I'm about 8 sessions into learning surfski on a boat that I know is not ideal (2009 Epic v12). It's going as well as can be expected. I'm gradually getting more speed and stability in flat water, and enjoying the learning process. In rough coastal waters I'm an unmitigated disaster, managing only a few strokes between one broach and the next. I'm sure I'd be progressing faster on a more stable ski, but for now this used one was the only thing in my price range.
From my experiences, and from reading all about surfski here and elsewhere on the Internet, I'm developing a theory (which could be totally wrong) that surfski is actually harder than it needs to be.
Both new and experienced surfski paddlers seem to have very low expectations for user-friendliness of the equipment, which is both good and bad. (For example: we accept rudders that lose their grip right when you really need to turn, and cutting bows that instantly broach you if they touch the water during a wave ride.) Low expectations for user-friendliness of the equipment are good in that they lead to patience and sticktuitiveness. But they may also lead to stagnation in design; acceptance of poor handling characteristics of the boats that limits the conditions they're usable in and makes it so many years of constant practice are required to use them. This could limit fun, and limit participation in the sport. Could we be building surfskis that are still pretty fast in flat water, but much easier to steer and less prone to pearl or broach in rough water, ultimately making them faster in downwinders for 90% of people? I suspect so.
Coming from a SUP background I can contrast surfski shapes with the very downwind-friendly shape of my 14'x27.25" Fanatic Falcon board. The tail of the Fanatic is a pintail like a surfski, but the nose is blunt, voluminous, and generously-rockered, such that when it touches the water it creates lift, resists pearling, and won't catch and steer the board into a broach. Compared to my 14'x23" flatwater race SUP board, which has a surfski-like cutting nose and less rocker, like Fanatic is about 4% slower in flat water, but 400% easier in downwind conditions of any kind, including small, steep waves and bumps of mixed period and mixed direction like we typically get in the Gulf of Mexico. It catches anything and goes wherever you want it to go even with just a fixed fin. Seems like some of the Fanatic Falcon shape features could be incorporated in a longer, narrower sit-down surfski version that would be a lot of fun. They say the nose of a surfski isn't supposed to touch the water much when you're downwinding, anyway, so why not give the nose more rocker and a friendlier boof or surfboard style nose that would allow quicker recovery when it did touch the water?
Another area where I theorize that surfskiers have accepted too much user-unfriendliness is with rudders/fins. On this forum I read about what seem to be some successful experiments in improving rudder effectiveness with "caster" rudders, or with rudders where the forward section is a fixed fin (like a giant weed deflector) and only the aft part pivots. Also, seems like rudder foils that tolerate larger angles of attack would be real useful as standard equipment.
Curious to know your thoughts. Now I'm going to head out to the Gulf of Mexico for some masochistic broaching-crazy upwind/downwind balance/remounting practice in mild seabreeze chop.
From my experiences, and from reading all about surfski here and elsewhere on the Internet, I'm developing a theory (which could be totally wrong) that surfski is actually harder than it needs to be.
Both new and experienced surfski paddlers seem to have very low expectations for user-friendliness of the equipment, which is both good and bad. (For example: we accept rudders that lose their grip right when you really need to turn, and cutting bows that instantly broach you if they touch the water during a wave ride.) Low expectations for user-friendliness of the equipment are good in that they lead to patience and sticktuitiveness. But they may also lead to stagnation in design; acceptance of poor handling characteristics of the boats that limits the conditions they're usable in and makes it so many years of constant practice are required to use them. This could limit fun, and limit participation in the sport. Could we be building surfskis that are still pretty fast in flat water, but much easier to steer and less prone to pearl or broach in rough water, ultimately making them faster in downwinders for 90% of people? I suspect so.
Coming from a SUP background I can contrast surfski shapes with the very downwind-friendly shape of my 14'x27.25" Fanatic Falcon board. The tail of the Fanatic is a pintail like a surfski, but the nose is blunt, voluminous, and generously-rockered, such that when it touches the water it creates lift, resists pearling, and won't catch and steer the board into a broach. Compared to my 14'x23" flatwater race SUP board, which has a surfski-like cutting nose and less rocker, like Fanatic is about 4% slower in flat water, but 400% easier in downwind conditions of any kind, including small, steep waves and bumps of mixed period and mixed direction like we typically get in the Gulf of Mexico. It catches anything and goes wherever you want it to go even with just a fixed fin. Seems like some of the Fanatic Falcon shape features could be incorporated in a longer, narrower sit-down surfski version that would be a lot of fun. They say the nose of a surfski isn't supposed to touch the water much when you're downwinding, anyway, so why not give the nose more rocker and a friendlier boof or surfboard style nose that would allow quicker recovery when it did touch the water?
Another area where I theorize that surfskiers have accepted too much user-unfriendliness is with rudders/fins. On this forum I read about what seem to be some successful experiments in improving rudder effectiveness with "caster" rudders, or with rudders where the forward section is a fixed fin (like a giant weed deflector) and only the aft part pivots. Also, seems like rudder foils that tolerate larger angles of attack would be real useful as standard equipment.
Curious to know your thoughts. Now I'm going to head out to the Gulf of Mexico for some masochistic broaching-crazy upwind/downwind balance/remounting practice in mild seabreeze chop.