Stellar S18S 2G Ultra, September 3, 2018
Over the last few months I was able to paddle the 28lb Ultra layup in a varied conditions. So this lighter version was a welcome relief over the 35lb advantage layup I had originally paddled. I don’t like time trialing or paddling skis over 28lbs due to the added weight and effort to keep them moving. All my time trials over the most recent years have been in the 22lb to 28lb weight range with all brands. So wanting to test this ski in true ocean conditions, my first paddle was out to the Beavertail Lighthouse Can launching from Ft Wetherill. This course is our rough water training and race course. I have told paddlers for years if you can paddle efficiently on this course in moderate to rough conditions, you can paddle any course on the East Coast.
Before I get to this paddle, an interesting thing happen as I was putting in. Two older experienced sea kayakers were just coming in from their paddle. I watched with some amusement that one paddler drove his car down the steep ramp to begin the kayak loading process. You know where I am going with this. These sea kayaks are heavy, pushing 60lbs loaded up. I would have backed my car down too! I don’t think I could even pick up a 60lb kayak now. Although I raced my (2) 55lb Greenlander Pro for years with only a skeg so I am not speaking out of turn here. I paddled, trained, raced and got my BCU, ACA certs all in my sea kayaks so I have been there, done that.
S18S footwell with bailer and hatch.Length: 18’/5.5m
Beam: 20.2″/51.2cm
As I got on the water, I introduced myself to the Jon, the paddler still on the water. He was intrigued with the spectacular looking S18S and I am sure he noticed the rear hatch. As we talked a few minutes, I asked him “Why don’t you try it”? To my surprise, he said yes. I was surprised because this group of paddlers often are not open to the idea of surfskis. Jon, however was open to the idea, while his training partner gave me all the reasons why he would not ever try a surfski: can you rock garden in it, how durable are they, can you paddle them in conditions, and so on. So I adjusted the footplate for Jon, and assured him, that with all his experience, the learning curve would be very short for the surfskis in this class of skis. Sure enough, after 5 strokes, he was looking pretty comfortable in the boat that weighs 35lbs less, has a more efficient hull, and can carry some extra gear if needed. What’s not to like. I advocate to this group of paddlers, that they add a ski like the the S18S class to their kayak fleet then they would have the best of both worlds. They can still have the social connections and paddle with their friends or on some days alternatively go out for a 40 minute paddle and be on the water in 10 minutes in a boat such as the S18S, Zen, 520, V8 etc. This group of paddlers have great sea state awareness, and have had much formal instruction that is often missing from many surfski paddlers, so they are a natural fit for these types of skis. All that is needed is an open mind to realize the huge benefits of surfskis.
Jon trying the S18S with a smile.
So my paddle out to the Beavertail can was telling. Like my Think Zen review I posted yesterday, this class of surfskis is so much fun in big water for the experienced paddler. Seas were 3ft consistently with 4 footers in the multi directional slop and chop of this course. The S18s proved to be very stable with nice handling characteristics. For this paddle I had the standard 8 inch rudder. Going upwind I could not help notice how the bow efficiently sheds the water due to the design. However, this is a wet ride ski. The water comes in from where the handles are due to the very low gunwales. I don’t mind a wet ride. After about a half mile I left the bailer open for the rest of the paddle. Going downwind, the S18S had good directional tracking along with its excellent speed. So check the box on rough water performance.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2666713915
Speed
Below is the my short Pier to Pier time trial course. For this paddled I put on my modified 6 inch stellar rudder gave it a go. The time below is a wonderfully fast time. Occasionally you get an outlier in time trialing due to the tides or how well rested you are, nevertheless, the Garmin does not lie. This really confirms my initial time trial in the advantage layup that was 2:20. I am consistently in the 2:04 to 2:15 range in any class of ski. See my back to back time trials of the Stellar SEI, Nelo 550, Think Evo 3 in a previous review any of my lastest reviews. Below also is my 1.65 time trial from Sandy Point to McCorrie on the same day. That time also is excellent as you can see. I did another time trial on a different day which put the S18S in the 8:45-9:15 pace(miles/per minute) that was more consistent with a ski in this class. I failed to record this accurately since I remember I abandoned the time trial after 1.5 miles due to fatigue so the segment is buried in a longer paddle. Having said all this, this is a very fast ski for its class. I believe on a “Good Day”, 2018 Blackburn Challenge, Another Good Blackburn, a fit paddler with a 4 inch rudder could break the 3 hour barrier at the Blackburn in this ski which says how fast I think this ski is.
Fit: I covered this below in my initial article.
In summary the Stellar S18S is among the very capable class of skis that includes the Think Zen, and V8 Pro, and Nelo 520. This ski and the Zen fit accurately in the SS20 Class of skis that the Blackburn uses so I expect to see the times in this class come down as more paddlers figure out how versatile this class is. The speed of the the S18S is very impressive. As a medium size paddler with narrow hips, I liked the redesigned cockpit over the original S18S 1G that I reviewed years ago. The build quality of the Stellar skis continues with this ski. So great choices of skis these days, the key is just to keep an open mind!
1st Glance of the New 2018 Stellar 2nd Generation S18S Surfski, December 2017
It has been almost five years since I reviewed the Stellar S18S 1G as you can see from my review at the end of this post. Now the S18S 2G has landed with more coming on the February 2018 container. Dave Thomas, Co-owner/designer along with Ed Hofmeister have promised me the excel layup version in the finished production model some time in the spring for a full review. I saw Dave at the East Coast Surfski Championship(L2L) in September where Stellar has been the major sponsor for years. I asked Dave if any new models were coming out in the near future and he said the S18S. So naturally I agreed to a review. So a month ago Dave stopped by to deliver the prototype demo and take a quick spin himself at McCorrie Point, home of SurfskiRacing.com. See the short clip below.
The current ski I have is the prototype without side handles and a forward hatch and weighs 35 pounds in the advantage layup. Below are the design changes by Stellar.
Dave Thomas of Stellar Kayaks and Surfskis paddling the new S18S 2G on the Sakonnet.
2018 S18S G2 Design Changes
The new redesigned Stellar 18′ surf ski (S18S) has increased its speed by increasing the size of the cutaway’s and narrowing the bow sections. The S18S rocker has been tweaked along with the trim to optimize the ski for efficient paddling and catching waves. All done without losing any stability and staying within USCA fast sea kayaks regulations. Other changes made for the S18S paddler are: DeBrito bailer for dry starts, paddles and rapid water removal; streamlined carbon handles at each end; and a large oval hatch in the stern. The comfort, under-stern/over-stern fittings, convenient cockpit handles, water bottle holder, leash attachment, and deck bungees still come standard on the Stellar S18S.
Narrow Bow/Hull and Catch
Cockpit w/out side handles since prototype
Stellar S18S 2G reconfigured cockpit on final version. Photo River Bear Racing.
My Experience Thus Far
While I have had limited time to paddle the S18S due to work, winter New England conditions, it has left a very favorable impression on me. Dave told me it was a fast ski and indeed it is. We often don’t think of this class of ski as speedy compared to the high performance skis, however design changes are a constant these days and the Stellar design team aim was to improve the efficiency of an already very capable surfski.
The first thing you notice about the hull as I viewed it sitting in my V-Bar, is that the front half of the ski is shaped like a high performance ski; narrow, very narrow. This view is also relevant from the paddlers position. You get the visual effect of paddling a high performance ski. From the leash attachment back it widens dramatically with very low freeboard. The lowest amount of free board is at the narrow catch, helping paddlers bury their blade more quickly upon entry. This narrow bow, and low freeboard increases the speed though delivering a wetter ride while at the same time offering extremely easy remounting since you don’t have lift your chest much at all to clear the gunwales.
The cockpit is more narrow than the 1G and tapers dramatically compared to the 1G providing superb contact with you calves. Stellar has gotten better with their shaping of their cockpits to accommodate most paddlers with one bucket shape. Larger paddlers should fit due to the low side walls as well. While the cockpit is not as rounded as other skis, I found it comfortable without needing any padding in the hip or calf area which is great. The heel to seat ratio remains similar to the 1G as I remember. My preference would be to put a small pad to elevate me slightly for a personal fit.
I did not know quite what to expect of the 2g as I was setting it up. I have not paddled a “novice” ski since I paddled the Stellar S16S when it launched a year ago or so. I did paddle the Epic V8 Pro almost a year ago as well. I certainly have not paddled a ski over 28lbs in many, many years. This one is advertised in the advantage layup at 35lbs. All of the skis in my garage are in the range of 22lbs to 27lbs. There is HUGE difference in the amount of effort/power needed to move a 35lb ski from a 25lb skis. I asked Dave to provide me with 2 rudders, the 4inch and the 8inch. I have only used the 4 inch thus far. Nevertheless, I was taken aback how fast this 18ft, 35lb ski is. I time trialed it in my short pier to pier several times and on my longer 1.63 course on flat days. It is an impressive how fast it is.
If you open up the above November 15th Paddle and look at 2 of my splits for the Pier to Pier time trials, one I clocked a 2.27 time, (6.4mph) and the other 2.31(6.1mph) for the .26/.27 miles. Keep in mind, on my last comparison time trial post of the three intermediate skis, I clocked times between 2.04 and 2.10. or 7.2 to 7.4 mph. So I feel pretty confident with a 7 pound lighter excel layup, I can increase my speed to approximately 6.6 to 6.9 mph consistently on flat water which is exceptional for this class of ski.
So you can see why I am excited to get the 28lb excel and put it through the paces in conditions and downwind. All these paddles have been done with the 4 inch rudder. To date,I have not paddled it in any substantial conditions but hopefully in the next 2 weeks I will, since I will be off from work. Nevertheless, the speed was so impressive, I was thinking in this ski, I could possibly do exceptionally well in the SS20 class in next years Blackburn if I chose to race this class. I would still have a very good overall time in comparison to all my other 15 Blackburn finish times that I have done with intermediate or HPS skis.
Now just a few thoughts on stability. Obviously, it feels stable for me since I routinely paddle and race much narrower skis and this one is 35lbs. Having said that, it feels more lively than what I remember the 1G feeling like even on flat water. After all, it does have a much narrower profile from the low hump to the bow. So more to come in a few weeks when I paddle it in Jamestown in rougher waters.
The quality of the Stellar skis is superb. The bailer worked great. The finish is flawless and if you look inside the hatch, it too is smooth and finished. The hatch cover on Stellars Kayaks and S18S has always been extremely secure.
In summary, the S18S 2G has exceptional speed for this class of ski, has a note worthy narrow catch and has attractive lines as well. The fit of the cockpit is more narrow than the 1G and the 2G tapers nicely into the footwell and offers excellent contact with the ski that contributes to an excellent paddling ski. So more to come in a few weeks when I update this post with my rough water thoughts and in a few months once I get the Excel layup. Hopefully it will have a snappy blue racing stripe with a white hull and deck.
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