I recently bought a Carbon (vacuum bag lay-up) Fenn Mako 6.  I’ve had my new ski for nearly five weeks now and have paddled it in a variety of conditions.

I’m astonished at the improvement to my paddling – both in terms of race results and sheer enjoyment.

One of the perks of writing for Surfski.info is that I sometimes get the opportunity to test drive new skis... and the latest was the Kayak Centre V10. 

Kayak Centre, in Durban, have a license to manufacture the Epic skis for the South African market and the first production units arrived in Cape Town at the end of May.  I went in to (the all new refitted and snazzy) Brian's Kayaks and Sports to have a look at the skis (they had a V10 Sport there too) and the following weekend I took the V10 for a paddle in Hout Bay.

Red7 have been awfully quiet for the last couple of months. 

An advert in the latest SA Paddling gives a hint about what they've been up to...

Red7 have been busy: gearing up to manufacture no fewer than five new skis.  They've gone the CAD and modelling route, with all the designs being submitted to Intelligent Fluid Solutions in the UK for analysis using advanced fluid dynamics modelling systems.

I'll start out my review of the Huki S1-X with my perspective of the recent past regarding surfskis here in Northern California.  I think this will provide some good background info for the popularity of the S1-X here on the mainland US.