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Red7 recently sent us one of their new Surf70 Pro skis to try out. I've found it a fast boat with exceptionally good downwind characteristics. After paddling it in two races and about fifteen downwind runs (some in extreme conditions) here's my view from the cockpit...
 The Red7 Surf70 Pro in action on a recent Millers Run
First impressions
The ski certainly looks different. The seam line curves up and down along the side of the hull and the front deck is like no other ski's, being rather like the long rounded bonnet ("hood" for Americans) on a vintage racing car. Looking from the top, you can see that the catch in front of the cockpit is extremely narrow - and this makes for a very comfortable stroke.
 Red7 Surf70 Pro - side view
Click here for a larger version of this image.
The boat is one of the first production skis and weighs 15.5kg in glass layup. It seems extremely stiff - partly, I'm told, because of the "seamless" construction method used. The boat is made in one piece in the mould; the visible narrow seam line is where the mould splits for the one piece ski to be taken out. This seam line is then coated for extra protection. "This construction method results in the rails being the strongest part of the ski and thus gives exceptional rigidity," said Pete Mote. "The other advantage of this method is the 1-2kg saving in weight."
 Red7 Surf70 Pro - nose  Red7 Surf70 Pro - tail
Rudder Pedals and footplate
The rudder pedal adjustment system is adequate - but requires a knot to be tied if you want to change the adjustment. The system on the V10 and Robberg Express does not; on the other hand the system on Fenn and Honcho skis requires an Allen key.
The footplate is ok, but is to be replaced soon by a new system anchored in three places which will give an easily adjusted but exceptionally rigid footplate assembly.
Seating Position
The narrow catch and the high seat combine to make an extremely comfortable paddling stroke. I think 99% of paddlers will find the bucket perfect; sadly my bony backside is allergic to almost all seats and I had to install a bum pad in this ski to prevent my coccyx from rubbing raw. (Actually I've been using a Skwoosh Pad, bought from http://www.paddlers.co.za/ and it works like a charm.)
Length
The ski is longer (by about 15cm) than the Fenn Mako6 and I confirmed (by putting both skis side by side on the cradles on my car) that the Red7 has less rocker both in the nose and in the tail. The ski has perhaps 30mm less rocker. The nose is diamond shaped in cross section - unlike the V10 and Mako6 which have slab-sided bows. This gives the ski volume in the nose without the large surface area on the side of the hull.
Paddling the ski
In the final race of the 2007 Discovery Men's Health series in Cape Town in December, I came 42nd out of 133 and made 82.97%, my best result this season against some of the best paddlers in the country who had come to take part in the Cape Point Challenge.
Stability
When I first paddled the ski on the flat, it definitely felt different - and I thought it slightly more tippy than the Mako6. For this reason (and the fact that my bum moulds to the Mako6 seat perfectly) I chose not to use the Surf70Pro for the 56km Cape Point Challenge in December. (You don't use brand new shoes for a marathon, right?)
But a friend who owns a V10L Ultra says that the Surf70Pro is significantly more stable than his ski, and having paddled the Surf70Pro for some six weeks, I'm also inclined to rate it more or less the same stability as the Mako6. In any case I'm feeling comfortable in it in any kind of conditions (as proof, the gale force downwinds we've been doing recently.)
(I'd like to compare a lighter Surf70Pro - the carbon version will weigh in at about 11.5kg I believe - to see if it's as stable as its glass layup sister. In my experience, the glass V10 is noticeably more stable than the lighter, stiffer V10 Ultra.)
Superb Downwind Characteristics
I have no hesitation in lauding the Surf70Pro's downwind characteristics.
I've done a large number of downwind runs in the ski - most on our famous (notorious?) Millers Run - a 12.5km route from Millers Point to Fish Hoek across False Bay.
The first leg of the run is a 700m paddle across waves and swell towards a rock that marks the start of the run proper. This section is always interesting because you're going diagonally upwind into the big breaking waves.
On other skis, when you shoot over a wave, the slab-sided bow tends to be caught by the wind and thrown sideways, which can be disconcerting. The diamond cross-section of the Red7 bow means that it isn't as affected by the wind.
On the downwind itself:
- I'm not sure whether it's the volume, the shape of the nose, the extra length or a combination of all three, but the ski doesn't seem to nosedive. Whereas in other skis I'm sometimes quite cautious about plunging straight down the face of a big wave, I was able to launch myself down into some huge holes and the nose, while it would dip momentarily under the water, would pop straight out again.
- It seemed to be easier to pull the ski over the "next" wave. Sometimes on other skis this is a waste of effort as the ski "mushes" over and sinks into the crest of the wave - it seemed to me that the Red7 would pull over and then accelerate down the other side of the swell.
- Once or twice of course it didn't - it sank into the crest of the wave and the cockpit filled with water. But, this ski has no fewer than three big drain holes in the bottom of the cockpit, all with the Red7 "bullet" that makes the drainage so effective. And it works - I have never seen a cockpit empty so quickly. The water drains literally in seconds. I really like this! In my experience all skis will fill the cockpit with water occasionally (especially when paddled by a less than elite driver) - and it's reassuring to know that the cockpit will drain fast - otherwise you can find yourself wallowing, trying to accelerate a suddenly heavy ski onto the waves.
Those cockpit scuppers - what about the drag?
I asked Red7 about the drag factor - surely those three scuppers must have an impact in terms of drag? They didn't answer directly - but referred me to the folks from Intelligent Fluid Solutions in the UK who did the computer simulations for the ski's design.
 Three scuppers give radical cockpit drainage
Here's the thing: those three scuppers actually have half the drag of two conventional scuppers. Not only that, but as the speed of the ski increases, the percentage drag actually reduces (i.e. the drag caused by the triple scuppers increases more slowly with speed than the conventional scuppers.)
 Graph showing resistance due to scuppers with speed
Why is this? It's to do with the streamlining effect of the "bullets" placed behind the scuppers - illustrated by the images below.
 flow simulation - bullet scupper  flow simulation - conventional scupper
Ease of Remounting
This ski is easy to remount even in extreme conditions.
How do I know? One of the more hectic Millers Runs had waves with faces of 25ft plus and winds that were averaging 30kts and gusting to 40kts (as measured by the weather station at Roman Rock lighthouse). Half way out to the turning point at Bakoven Rock I was confronted head on by a massive wave that broke on top of me. Dawid Mocke was watching with interest from the ramp and saw the wave hit. "I thought the ski had been broken," he said. "It completely disappeared."
It didn't break. And I found it a lot easier to remount than my Mako6, which has a deeper bucket. I fell off immediately a second time, but quickly remounted and headed off again.
My GPS actually recorded the hit - on the track you can see that I was going forwards at about 8kph; the next moment I was going backwards at 7kph!
Negative
The only mild negative I have about the ski is that the rudder isn't very assertive at low speeds. It works fine when you're moving fast and the ski is very manoeuvrable on the waves, but if you're moving slowly, you have to be careful not to put too much rudder on for fear of stalling it.
But it's also a matter of getting used to it. On the first Millers Run, I broached several times - once so violently that I ended up pointing upwind; on the second run I think I broached once and on the third (and wildest) I didn't broach at all. Since then I've not broached more than on any other ski and I find I can generally control the broach, keeping speed up until I can turn downwind once more.
I know that Red7 are addressing the issue of the rudder and I suspect we'll see a new design before too long.
What I like about the ski:
- Its looks.
- The very comfortable "heels lower than bum" paddling position
- The easy remounting
- The nose shape, which doesn't seem as affected by cross-winds as other skis
- The fact that the cockpit doesn't seem to hold as much water as some other skis
- The incredible drainage - one wave and the water's gone. This gives me a feeling of great safety.
What I don't like:
- The steering at slow speed.
In summary:
The ski feels different when compared with other skis I've used. But after about six weeks of paddling it, I'm comfortable under almost any conditions.
It's fast: a personal best percentage result for the last singles race of the season confirms this.
And I have no hesitation in saying that I love this ski on big downwinds - and I now have a personal best on the Millers run in it too: 45:21 in gale force conditions.
Red7 are onto a winner with the Surf70 Pro - it doesn't seem to have any nasty vices at all and the downwind handling is, I think, exceptionally good.
Video Clip
For a paddler's eye view of the Red7 in action on a big Millers Run see:
Blip tv: http://blip.tv/file/644163/
In Depth Review by Jamii Hamlin
For a more detailed review by Jamii Hamlin,
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Is the Red7 SurfPro seat slightly wider? . I found previous models had a very narrow seat. I see that the dimensions (listed by Jamii) are slightly wider in comparison to the Mako & V10.
It seems the seat/width is very similar to that of the XT.
Any ideas where we can get a demo from??