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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Review: Red7 Surf70

Wednesday, 06 September 2006 22:11 | Written by 
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ImageSome time ago Red7 announced that they'd redesigned their entire range of surf skis and had added a couple of models to it.  They said that they'd made extensive use of CAD systems in the redesign to make the skis both faster and more stable.

The first demo models arrived in Cape Town and we were quick to take the Surf 70 out for a test run in Hout Bay.

 

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(For a larger image click here)  

First Impressions

Heavy, man!  The demo ski weighed in at 21kg.  But I'd been warned that this ski was one of the first out of the mould and that it wasn't representative of a production model.  The "real thing" should weigh in at around 17.5kg in glass lay-up and around 13 kg in a lighter Carbon Kevlar version. 

The rudder pedals are fully adjustable and easy to use.  The system is tried and tested - it's the same as on the Robberg Express and the Epic V10.  I found the footplate quite flimsy but I believe this has been beefed up on the production skis.

The rudder is mounted quite a bit further forward than on other skis and I was keen to find out what difference this made to the steering. 

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To me the cockpit felt similar to the V10 - and had the same unfortunate effect on my coccyx.  This probably means that most others will find the cockpit comfortable - I know of only two other people in the world who, like me, find the V10 cockpit uncomfortable! 

Paddling the Surf 70

I paddled a Surf 70 the first time in the ARB Surf Ski World Cup in Durban after I broke my ski the day before.  Pete Mote kindly stepped in and offered me one of the two demo 70s that he'd brought up to Durban.  The flat conditions meant that I couldn't tell very much about the ski but I scored a B-grade time, the best result I've achieved yet in a long distance race.  So for me, on flat water at any rate, the ski seemed fast. 

But what about choppy conditions?

The day I took the 70 out in Hout Bay, the southeaster was blowing hard and the bay was covered with white caps.  In those conditions Hout Bay presents a perfect testing ground - you paddle across the bay into the wind and sharp chop then you turn around and come back surfing downwind. 

My paddling buddy Dale Lippstreu was with me, paddling his V10.  We have a similar paddling capability and speed, and intended to swap skis in an effort to make some basic comparisons.

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For a larger image, click here

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For a larger image, click here

Steering on flat water 

We launched and warmed up in the harbour, taking some time to compare the steering of the Surf 70 and the V10.  We paddled in line with Dale ahead of me and then turned together with full rudder.  The Surf 70's turning circle was significantly wider than the V10's. 

Incredible Stability 

The first thing that struck me as we left the harbour and entered the rough water in the bay was how incredibly stable the 70 is.  How stable?  It's significantly more stable than either my Mako 6 or the Epic V10. 

I had a couple of other paddlers try it out and the consensus was that it approaches the stability of the Fenn XT. 

This fact alone should make the ski appeal to a broad range of paddlers.

Upwind in the 70

The 70's hull is quite flat underneath and just in front of the cockpit - this is part of the reason for the amazing stability of the ski.  The flatness of the hull has the side effect though that it tends to slap on the water quite noticeably when going upwind. 

Does this affect the speed at all?  Difficult to say.  The V10 cuts through the waves more smoothly and quietly going upwind and Dale felt that the V10 was faster.  I wasn't so sure. 

The 70 tended to dig its nose into the oncoming waves occasionally and the water would run along the deck and wet the paddler.  I suspect that this behaviour was partly caused by the abnormal weight of the ski as I didn't notice the same thing on a lighter 70 I paddled a few days later in Fish Hoek. 

Downwind in the 70

To me an area where the ski really excels is going downwind.  It seems to pick up the waves very easily and smoothly.  (In the World Cup race too, I noticed that it seemed easy to slipstream other skis in the 70.  The folks at Red 7 claim that by contrast, the 70 leaves almost no wake making it difficult for anyone else to slipstream a 70!) 

But, given the wide turning circle, just how manoeuvrable is the ski going downwind?

The answer, surprisingly, is that the steering is excellent - the ski is exceptionally responsive and turns well so that you can chase the runs from one wave to the next.

Some days later I did a downwind run with ace paddler Dawid Mocke from Millers Point to Fish Hoek.  Dawid was paddling one of the new 70s - a much lighter one than the demo ski.  He too commented on how stable the ski is and how fast, particularly downwind.

Innovation - the power drain

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...bulb-like appendage behind the venturi
 

Just behind the venturi drain on the demo 70, there is a bulb-like appendage sticking out of the bottom of the boat.  This gadget causes the drain to be much more effective.  According to Red7, the venturi alone only becomes effective at about 10-12km/h.  The bulb causes the venturi to be effective from around 4km/h.

Teething Troubles 

When I took the ski out of the water at the end of an hour's paddling, I noticed water sloshing about inside; it had taken in about a litre.  I called Red7 about this and they confirmed that the first couple of skis had a problem around the rudder post - but they have since started using a different method of attaching the rudder shaft and the problem seems to be solved.  (It's interesting how so many new designs have this problem - the first V10s went through a phase of this as well.)

What I liked 

  • The stability, which means that the paddler can focus on putting 100% effort into moving forward even on choppy seas.
  • The speed - especially downwind. I believe this ski is just as fast going downwind as anything else on the market. It was difficult to get an accurate impression of its speed upwind.
  • The sturdy construction. My impression is that the ski is solidly built and strong.
  • The venturi "bulb" that enhances the drainage of the cockpit - it really works.

What I didn't like 

  • The demo ski. I believe that manufacturers should show off their best products, not their worst! This ski was heavier than normal and had various finish blemishes like a wavy seam. I think it's unfair to the product to use this as a demo.
  • The steering on flat water. This ski would definitely be at a disadvantage going around buoys for example.
  • The footplate which I felt was flimsy.
  • The seat. But I've had mixed feedback about the bucket and in any case a butt pad should sort any problems out. With that much stability you can pad up as much as you like and still be stable.

Overall

The extraordinary stability of the ski combined with its speed will be attractive to paddlers with a wide range of ability.

For more information:

Go to the Red7 website.