speed ski kayak?

i saw a speed ski kayak today, fiberglass about 18 ft long, rudder , does
anyone know anything about these boats, if they are still made or how they
handle, sure looked fast
TIA tt

sobo...@aol.commmto (SOBO CYCLE) writes:

The boat you're describing sounds like a "surfski" (be careful here,
as the boats used in surfing conditions are usually called waveskis,
confusion is easy with these terms). There are several reputable
makers, and they are, indeed, fast. Some places to try out on the web:

http://www.sfdj.com/fall/freedive/

This is a generic site for surfskis, a good intro to people who are
not familiar with them. A nicely done, non-commercial site.

http://www.aloha.com/~twogood/

Twogood Kayaks is a manufacturer in Hawaii. Their boats are about the
most radical I've seen commercially available. They seem to do rather
well in the Hawaii race scene.

http://www.surfskis.com/

Futura Surfskis are an emminent manufacturer in California. Their
boats are not as all-out radical as Twogood's boats are, but they also
seem to do well in the race environment. A Futura Surfski holds the
current 24 hour World Record distance (216 miles). I've had business
with them, and they are very service oriented IMHO.

http://www.cdkayak.com/speedster.htm

Current Designs' designer Brian Henry teamed up with four-time Olympic
medalist Greg Barton to design a surfski. The result is a very fast
surfski, just now coming out, and it seems to be doing well in races
here on the mainland USA. I think more time is required before a
definitive answer is found as to who's surfski is fastest (high on my
list are Twogood, Futura, and the Speedster).

One of the things surfski's seem to be associated with, mostly due to
their extreme high performance, is wing paddles. Here are a few sites
associated with wing paddles:

http://www.aca-paddler.org/wing.htm

The ACA has a nice article on use of wing paddles. The idea is
introduced and explained, and a short test of some wing paddles is
also included.

http://www.thegrid.net/kanu2u/wing.html

Lloyd Reeves sells some wing paddles. A good guy and a great resource
if you have a question. He holds the San Diego Bay-to-Bay Race
elapsed time record (a 20 mile open ocean race) in the sea kayak
class. Lloyd also maintains a list of California kayak race events...

http://members.aol.com/paco4b/kayak.html

California Sports Equipment is a maker of wing blades. Don't know
much about them.

http://www.canoesports.co.nz/paddles.html

Canoe Sports NZ also makes wing blades, again I have no info.

http://www.epicpaddles.com/excalibur.htm

Greg Barton (4-time Olympic medalist for the USA) also makes his own
Wing paddles. After years of using them, Greg designed a better
mousetrap, and with his engineering background he is well qualified to
do so. His blades are quite possibly the best made anywhere in the
world today.

http://www.cyberus.ca/~turbo/index.shtml

Turbo, another brand of wing paddles.

I hope that helps.

Al Bowers

PS. I don't have a surfski, I have a high performance sea kayak, but
surfski performance is really attractive. I do, however, use a wing
paddle. I've got a Werner Pegasus, but I was really tempted by a
Barton paddle. maybe next time I'll buy a Barton...

--
Al Bowers Aerodynamics NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
"...tactics always degrade strategy..." -Frank Bethwaite

You may be thinking of surf skis. There are a number of different
manufacturers.

One in California is Futura Surf Skis at

www.surfskis.com

The Futura II is the most stable of the longer boats. I have one.

There is also Valhalla made in San Diego. Their models are pretty fast, most
are around 19' long and 19" wide. They can go as narrow as 18". I don't
have website on them. I have two Valhalla boats, the Viking International
(19' x 19") and a Valhalla (19'5" x 18 - 3/4").

Bob Twogood makes surf skis in Hawaii. Their website is

http://www.aloha.com/~twogood/surfski.html

Twogood also offers one week classes on using a surf ski to ride waves. I took
the class about 14 months ago, it was great. Bob is a true Hawaiian.

If it was an enclosed deck, it could be Necky Phantom. They make those custom
order. West Side Boat Shop in New York makes a Extra Fast Tourer (EFT) that
is about 19' feet by 20". I've only seen it at races.

There are a number of other boats on the market. I live in Northern California
and see quite a few at Outrigger Canoe races.

Mark.

SOBO CYCLE wrote:

> TIA tt

I own a speedski 18' long red and white kayak,but I e also been on line and to no avail. It looks fast, the cables and footpeddles are in good shape. But I don't know what I have in front of me. It's in beautiful cond. And I also am stumped on where or who makes these. My is for sale 619 201 6971 my name is Robbie

What I know about paddle boats is: longer faster boat, short turney boat!

I love my 7'2" Riot 007! Spins/turns on a DIME! But does NOT win races!

John Kuthe, Retired from Slalom Racing 1998, 3rd place men's novice class! ;-)