Hi dear readers,
After coming back from South Africa, where everything on the water had to do with Surf Ski's, and every afternoon everyone takes their skis to paddle the ocean, I had to check it out myself.
Last time I've tried to paddle a surf ski, it was at the Stealth skis introduction event: I was a little drunk, in the dark, first time holding a wing paddle. As you can imagine, it wasn't the best conditions and I was lucky not to break the ski in the surf.
Eyal Abro imports Stealth and Fenn surf and fishing skis. He just got a new shipment of Fenn skis and he was kind enough and invited us to join him for a morning paddle at the beach of Michmoret.
I invited Adi Gafni, an olympic paddler to join me, and at the beach we've met Israel from Optimist and Misha Kalganov, former olympic paddler medalist.
The sea conditions were great - about 70-80cm swell waves and 10 knots wind. Eyal wanted me to paddle the wider and more stable Stealth Adventura (4.83m long, 49cm wide), but I wanted a more radical and faster ski, so I got the Strika (5.93m, 48cm). The olympic paddlers took the Fenn Mako elite (6.4m, 44cm) and Israel was on the Adventura. After a short explanation from Eyal how to get on the ski and stay on it, we set out south west, against the wind and swell. The skis handle the conditions easily - even though they're narrow and feel shaky, you can brace yourself easily. I found it a bit hard to brace with the wing paddle, while Adi had a hard time getting used to the continuous movement of the waves. After 10 minutes we turned back and then we saw the surf ski at his best - when the wind and waves at the back, it slides on the water much faster than any other kayak and the small rudder helps steering the big monster.
After coming back from South Africa, where everything on the water had to do with Surf Ski's, and every afternoon everyone takes their skis to paddle the ocean, I had to check it out myself.
Last time I've tried to paddle a surf ski, it was at the Stealth skis introduction event: I was a little drunk, in the dark, first time holding a wing paddle. As you can imagine, it wasn't the best conditions and I was lucky not to break the ski in the surf.
Eyal Abro imports Stealth and Fenn surf and fishing skis. He just got a new shipment of Fenn skis and he was kind enough and invited us to join him for a morning paddle at the beach of Michmoret.
I invited Adi Gafni, an olympic paddler to join me, and at the beach we've met Israel from Optimist and Misha Kalganov, former olympic paddler medalist.
The sea conditions were great - about 70-80cm swell waves and 10 knots wind. Eyal wanted me to paddle the wider and more stable Stealth Adventura (4.83m long, 49cm wide), but I wanted a more radical and faster ski, so I got the Strika (5.93m, 48cm). The olympic paddlers took the Fenn Mako elite (6.4m, 44cm) and Israel was on the Adventura. After a short explanation from Eyal how to get on the ski and stay on it, we set out south west, against the wind and swell. The skis handle the conditions easily - even though they're narrow and feel shaky, you can brace yourself easily. I found it a bit hard to brace with the wing paddle, while Adi had a hard time getting used to the continuous movement of the waves. After 10 minutes we turned back and then we saw the surf ski at his best - when the wind and waves at the back, it slides on the water much faster than any other kayak and the small rudder helps steering the big monster.
Back in the small bay, while Misha, Israel and Eyal went out for another leg, I've stayed with Adi to practice paddling the Fenn and take some pictures and videos. Being that narrow, it's not easy to mount and control, but like taming a wild horse, after a few circles around, we got used to it and managed to catch some waves. The Fenn is amazing - with it's high volume nose, it climbs over the waves and the narrow, long hull gives it an incredible speed. It'll be interesting trying this ski again, in a rougher sea with higher waves or downwind.
Thanks a lot to Eyal who invited us and helped us and I'm sure it wasn't a one-time experience and I'll be back for more.
2 comments:
Nice story - and welcome to an awesome sport...!
For a taste of downwind paddling, check out http://vimeo.com/13770777!
Thank you, that was extremely valuable and interesting...I will be back again to read more on this topic.
Post a Comment