Latest News
On Training: Attention and Its Limits
The paddler to your right has been pushing the pace for the last few minutes, and you've been tracking them. Watching their rhythm, watching the gap, watching whether they're going to open it further. Somewhere to your left, a run has been developing for the last few seconds. It would have [...]
On Training: Seeing the Water
The first time something catches your eye before you understand what it means, you almost dismiss it. A change in texture fifty meters ahead, a slight darkening of the surface, the way another paddler two boats over suddenly lifts their pace before you've registered anything worth responding to. It registers briefly [...]
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 [...]
SurfKLM 🤙🏻Surfski Hong Kong (5 Sep 2026)
Surfski Reviews
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Huki S1XL Surfski Review by Wesley Echols
History with Huki My history with Huki dates back to 2004 when I got my first Huki S1X(orange in pic below) with a fix leg length. That was my second surf ski after a 3 month stint with my first surf ski, a Mako XT. As I have told the [...]
Nelo 550, Think Evo 3, Stellar SEI, Surfski Time Trials
In my garage and basement I have my favorite skis. As usual it is a mix of advanced skis (Think Uno 2g, Ion 3G, Epic V12 2g, Stellar SEL 2G, Nelo 560M and intermediate skis( Nelo 550, Stellar SR 2G, SEI 2G, Think Evo 2, Evo 3). Of the advanced [...]
What are my favorite skis? by Wesley Echols
Over my years of racing, my goal has been to try to optimize my boat choice for a particular race based on the conditions of that race and my skill level at that point in time. As we all know, our skill level changes over time if you paddle regularly (2-5 [...]
Nelo 540L Surf Ski Review
Introduction My history with surf skis dates backs to 2003 and my kayak experience predates that. Over these years I launched this site, sold out my Surfski Basics DVD, started reviewing skis, raced extensively, started a race series, gave many lessons, responded to many paddlers regarding boat choices, was instrumental [...]
New Surfski Reviews Coming: 2012 Nelo Vintage(30lbs), 2010 Nelo Vintage(23lbs) and Van Dusen Mohican
Team SurfskiRacing.com Chris(web master) and myself will be reviewing the 2012 Nelo Vintage in the WWR construction(30lbs), a Nelo Vintage in the E construction at 23lbs, and the pure flat water surf ski, the Ted Van Dusen Mohican. It will probably be a month before we get everything posted but [...]