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.

First Impressions

The build quality looks very good.  Both the finish and fittings lived up to Kayak Centre's reputation for high manufacturing standards.

The build quality looks very good.

Kayak Centre have placed their own stamp on the design:

• A handle has been placed at the front of the cockpit, designed to be used when waiting in the water at the start of races.
• The tiller bar has been replaced by a wheel. As shown in the photo, this means that the rudder cable is a single continuous length running from one pedal to the other, thereby eliminating the weakness of joining cables to the tiller bar.
• Steel cable has been used for the rudder cable which is joined to lines aft of the rudder pedals, giving the strength and longevity of the cable combined with the convenience of the easily adjustable pedals.
• The rudder is the standard Kayak Centre product, as used on their Dorado skis. 

V10 (left) and V10 Sport (right)

...replaced by a wheel

V10 v V10 Sport

The major differences between V10 and V10 Sport are:

• The V10 Sport is slightly shorter
• The V10 Sport's cockpit is further forward than the V10's
• The V10 Sport's volume in the nose is slightly less than the V10's

The V10 sport's cockpit is located further forward...

Build Technology

Kayak Centre is currently building the skis in glass fibre lay-up only.  There are plans to produce carbon skis, but no firm dates for when they might be available.

Given that the Epic skis are bigger and longer than many of their competitors, how would they fair in terms of weight?  Brian's Kayaks have a handy scale set up and we put the V10 onto it.  The result?  Seventeen kilos on the dot.  This is comparable with most glass skis on the market.

Weighing the Kayak Centre V10

...seventeen kilos on the dot...