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…
Read more...
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.  
Read more...
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.
Read more...
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.
Read more...
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…
Read more...
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.
Read more...
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.
Read more...
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.
Read more...
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.
Read more...
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.
Read more...
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.
Read more...
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!”
Read more...

Surfski Shootout

Wednesday, 26 April 2006 22:44 | Written by 
Rate this item
(1 Vote)

ImageWhat's the fastest ski on the market?

Ask any six paddlers and you’ll likely get six different answers… And you can bet that the answer will likely be: “the ski that I own”!

A group of Cape paddlers got together on Sunday to try to answer the question objectively. This article describes the method used, the results and conclusions…

Method

The first step was to decide how to measure the performance of each ski.  Various suggestions were made but we finally decided on an extremely simple formula:

  • Paddle each ski as fast as possible over a short, flat course.
  • Paddle each ski twice.
  • Make sure the ski was up to speed on entering the course.

By averaging the speeds achieved by the paddlers, we should be able to draw conclusions about the performance of the skis.

The Event

Between them, the group was able to obtain seven skis:

 

 

Epic V10

Fenn Mako 6

Fenn XT

Fenn Mako

Fenn Millennium

Custom Kayaks Icon

Knysna Kayaks Robberg Express

Weight (kg)

17.5

17.1

18.3

17

18.1

18.3

18.1

Weight (lb)

38.58

37.70

40.34

37.48

39.90

40.34

39.90

 

 

Image
The skis

The group comprised three B-grade paddlers:

 Paddler

Paddler Weight (kg)

Paddler Weight (lb)

A

94

207

B

82

181

C

75

165

 

Image
The crew (with a few extras!)

 

The test took place in Hout Bay harbour, the course being laid alongside the yacht jetties.  The distance between the timing marks was 52m.  

The weather was not ideal; a fresh westerly breeze bringing cold driving rain.  The course was protected though and the water calm.

Image
Fenn Mako 6

 

Image
Epic V10

 

Image
Robberg Express

 

Image

Final sprint - in the rain

 

The Results

The table below shows the average speeds (in km/h) achieved by the three paddlers. 

 

 

Epic V10

Fenn Mako 6

Fenn XT

Fenn Mako

Fenn Millennium

Custom Kayaks Icon

Knysna Kayaks Robberg Express

Average

A

14.80

14.58

14.01

13.80

13.92

13.34

13.76

14.03

B

14.10

14.70

12.96

13.59

13.66

14.05

13.19

13.75

C

13.27

13.96

12.80

13.66

13.38

13.53

13.24

13.41

Average

14.06

14.41

13.26

13.68

13.65

13.64

13.40

 

Ranking

2

1

7

3

4

5

6

 

Difference

0.36

0.00

1.16

0.73

0.76

0.77

1.02

 

For our transatlantic cousins, the same table is presented below in mph.

 

Epic V10

Fenn Mako 6

Fenn XT

Fenn Mako

Fenn Millennium

Custom Kayaks Icon

Knysna Kayaks Robberg Express

Average

A

9.20

9.06

8.71

8.57

8.65

8.29

8.55

8.72

B

8.76

9.14

8.05

8.45

8.49

8.73

8.19

8.54

C

8.25

8.67

7.95

8.49

8.32

8.41

8.23

8.33

Average

8.74

8.96

8.24

8.50

8.48

8.48

8.33

 

Ranking

2

1

7

3

4

5

6

 

Difference

0.22

0.00

0.72

0.46

0.47

0.48

0.63

 

The paddlers were asked to rank the stability of the skis from 1 (most stable) to 7 (least stable).  The average results are tabulated below:

 

Epic V10

Fenn Mako 6

Fenn XT

Fenn Mako

Fenn Millennium

Custom Kayaks Icon

Knysna Kayaks Robberg Express

Average

2.75

2.50

1.00

5.25

6.25

6.50

3.75

 

 

Image
Post mortem in the bar
 

Comments

Although the exercise did not simulate a realistic situation (flat water, sprints, various leg length skis), we believe that certain features in the data suggest credibility in the results as a whole.  For example:

Paddler B owns the Icon, and being used to it, achieved by far the best results of the three in it. 

Paddler A owns the V10, and achieved the best results in it.

Conclusions

We believe that several conclusions can be drawn with a fair degree of accuracy:

In terms of the top speed achieved by the participants, the skis could be grouped as follows:

  • Group 1 (fastest): Epic V10 and Fenn Mako 6
  • Group 2: Fenn Millennium, Fenn Mako, Icon
  • Group 3: Robberg Express
  • Group 4 (slowest): Fenn XT

In terms of stability:

  • Group 1 (most stable): Fenn XT
  • Group 2: Epic V10 and Fenn Mako 6
  • Group 3: Robberg Express
  • Group 4: Fenn Mako
  • Group 5 (least stable): Fenn Millennium and Icon

Note: It should be emphasised that these results were achieved by B-grade paddlers.  It would be interesting to see how the results might change given a group of elite paddlers.  One might expect stability to take a lesser role, for example.

Next Steps

Although we feel that the exercise was useful and yielded fairly conclusive results, we intend to perform a number of other tests including:

Comparative Effort at Race Speed

B-grade paddlers like us generally paddle at between 10.5 and 11.5 km/h during an hour-long race.  It would be interesting to compare the effort required to maintain such a speed for 1km on each ski. 

To perform the test, each paddler will use a Garmin GPS/HR monitor to ensure that he paddles at a consistent 11km/h over a 1km course.  Every paddler will paddle every ski.  By comparing the average heart rates when paddling each ski, it should be possible to draw conclusions about the effort expended.

For example the result might look like:

 

Ski A

Ski B

Ski C

Ski D

Ski E

Ski F

Ski G

Paddler A (BPM)

140

150

130

135

120

122

123

The conclusion drawn from the above data would be that Ski E was the easiest to paddle at 11km/h because the average HR over the 1km course was the lowest.

Measurement of Drag

By using a pole, a catamaran and a strain gauge, it should be possible to measure the drag imposed by each ski at various speeds and weights. 

Stay tuned...

Thanks

Thanks to all the guys who took part: Dale, David, Tom, and especially the timekeepers who were soaked and frozen: Johan, Alain & Janet.