solutions in the UK for analysis using advanced fluid dynamics modelling systems.

 

Intelligent Fluid Solutions

 

A common criticism of CAD-design is that "computers can't tell you how a ski will behave in waves."  Red7 say that Intelligent Fluid Solutions have advanced modelling systems that can simulate performance in waves.  The hulls were analysed in simulated upwind, downwind and flat conditions.

 

Prototypes

 

Anton Erasmus has been raving about the prototype Red7 70, saying that it's much more stable than the previous version.  He's paddled the new Red7 60 too and reckons that it's going to change the market for entry-level skis because of its speed, comfort and stability.

 

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Pete Mote on the new Surf70
 

 

So what are the new skis?

 

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Red7 Surf70

 

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  • The original design has been modified so that the resulting hull is significantly more stable, and slightly faster. 

 

Surf70 Plus

 

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  • Still high performance, but more stable e.g. for the older paddler.

 

Surf65

 

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  • Smaller volume, slightly shorter at 6.1m, still high performance but intended for ladies, men under 75kg.

 

60

 

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  • Beginners ski
  • Redesigned for speed and additional stability.

 

80

 

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  • Double ski
  • Stable but quick
  • Both cockpits fully adjustable.

 

Common Design Characteristics

 

All the single skis look similar, have a similar deck, and have fully adjustable, single foot-wells.

 

All moulds will be wired to perform post-curing to 80 degrees in the mould.  This is to overcome problems experienced with boats going overseas in containers that got to 100 degrees on the decks of the ships.

 

Vacuum infusion technology has improved quality; new resins improve weight and stiffness making glass boats the same weight & stiffness as a carbon boat.

 

Weights:

 

-         standard will be about 16.5kg

-         hi-tech epoxy will be about 11.5kg

 

Red7 at the Surf Ski World Cup

 

Red7 will be well represented with Red7 70 skis being paddled by:

 

  • Dawid Mocke
  • Matt Boumann
  • Kurt Tutt (Australia)

 

Surfski.info hopes to get some photos of the new skis at the World Cup.  Dawid will be bringing his Red7 70 back to Cape Town after the event and we hope to bring you a review of the ski.

 

For more information, see http://www.red7surf.com and http://www.intelligentfluidsolutions.co.uk/index.html