Latest News
National Series Notebook: A Loaded July
Patrick Dolan flew 5,000 miles from Hawaii to Massachusetts and won the 2026 USA COR National Championships on a grueling open water course against a stacked field of athletes. Five days later, Austin Kieffer won the showcase race at the Gorge Downwind Championships paddlesports festival in the biggest conditions the event [...]
On Training: Physical Integration
The race was two-thirds over and the aerobic system was still running cleanly. Breathing had stayed in control, the stroke hadn't collapsed, and the pace was within the range that should have been sustainable. But something had shifted in the last thirty minutes. A shoulder carrying something separate from the general [...]
On Downwinding: Leveraging Energy
The difference between flatwater paddling and downwinding isn't subtle. Grinding a flat stretch is the opposite: all work and no rest, every foot of distance earned stroke by stroke with nothing free about it. Catching a wave takes a handful of hard strokes, sometimes just one, and then the boat rides [...]
On Training: Efficiency and Friction
During any long session or race, most of each stroke converts cleanly into forward motion. A small fraction gets diverted into correction, stabilization, and adjustment. Some of that cost comes from outside: the ocean pushes, the boat responds, and effort goes toward holding a line and keeping the hull settled underneath [...]
On Racing: Finishing Strong
Finishing well has little to do with who is most tired. Everyone is tired. What separates paddlers at the end of a race is not how much they have left, but how clearly they can still act with what remains. The finish is rarely a single effort. It is a sequence [...]
Stability in the Boat-Do you need more?
By Wesley Echols I have paddled a wide range of skis over the years from advanced to beginner in all types of conditions. Below are some helpful hints on becoming more stable in your ski. Boat Choice: think about the conditions that you will be paddling in the 75% of the [...]
Surfski Reviews
Looking for an ocean ski? Check out the surfski comparison chart!
Update by Reid Hyle, New 2015 Stellar SES 2G Surf Ski Review
October 14, 2015, Reid Hyle's Thoughts on the New SES 2G Definitely put the new SES on your short list if you are a medium sized paddler looking for a new ride. There isn’t much need to go over a lot of detail about what has been changed from the [...]
Fenn Swordfish S Review
I fell into the same mindset that many paddlers are guilty of when it comes to buying skis. We ask ourselves how different can all these surfskis really be? Well certainly, I know the differences, the major, minor, nuances of most skis, but I put off trying the Swordfish S(SFS) [...]
The Green Machine: Vajda Hawx Elite Review
A number of years ago Mark McKenzie ,co-owner with Mark Smith(pharmacist by trade), of Elite Ocean Sports, US distributors of Vajda skis and K1's, called me to discuss options for purchasing another ski. As I recall Mark, an ex cyclist, and novice surfski paddler, and veterinarian from South Carolina wanted [...]
Fenn Spark Elite Review by Bill Lecomte
A Review of the Fenn Spark, As Compared to the Stellar SES Sept 2014 by Bill LeComte I have had the Fenn Spark/Carbon-Hybrid for about 3 weeks now. I'll start right off by saying I am very impressed with the boat. Note: I have no connection to any surfski manufacturer/seller. [...]
Surfski Comparison Chart is Now Updated!
Check out the Comparison Chart with the numbers assigned to each ski along with the comparison Grid to get an overall visual on the relative speed vs stability. For example you can see that I rated the SR as the most stable since it at the top of the chart [...]