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: Fenn Mako Elite double

Sunday, 08 March 2009 16:30 | Written by  Dale Lippstreu
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Fenn Mako Elite Double Fenn Mako Elite Double Credits: www.surfski.info

[Editor: Dale Lippstreu recently bought a new Fenn Elite Double to race the doubles season here in Cape Town, South Africa. Here’s what he found.]

Some background

To date I have not been a particularly enthusiastic doubles paddler; my previous double was a Fenn Millennium and it was only taken out of the garage briefly for the doubles part of the paddling season each year. 

While I enjoy the "tandem" racing aspect of a double ski I found the paddling position very uncomfortable.  The width of the ski and semi reclining position made for a constant load on the stomach muscles and uncomfortable paddle stroke.

When I heard that Fenn had introduced a new double with single footwells and a narrower catch I ordered one sight unseen.  I have now had it for a couple of weeks and the assessment which follows is based on my experience and observations to date.

Fenn Mako Elite Double

Click here for a larger image

Fenn Mako Elite Double

Click here for a larger image

Overall appearance and build quality

The ski is well finished and consistent with the quality one comes to expect from Fenn.  The ski is hugely lighter than my previous double and this produces noticeably better acceleration on the water. 

Despite the weight reduction the hull and deck remains stiff and there's no "oil canning" or waviness visible in the surface.

The new footplates are extremely sturdy and very solid to push against.  I make this point because many skis have quite of bit of flex and play in the footplates and a lot of paddlers complain of this.

Fenn Mako Elite Double

Balers

Unfortunately the balers are not good.  I was astounded how long the footwells took to drain after they  flooded after going through the surf and have to say that they are nowhere as good as those on the V10 and Red7 Pro which I paddle regularly.  This is important because the single footwells hold a lot of water.  I plan to do a mod by adding Red7 type bullets which will hopefully improve the baler performance dramatically.

Fenn Mako Elite Double

Rudder

The ski features a new rectangular plan-form rudder which I believe is a significant improvement on the old "shark fin" style rudder which I have never liked.  Fenn however persist with incredibly thin rudders which have a sharp entry i.e. the leading edge is not radiused.  While I have not yet had an opportunity to paddle the ski in big downwind conditions, I expect the rudder to be very prone to stalling.

It is also worth mentioning that the tiller bar came loose during the first paddle.  Examination of the rudder after the event revealed that the rudder shaft had not been ground down sufficiently to into the square hole in the tiller bar.  The problem was hidden by the fact I had tightened the nut sufficiently to create a friction lock which quickly loosened on the water.  The problem was quickly solved by filing down the shaft but this small quality control issue could have had a serious outcome as it caused total rudder loss about 1km offshore in very rough conditions with a 35 knot wind blowing directly offshore.

Fenn Mako Elite Double

Paddling the ski

Skis have changed a lot in the 6 years since the millennium was launched so it's not surprising that the new Elite is a dramatic improvement.

Sitting in the front the reduction in width is immediately apparent. The width is in fact the same as the single and this makes for a vast improvement in paddling comfort and efficiency.  The seating layout is also the same as the single and removes all the discomfort issues referred to at the start.  The ski transforms doubles paddling for me.

With the great reduction in width it would be fair to expect that the ski would be less stable but it's exactly the opposite: the ski is markedly more stable and if this seems unbelievable I should add that this is not just my view - every paddler I know who has tried the ski has found the same. Overall stability, as any paddler who has tried a range of skis knows, is made up of primary and secondary stability and it the blend of these that creates the true nature of a ski.  Keith Fenn seems to have hit a truly sweet spot with the Elite.  The ski gives such confidence that I find I can paddle through heavy chop with minimal impact on my paddle stroke.

My experience to date is that it catches runs really well and the enhanced stability makes it a lot easier to get those crucial power strokes required to launch the ski onto the runs.

Speed

So how fast in the ski?  After my first paddle I called Rob and offered an opinion that we would be between 3-4 minutes in the hour faster in the new ski over the old.  We have just held the 4th race of the doubles season this weekend of which 2 races were in the old ski and 2 in the new.  Our results relative to our "markers" in the field and show a drastic improvement.  Will this hold for all paddlers in the same degree?  Bearing in mind that I was particularly uncomfortable in the old double the results may be less marked for others but I am sure it is only a question of extent.  The ski is definitely a lot faster.

My paddling partner Sean Butler loves the ski as well and his only criticism is that the rear foot strap is too high and too loose.  This will be an issue as locking one's feet into the straps is sometimes the only way to prevent the back seat paddler from being pulled out of the ski when it floods in big downwind conditions.  I plan to lower the strap and add a Velcro adjustment to both the front and rear.  The modification will also add stiffness to the strap so that it remains in place for quick entry at the start of races.  

Millers Run Video

[Editor: Dale and I took the ski for a Millers Run last weekend.  Conditions were great - 25kt+ southeaster with 1-2m swells. We had a ball.  Double skis are wet - and we charged one wave and ended up under water... as you'll see on the video clip.  We were laughing so hard, it took a while to get going again...

We did a second run immediately after in the Custom Kayaks Apex double - look out for the article (and video clip) on that run!]

 

What I like about the Fenn Mako Elite Double

  • Narrow catch
  • Comfortable paddling position
  • Stability (especially the nature of the stability)
  • Light weight
  • Build quality
  • Performance

What I don't like

  • The balers (no improvement over the old ones)
  • The floppy footstraps and the high rear strap
  • The rudder (but this is in principle only as I have not tested it fully yet)

Overall

The Fenn Elite has set the new benchmark for double skis