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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Doubles Comparison: Elite v Apex

Sunday, 22 March 2009 05:35 | Written by  Dale Lippstreu
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Doubles Comparison Doubles Comparison Credits: www.surfski.info

[Three weeks ago, Dale Lippstreu and I did back-to-back Millers Runs in two different double skis: the Fenn Mako Elite Double and the Custom Kayaks Apex.  Dale was the driver in both cases.]

Build Quality

Both skis are finished well.  If anything the Apex seems to have the edge in terms of attention to detail.  The Apex used was a lightweight hybrid lay-up model and the Elite was a standard glass model. I am not sure how much extra the hybrid lay-up costs but if I were buying an Apex and it was not too expensive I would go with this option.

Double Surfski Comparison

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Double Surfski Comparison

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Sea Conditions

It needs to be stated upfront that the skis were compared in big sea and wind conditions [Editor: "big" means 25kts and 3-6ft waves] which if anything became bigger on the second run when the Apex was paddled.  The criteria by which the skis are compared therefore relate largely to these conditions and factors such as stability and the ability to keep out and shed water have been given more importance than they ordinarily would in a more rounded appraisal of the skis. 

Dismal Cockpit Drainage

The length of double skis makes them inherently wet in choppy seas and downwind conditions.  Keeping water out of the foot wells, minimizing the volume of foot wells and having effective balers are therefore of greatly increased importance in a double.  The Elite is a lot better on the first 2 aspects as it has higher cockpit sides (5-6 cm higher) and a narrower interior. The Apex footplate adjustment tracks are mounted flat (as opposed to vertically) on the cockpit sides which makes for a big increase in interior width and volume and as a result the Apex cockpit holds about the same amount of water despite the fact that it has much lower sides.   I can only describe the balers on both skis as dismal.  It really surprises me that manufacturers still use old style balers when Epic and Red7 have shown the way with vastly improved balers which are just as easy to fabricate.

Double Ski Comparison

Front Seats

Double Ski Comparison

Rear Seats

Stability

I have paddled an Elite for about a month and can only say that the stability is remarkable.  My first impression of the Apex was to note the greater width at the catch and the seating position which seemed higher and more comfortable than the Elite.  In the calmer protected water of Rumbly Bay the stability of the Apex felt similar but the moment we encountered the ocean swell I started to find it quite tippy. My discomfort was heightened by the fact that I did not feel securely contained by the seating bucket which felt too broad for me and too low.  I weigh 94 kg so I can only guess that slimmer paddlers would feel even less "contained" and secure. 

Video

[Editor: The video bears out what Dale said about his discomfort - you can see how tentative he is in the Apex.  Compare that with the video we made when we were paddling the Elite, where he's taking strong, regular, confident strokes.

Swimming

Half way between the lighthouse and Fish Hoek we took off down a massive face, smacked into the wave in front and flew out of the boat.  The video gives a unique view of the remounting operation!  The first time I got in bum first, lost my balance and fell in again backwards, tipping Dale off as I did so.  On the second attempt, I remounted straddle-style.  Lessons learnt: The driver should get in first - the paddler in the back can help steady the ski.  The second paddler should get in straddle-style.

Given that it took us two goes to get it right - I can report that the Apex is an easy ski to remount.]

 

Speed

It is very difficult for me to make a really meaningful comparison of the performance of the skis because, to be honest, I did not feel sufficiently confident in the Apex to give it a full go.  Whatever I say should therefore be regarded in this context. 

I mentioned in my review of the Elite that it has a remarkable ability to hold its speed once going and this enables one to link runs together to a degree that I had not experienced before.  I found the Apex to be quick onto the runs but not as easily kept there.  I suspect that this is due to greater forward volume which would make it harder to push through runs as you overtake them.  We therefore stalled more off the back of runs flooding the ski each time in the process.  The big buckets and low sides became an issue whenever this occurred and sometimes hooking my feet into the foot strap was all the kept me from being washed out of the ski. 

Steering

I found the steering on the Apex was less direct and authoritive than on the Elite.  I found that it was necessary to hold the rudder jammed full right paddling cross wind out to Bakoven Rock to start the run.  In the Elite I must have done some rightward correction but not to the extent that I noticed doing it.  The Elite also seemed to steer better on the runs but it is only fair to point out that in the Elite we were going for it whereas we were a lot more tentative on the Apex and, as any downwind paddler knows, forward momentum is the key to control.

Measurements

Measurement

Position

Fenn

Apex

Bucket Depth

Front

250mm

195mm

 

Rear

230mm

210mm

Width at pedals

Front

380mm

425mm

 

Rear

460mm

505mm

Bucket Width (outside)

Front

450mm

480mm

 

Rear

430mm

500mm

Bucket width (inside)

Front

395mm

425mm

 

Rear

390mm

435mm

Conclusions

My overall conclusions:  The Elite is a more stable and drier ski in big conditions.  I would have to paddle both skis again in more "regular" conditions in order to offer a fully rounded opinion as to their general characteristics and performance across all conditions.