Review by Wesley Echols
Intro
I got my NK Rapido, Carbon Lite layup(Green Tip) at the Run of the Charles Race in Boston, Massachusetts on April 27th, 2026. I had previously paddled the Storm for about 20 minutes and more recently the lastest version of the Nitro at the 2026 Narrow River Race for about 10 minutes after the race. I also paddled the NK Exercise for about 10 minutes last week. Shoreline Paddle Sports, Joel Pekosz, sold me my demo Rapido at full demo price. I have demo of the new Nitro as well as the first edition. I currently have 40 miles on my Rapido, all on the Sakonnet River which has small bay conditions. For most of those miles the conditions have been flat to very flat so keep that in mind.
Taking home my Rapido at the 2026 ROTC race
Perspective
At 67 years old, I am long past my prime in racing skis. I am still competitive for an old guy and if the the conditions are rough, I can still beat many younger paddlers for example at the 2025 Bay State Games Race
Bay State Games Race 2025, paddled my Stellar S18SX and glad of it!
where conditions were 3 to 4.5 ft seas on the beam, quarter beam, big and messy for most New England races. My best year of SurfskiRacing was 2011 where I broke 2:50 at the Blackburn and came in 2nd behind Joe Glickman at the 12 mile Double Beaver race in some big conditions in my Stellar SES 1G. While aging, I am still very competitive on my bikes according to Strava. I am proud to say I have some excellent segment times, rarely but it does happen, in the top 5-10% overall for that segment. All those times come between the ages of 60-67 compared to much younger cyclists. I actually maybe a better cyclist and runner than paddler if you look at my overall career. I have only been cycling for about 6 years with limited miles per week often switching between running, cycling, and paddling. So still fit but aging and a few pounds heavier.
Having said all this, I have now come full circle on my Surfski Review Journey. Most of all my reviews from 2003 to 2020 with a few exceptions were advanced or tweener skis since those were the skis I raced in. I had many paddlers during those years ask me to review novice and more intermediate skis. But since I did not race them in my younger race days I did not buy and review them with some exceptions. But now, I have the Rapido, V10 4G, and Stellar Eagle as my advanced skis for pure flat water racing or flatter conditions on the Sakonnet. I have many miles on my V10 4G and use my Eagle on pure flat water racing. I have my Falcon 2G, V9, and S18sx for many of my paddles and races where I crave more stability which is most of the time now. I hope to have a NK Exercise next week as I write this. Full circle indeed.
Background-Evolution of Surf Skis
For those of you reading this post, perhaps its your first time reading a review from me, so just a little background. I am very fond of saying I have reviewed more surfskis than anyone in the world. A bold claim perhaps, but I believe still holds true today. I got my first surfski in 2003 and my first sea kayak in 1997. The goal was never to buy and review so many skis, it was to find the “perfect ski” for my skill level at that point in my racing career that had the right balance of speed/stability and that fit me. I was always curious about the next boat. Back then their was a greater difference in the skis and the selection was more limited than today. I have experienced the evolution of surfskis. Now there is a surfski for every skill level. Most all the brands have a wide range from beginner to advanced, recreation to racing. Stellar has a few models called sit on tops too.
Bikes and Skis: my approach is the same. (skip this section if not a cyclist too)
My pursuit of the best ski, did not just pertain to skis. For a few years, 2021-2025 my enthusiasm for paddling waned a bit as I got older(67 now) and my enthusiasm for cycling increased. I went through a similar journey with bikes but to a lesser degree.
I was riding my 2020 Specialized Diverge, a gravel bike, with some pace on one of our local road routes, Wapping Road, when 2 cyclist on road bikes passed me like I was standing still. The Fire was lit!
I caught them in a quarter mile, they passed me again and I caught them again on the descent(12% grade) of Sandy Beach Road. As we turned at the beach to go back up the hill, I told them I enjoyed that! They were not as friendly as I was, and they immediately sprinted up Sandy Point Beach road. I followed but was totally done, cooked! I thought I was going to have to get off my bike and walk up this short quarter mile 12% grade hill as they powered off like King of the Mountain. I later checked who they were on Strava and it turns out they were some the best local cyclists. They were really playing with me looking back being a novice to cycling. However, for 2 miles, I showed them what a motivated fit 60 year old on a gravel bike could do.
Fast forward to date, I am checking my PR’s on Strava to see how I compare to the local riders and my previous rides. I now have many bikes(Tarmac SL8, 2024 Roubaix, Orca, Creo, (2) Diverges, and have moved on a few. Like skis, some faster, some more comfortable, etc. I do like my gear! Its keeps me motivated and is so much fun for me. While the paddling is excellent here in the Ocean State, the congestion and traffic often make the cycling dangerous at times. Paddling is harder than cycling but much less stressful.
Cycling and Paddling Friend, Tim Hacket
2nd Beach
Rapido
The NK boats come in various carbon layups and are absolutely stunning to see or just to lay your hands on. The build quality along with their lightness is like drawing moths to the light for those of us paddling skis. Their boats are manufactured with pre-preg carbon in an autoclave that delivers strong, and very light weight surf skis, the lightest on the market now.
The Rapido was suggested to me by my friend Chris Chappell of Fast Paddler.com that I might enjoy the Rapido due to its lower volume, smaller bucket, and where it fits on the stability/speed curve. This ski is a low volume ski made for paddlers under 209 lbs that is 19.5 ft long(595 cm) and 18.5 inches wide(47 cm) It is position in the NK line up in the number 3 position behind the Nitro and Storm and before the Squall.
Chris Chappell and I last week, May 2026 with 12-20 mph winds. He is in Squall, me in my Falcon.
At this time I was not really looking to buy another ski. In my garage, I already owned and still do at the time I am writing this, an Epic V10 4G, Epic V9, Stellar Eagle, Stellar Falcon 2G, Stellar S18Sx. However, I was very curious having demo several of the NK as I mentioned earlier.
The Rapido fits small to medium paddlers with narrower hips. My hips are 40 inches with room for my neoprene paddling pants. For comparison it is smaller than the V9 or the V10 4g and the Eagle but larger than the Stellar Falcon Small. My Falcon is the regular seat version that I have padded out. For those that are familiar with the Think boats, it is very, very similar to the Uno in terms of width and narrowness from the bucket to the foot rails. So if you fit in an Uno, a lower to mid volume ski, you should fit in the Rapido.
One of the most distinctive features is the pronounced bump out where your calves are, no splaying of your legs. It is a very comfortable bucket as is all the NK buckets that I have tried. The footplate adjustment is similar to the Epics and newer Stellars. Sometimes I do miss the micro adjustments that were on the older Think skis and the older Stellars. You could really fine tune your leg position. Occasionally on the newer skis the holes in the rails are too far apart as I swap shoes from winter to summer paddling. The rudder line adjustment is similar to the Epics with a barrel adjuster with just one of the lines wrap through and around the eyelet unlike the Epics. It took me a few minutes to figure this out so adjustment is more secure but take more time since have to have some slack in the eyelet to shorten or lengthen. The rudder system is exposed with a cover over it. This reminds me of the Huki rudders system of yesteryear but better since with a partially flatten rudder shaft like the Thinks and Nelos with a sturdy plastic threaded yoke and set screw with a 3/4 carbon cover. All this is well built.
What is repositioned in the NK is the leash attachment point that is on the right side of the foot strap. Typically other brands have a dedicated leash attachment point just forward of the bucket. NK has put a bike style water bottle here that works nicely, easy in, easy out. I would have rather had an attachment point here instead. Why? I use a paddle leash and a waist leash where most paddlers use leg leash. So my paddle leash must be longer now and is often in the way when I exit the ski. I have tried it attached to the water bottle holder but is gets wrap around the holder and probably can’t take the amount of force having it on the foot plate. I could do without the bottle holder and advocate for a leash attachment point. The bailer is your standard DeBritto with an extra neoprene gasket that comes with your ski. It has long carbon side handles for carrying with no bow or stern handles.
How does it paddle?
In two words, “like butter”. My first paddle was on the Charles River and my 2nd was on the Sakonnet. I came away with how smooth it was and how it holds its glide. It turns nicely with no hitches on the turns. Acceleration is very easy due to its lightness at 20lbs. It is the lightest ski I have owned. My longest paddles of the 40 total miles has been 9.4 miles and 10 miles in flat conditions. I did produce an average speed of 6.7 mph on my old time trial course which at my age is very good. With more time in the bucket feel confident I can beat that time. I am faster in this ski in flat conditions than my other skis I have in the garage. I don’t know if is faster than my Eagle since I don’t paddle the Eagle on the Sakonnet much using it for pure flat water only. I will be testing both back to back on my short .26 mile pier to pier time trial course in the next few weeks.
The BIG Caveat is that all my 40 miles have been in very flat conditions with one exception when the wind picked up on my quarter beam as I was crossing the Sakonnet. I was tired from the previous days workout but I remember feeling unstable and thinking this is an advance ski for me in my advanced age. As I have said for years, you need to be in an advanced skis 3x per week in the conditions you will be racing in. At my age, when conditions are up I choose one of my other skis, Falcon, V9, S18sx or in flat to moderate conditions my V10 4G. So for me the Rapido will be my flat water Sakonnet River ski and possible my pure flat water ski once I tease out how it compares to my Eagle. For those wondering, it is faster than the V10 4g but less stable and the bucket on the V10 4g is larger. The Epic v10 4g that I have had now for 2 years is super comfortable and very solid for rougher water in my hands.
When I review boats I like to see have they track downwind and how much they wobble side to side. For instance my Falcon is a wonderful rough water ski that tracks very well with little wobble. Compare that to my V9 that surfs better, but in confused conditions wobbles more and is less predictable. The other thing I am looking for is how it tracks on the quarter beam. This can be the most difficult to paddle in so you want a ski that can hold the line without too much rudder input. The worst for this was the V12 1g and v12 2g. You had to work at holding the line as the bow moves around. Another handling characteristic I am accessing is as I am turning 180 on a wave to see how predictable and stable is the ski on the top of the wave. In the flat conditions, 1 ft waves I was in, the Rapido was very smooth without a glitch. Also the perceived glide and acceleration are key too. A 20lb ski certainly will accelerate nicely onto a wave and is the case of the Rapido, can hold its glide. I have not remounted it yet but having low gunwales it should be pretty easy to remount in the conditions I will be paddling it in.
Having said all this, I really enjoyed paddling it due to its beauty, comfort, lightness and handling characteristics! Hope you enjoyed this 40 mile review. I am sure the more I paddle it the more confident I will become in it. Remember I am old now so, younger paddlers will grade it more stable than me just as I did with all the skis I reviewed over the years.
