Information about Surf Ski

A surf ski is a light recreational water craft with a long narrow displacement type hull, an open or sit-on-top cockpit and almost invariably with a foot pedal controlled rudder. kayak used for surf kayaking, surf lifesaving, or flat-water racing. Double bladed paddles are used, often with highly contoured wing blades for extra efficiency. Waveskis are usually 10 feet or less in length, typically with a wide planing type bottom and one to three fixed skegs, or fins. Waveskis are more similar to surf boards and are used primarily in surf play. There has been some confusion in terminology as surf skis and waveskis types developed, but these usages are almost universal now. Surf kayaking is sometimes called "surf canoeing" in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Surf skis are very long and narrow for kayaks, typically about 20 feet (6 meters) long and 16-20" (40-50cm) wide. As such, they excel at going fast and tracking well, but at the expense of maneuverability and stability. Most surf skis are made of composite materials, such as cloth made from fiberglass, carbon fiber or kevlar, which is bonded with an epoxy or polyester resin. In order to reduce the weight the number of layers of the material and the amount of resin is minimized to just that necessary for structural integrity.

Surf skis are used worldwide, but are most popular in warmer coastal regions, notably Australia, California, Hawaii, and South Africa, as paddling a surf ski inevitably involves contact with the water. In cooler waters, paddlers often choose to wear a wetsuit.

History

The earliest reports of surf skis originate from Newcastle Beach in Australia in the 1920s, though other accounts are reported from South Africa. Surf skis were originally designed to be paddled out through surf in order to rescue drowning swimmers. Until the 1960s, surfboats -- lightweight rowing boats with a crew of five -- were responsible for the rescue work in and behind the surf line. These boats were expensive and require a huge amount of skill to be used effectively. It was soon realised that a double surfski could do almost everything that a surfboat could do, and in 1946, the importance of surfskis was noted by the surf lifesaving associations and they were included in lifesaving competitions and championships. Riders could stand up on them to surf them back to shore. These early surf skis were very wide and have little in resemblance to their modern counterparts.

Surf skis were quickly introduced into surf lifesaving as a competition event. Over time they became narrower and narrower to maximise speed. Despite their appearances a surf ski (with an experienced paddler) is a very effective craft for paddling in big surf. Its narrow width makes it great for cutting through large broken waves. The front of the modern lifesaving type surf ski is often flared to prevent nose diving on returning to shore when surfing down large steep waves.

Design

Early surfskis were constructed in the same way as early surfboards, being laminated from light wood and sometimes covered with fabric. In the 1960 the first foam surfboards and surfskis were made, being carved from a single block of expanded polystyrene foam, strengthened with wooden stringers and covered with a thin layer of fibreglass. As the demand for surfskis grew in the 1970s, this custom method of production proved too costly and moulds were made from the most successful surfskis so that moulded craft could be made more cost effectively out of glass-fibre. At the same time, there was a divergence in ski design, one type becoming known as the lifesaving spec surfski and the other being the long distance racing surfski.

The hull shapes on modern long distance racing surfskis differ from the lifesaving spec surfskis in that they are longer, have sharply pointed bows and understern rudders. Surfskis also differ from long distance racing kayaks in that they are much longer, have more longitudinal curvature (rocker), are more stable and the paddler is seated more towards the centre of the craft to enhance wave riding ability. A long distance racing surfski must have enough volume in the bow to provide buoyancy when punching through surf, a long waterline to make use of ocean swells, a sleek, narrow shape to reduce water resistance, as well as enough stability to make paddling in rough conditions feasible.

Waveskis are short and have fins/skegs and riders may be strapped onto the board to perform radical and extreme surfing of waves.

Competition

The Surf Ski is used in a number of surf lifesaving competition events in countries such as New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

Since its introduction, surfski racing has been managed by the International Life Saving Federation. The standard ILS surfski race is about 700m, from a start in the water, out around a series of buoys and back to the beach. It was not long before people began going further afield in these new, extremely seaworthy craft, and long distance racing began to emerge. The earliest races were the Scottburgh to Brighton in South Africa, a 46km event first held in 1958; the PE to East London in South Africa, a 240km event held every two years since 1972 and the most famous of them all, the Molokai race in Hawaii, a 60km event first held in 1976.

Waveski Surfing is an offshoot of the surfski that officially occurred in 1984 with the formation of the World Waveski Surfing Association.

More recently, there has been a huge growth in long distance surfski racing in USA, Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific countries. There has been a move in many of these active surfski racing countries to transfer the long distance events to the International Canoe Federations as the Lifesaving Federations often do not have the resources to manage long distance races with up to 500 competitors.

Events include:

• Surfski
• Surfrace
• Paddelboard
• Ski relay
• Taplin Relay
• Oceanan (new name since ILS Rulebook 2007, in history it is Ironman)

Also, surf skis have become popular for races that take place in an ocean or bay, lake or rivers as well. One benefit to the surfski is that if the conditions toss the kayaker into the water, a "wet entry" is possible, by simply climbing back onto the boat and continuing kayaking without having to drain the boat of water.

Venues include: Thurso East in the UK.

Manufacturers

There are many different manufacturers of Surf Ski used in competitions, some common names are:

Australia

• Aero Surf Skis, NSW
• Burton Surf, NSW
• Dolphin, QLD
• Hayden, QLD
• Ozflyte, QLD
• Gibbons, QLD NSW

New Zealand

• CHD (Cory Hutchings Design)
• Fenn Kayaks

USA

• Epic Kayaks, SC
• Futura, CA
• Huki, CA
• Wave Witch, CA

Germany

• Wetiz
• Kayak Centre

South Africa

• Stealth Performance Products

Unknown

• Renegade
• Spectrum

External links

• The SurfSki Series
• Surf Ski Racing in Germany
• Surf Ski racing in New Zealand
• United Kingdom Surf kayaking site
• Scottish Surf kayaking
• South African Waveski Site
• Australian surfski site
• Surfski.Info