darren
Poobah Emeritus
Has anyone on here paddled a surf ski? A surf ski is usually around 20' long, VERY narrow, fiberglass or kevlar and very light, you sit on top of it and use a rudder to steer. They are a racing machine made to go very fast, but they are very unstable.
Here is a picture for an example:
I tried out one this weekend. I spent more time in the water than on top of it. It is unreal how unstable they are. I have been kayaking for 12 years and I could only stay on it for about 50' max. Granted, the wind was blowing about 25 mph and there was a good chop running, but still it was incredibly unstable. People race them between the islands out here (36 - 90 mile crossings) and I have no idea how they stay upright in the waves.
It was a humbling experience to say the least. There were two local guys on the beach that helped me get on it. One of them kept laughing at me everytime I fell over. I asked him if he had ever paddled one before and he said that he had paddled a "kayak like it". I could generally paddle about 50' between each dunking. I finally asked him if he wanted to try. He got 3 strokes in and fell over. The next time he only got 2 strokes in before he fell over. Then his friend was laughing at him.
The boat accelerates very fast and they have a normal top speed of around 9 knots (vs. about 5 or 6 knots for a good cockpit kayak). I just don't know how people stay on them. It must take tons of practice - more time than I have!
- darren
Here is a picture for an example:
I tried out one this weekend. I spent more time in the water than on top of it. It is unreal how unstable they are. I have been kayaking for 12 years and I could only stay on it for about 50' max. Granted, the wind was blowing about 25 mph and there was a good chop running, but still it was incredibly unstable. People race them between the islands out here (36 - 90 mile crossings) and I have no idea how they stay upright in the waves.
It was a humbling experience to say the least. There were two local guys on the beach that helped me get on it. One of them kept laughing at me everytime I fell over. I asked him if he had ever paddled one before and he said that he had paddled a "kayak like it". I could generally paddle about 50' between each dunking. I finally asked him if he wanted to try. He got 3 strokes in and fell over. The next time he only got 2 strokes in before he fell over. Then his friend was laughing at him.
The boat accelerates very fast and they have a normal top speed of around 9 knots (vs. about 5 or 6 knots for a good cockpit kayak). I just don't know how people stay on them. It must take tons of practice - more time than I have!
- darren
