What's the most popular brand of ski in the world?  Where are the surfski.info readers from?  How often do you paddle?  The answers are revealed here - in the results of the 2008 Surfski.info Survey...

During the month of May we ran our first ever survey and had no fewer than 417 responses - a response rate of around 30% (of the readers who read the article announcing the survey).  Many thanks to all those who took the time to do so.

The results may be seen here.

Statistical Significance - or how representative are these figures?

417 is pretty good statistical sample - of our readers.  My opinion is that our readership is fairly representative of the surf ski paddler world, so the figures probably reflect fairly accurately the trends in surf ski paddling worldwide.  Any statisticians out there care to comment?

Demographics - or where are you from?

We had respondents from 29 countries, but the most interesting thing was that Australia was the second largest group after the USA - perhaps reflecting the growth of long distance paddling that has been reported there?

Where are the Women?

We all know that women form a minority of paddlers - but only 4%?!  In a couple of recent interviews, women have expressed the opinion that part of the reason there aren't more female surf ski paddlers is that there are no skis light enough and small enough for them.  Seems to me that here's a market waiting to be filled - manufacturers, on your marks, get set, go!

Paddle ‘til you drop

Oscar still heads the World Rankings at 45 - but here's confirmation that that age is no blocker to paddling - Eighty six percent of our respondents are 30+; over half are 40+.  No wonder the vets category is competitive!

Manufacturers

Here's another interesting one.  Apologies to the manufacturers I left out of the list, but you were counted in the "other" category.  We were able to filter by country to see which manufacturers dominate in which regions.  The results are:

South Africa (60 respondents)

USA (126 respondents)

Australia (119 respondents)

Activity

Perhaps not surprisingly, our respondents are very keen paddlers: nearly 80% paddle several times a week or more - and about 85% race at least occasionally. 

What you like

These results confirmed what we thought - the race reports both live and post-event are most popular, along with equipment reviews.  But what really struck home was that readers are crying out for more photos and video clips. 

We'll be working to bring you more of these in the future.

World Series

Most of you are aware of the World Series; most of you have at least an idea of how it works and most of you care.  (Phew - we're on the right track!)

However, most of you are not on the rankings.  We've had a number of complaints too from people who feel that coming 51st at Molokai is much more of an achievement than coming 30th at one of the smaller races - the guy who came 30th is on the rankings; the guy who came 51st is not.  So, in the new season, we're going to change the rules so that everyone who participates in a World Series race will get onto the rankings.  And the guy who comes 51st in a race with 300 paddlers will get more points than the guy who comes 51st in a race with 51 paddlers!  Watch this space.

Constructor's Championship

By far the majority of readers are keen on a Constructor's Championship.  We're working on rules for this for the new season.  We're hoping that it will stimulate interest in sponsorship of paddlers by the various brands - which can only help the sport.

We had some comments to the effect that a constructor's championship would prejudice the smaller manufacturers but we don't think this is the case.  On the contrary, if a smaller manufacturer manages to get a top paddler to compete on their ski and perform, it'll actually help them to stand out far more than one of the big brands who you'd expect to be at the top anyway.

Our belief is that anything that stimulates interest and discussion can only benefit everyone in the sport, paddlers and manufacturers alike.

What we do need to do however is find a set of rules for the constructor's championship that enables the smaller manufacturers be represented.  Again, watch this space...!

World Series Suggestions

Suffice to say that there were many excellent comments and suggestions on the World Series.  A dominant theme was the current exclusivity - which we're addressing by involving every World Series race participant in the rankings.

We had almost as many people saying we should have fewer World Series races as there were people saying we should have more!  We believe that we're addressing most of the requests by:

• The star rating that tries to identify the most important races
• Limiting the number of races to count - so a paddler should only have to race in some of the top races in order to feature in the rankings
• Increasing the number of races a) to make it easier to attend WS races and b) to make it more inclusive of paddlers around the world.

But we are going through the suggestions carefully and will be identifying and implementing the most important trends.

Thanks!

Alain and I would like to thank once more everyone who took the trouble to fill the survey in.  The exercise was extremely useful and we'll be repeating it in the near future - this time to ask for your suggestions on how to make the site commercially viable.

Comments (17)

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Interesting
written by John Sanderson, June 01, 2008

Great to see the results come out. It's great to be involved with a site that is so proactive.

I don't know what I expected in terms of manufacturers dominance but I was surprised to see that Fenn was so dominant in the three countries shown versus Epic. After all we hear so much more about Epic than Fenn!

I have assumed that this dominance translates into more sales of Fenn than Epic? If this is the case what is the difference with Fenn skis versus Epic?

What the results don't show is what were the relative positions a year or more ago so we don't know if Fenn is losing ground to Epic etc.

Cheers
John

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Conclusions
written by Rob Mousley, June 01, 2008

I have assumed that this dominance translates into more sales of Fenn than Epic? If this is the case what is the difference with Fenn skis versus Epic?

I'd hesitate to draw that conclusion. Don't forget that Fenn has been around far longer than Epic. The only way to see trends is to compare current with historical data - which we'll only be able to do when we repeat this part of the survey in a year's time!

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yes interesting
written by teresa, June 01, 2008

Well i really think for women paddlers that the epic V10L is a great boat. I know there should be more choice but i have had my epic since march and am very happy with it. My problem at the moment is which paddle to buy.( I use it for ocean and still water comp.) I missed the survey somehow sorry but i think it was very interesting. You guys do a great job, thanks.

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Most popular?
written by Rob Mousley, June 03, 2008

Comment from Mark Lewin of Custom Kayaks:

Thanks for the survey results. "Which is the most popular surfski in the World". I find it very interesting and do have a few comments and observations, which I think are relevant.

Something I have noticed is that not nearly as many S.A. paddlers follow the news on your site or anybody else?s for that matter. I think that this throws your percentages out a bit and I think the figures would be quite a bit different if a better percentage of S.A. paddlers responded to your survey. I told a stalwart KZN paddler yesterday that there was a picture of him on surfski.info from the Hansa 5 beaches race and he told me he had never heard of the site. I laughed and gave him the web address. He called me back and said, how long has this site been going. I know it is an isolated case, but I think in S.A. paddlers are surrounded by paddlers, craft and a lot of local info and probably do not visit the surfski sites as much. Even some of my own customers are surprised when I tell them that we do an article on our own site each week.

As we have by far the biggest concentration of open ocean paddlers anywhere in the world (over 400 at some local races) and all the represented manufacturers craft are accessible to this market, the S.A. market will give you a better ratio of "Popularity" of craft, as opposed to a lot of areas world wide where it is not so much a case of choice, but accessibility to a particular brand. I think this is clearly seen in the growth of Epic who have placed themselves globally and have the clout to distribute World wide.

I also think that your survey reaches and covers one specific discipline of surfski use, "Open Ocean racing single surfskis". A very big part of our production is lifesaving spec surfskis, where presently the World Champs takes place in Germany in a few weeks time. A lot of your Australian readers include brands like Burton and Hayden etc. For the past few weeks we have been manufacturing spec ski's to order for all of the top paddlers in S.A. going to the worlds "Jasper mocke" "Hank McGregor" and a few top overseas paddlers. I think that if you took a poll of all the surfski disciplines by far the biggest manufacturers of surfskis in the World would be Hayden and Burton.

I think you will find at the world lifesaving Champs the leading three skis by far will be our TITAN, Burtons and Haydens. The U.S. lifesaving surfski title has been won and dominated by the TITAN surfski for some time.

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Popular the wrong word?
written by Rob Mousley, June 03, 2008

Hi Mark, I can always count on you to keep us on our toes - and quite right too!

As we have by far the biggest concentration of open ocean paddlers anywhere in the world (over 400 at some local races) and all the represented manufacturers craft are accessible to this market

Up to a point of course - the overseas guys can't compete here on price. I agree perhaps "most popular" was open to misinterpretation - as you say, it depends on what brands are available, where. So "most used" might be a better way of putting it.

I also think that your survey reaches and covers one specific discipline of surfski use, "Open Ocean racing single surfski's".

You're absolutely right ? but that's the sport as far as we're concerned. To us, surf lifesaving, while it's the origin of our sport, is a different discipline ? most of our readers don't do surf lifesaving. So you could be right and Burton/Hayden might well be the biggest manufacturers of spec skis ? but clearly they're not widely known as builders of open ocean skis.

On the other hand, I'm of the opinion that this was a pretty good representation of the long distance surfski market around the world! Even in South Africa ? if I look at the skis in races and places where I've paddled, the numbers feel about right ? your skis are more popular in Durban for example, but there are not many of them down here in Cape Town. In East London there's almost nothing but Fenns and Red7 are more visible in Port Elizabeth than anywhere else.

In fact Cape Town, being the only city without an incumbent manufacturer, is probably more representative than anywhere else!

However, as with any survey, there will always be a margin of error. One way of getting more accurate figures would be to get race organizers to register everyone's ski when they enter ? this is starting to happen with some of the bigger races.

One other thing we didn't tackle was double-skis. A question (or two) for our next survey, definitely.

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Skis for Girls?
written by Elaine Baden, June 05, 2008

As a woman paddler, I have tried every ski I can get my butt into. I'm too tall for the S1-A, though it was much livelier than many other skis. The Epic Sport gives me more confidence in rougher water. But I primarily paddle a Huki S1-X, (not the S1-X Special) which, time after time, has given me the best overall speed. Though it's still not the "perfect boat" for my height and weight.

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...
written by dave, June 06, 2008

. I think that if you took a poll of all the surfski disciplines by far the biggest manufacturers of surfski?s in the World would be Hayden and Burton.

may have been in 80s the top ski in nz and oz is now dolphin surf skis then gibbons and then hayden have not seen a burton in nz for close to 5 years

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...
written by Gary Kroukamp, June 06, 2008

I wonder why Burton, et al, haven't gone into producing a range of long-distance ocean surfskis?

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...
written by Stewart, June 06, 2008

Wasn't Burton sold a few years ago? You see very few Burtons around these days. Hayden don't seem as popular even. As Dave said, Dolphin and Gibbins are probably the biggest now here in Oz when it comes to spec skis.

From a personal point of view, the percentages for Think are very encouraging for such new skis in the market. Will be interesting to see the results in 12 months time.

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...
written by Jeff Ransdell, June 06, 2008

Regarding the first comment and the sentence, "After all we hear so much more about Epic than Fenn," as readers we need to be very aware of the source of our information.

My race experience in California mirrors the survey results regarding the dominant presence of Fenn and Huki in the US, and does not mirror the predominant presence of Epic on the surfski.info site. I am sure Epic is well served by it's advertising and it's product (man, those carbon skis with the white tips sure are pretty), as I am sure Fenn is well served by it's product and this year's Molokai results.

Clearly Epic is a tremendous sponsor (if not #1) of surfski.info, based upon the Epic ads on the site, the stories submitted by Oscar and Greg, and Epic's sponsorship of Rob and others to cover Molokai. That's not a knock on anyone, far from it - good for Epic for stepping up, and good for surfski.info to have sponsorship to do the great job that they do.

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Information
written by Gavin Dickinson, June 07, 2008

Hi Jeff,

I have no idea what point you are trying to make in your comment?

I, with my partner Ian Kingon run the european & middle east operations for EPIC Kayaks & am witness to the drive at Epic to grow the sport, it's participants & commercial players.

Surf Ski.info is a business - as is the reality of trying to run races & Epic belive in giving back to the sport. The suppliers should always be the 1st to support the base of the sport - as you correctly commend Epic on doing.

The survey is the survey - the ads are a commercial transaction & the stories free for all to supply the editor for publishing consideration.

You hear a lot more from Epic as the company pushes those buttons. It is a business. Craft & paddle innovation, team riders, race sponsorships and origination, global partners selling the product to paddlers who are ready to pay for the best (which is a subjective view).

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...
written by Guest, June 08, 2008

Whats yr point Gavin, besides doing another Epic add? Jeff is reasonably clear, just read it again slowly.

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Info
written by Gavin Dickinson, June 08, 2008

Hi Guest,

Re read the comment Jeff made.

Still cannot see the issue:

The survey matches his experience on the beach in the US.
Epic have a strong presence in this media others 'we hear so much more about Epic'
They make pretty boats.

Mark Lewin comments on the global growth of Epic - as shown by the survey.

I am saying it is not an accident - that is my point. Warning readers of the source of 'infomation' through a site that has done so much for the growth of the sport is unfair.

The sooner all involved in this sport stop the petty fights about ski brands and really drive to grow the base of the sport & the formation of a sustainable World Tour the better. Think big & paddle the ski that suits you.

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...
written by Jeff Ransdell, June 09, 2008

Hi Gavin,

I appreciate your responses and actually think we agree on many things: Epic is a business that should promote itself, readers benefit when surfski.info has revenue to expand and improve their coverage, and Rob and Alain do a top notch job.

Where I think my original post was not altogether clear enough is that there is a difference between content (what Rob and Alain supply in their writing and pics), advertising (the banners on the site), and advertorial/infomercials (the "stories" that can be equated to unpaid advertising.) That is what my original comment meant to acknowledge (not "warn" because that's just not the tone I'm using).

The first two I list are obvious, I think, and wholly appropriate and expected. The last is a gray area, though, because even infomercials are interesting ? if they weren't they wouldn't work ? but they're still ads.

So when readers see articles titled "Oscar goes to..." written by an Epic rep (known or unknown), then it leads to comments like, "we hear so much more of Epic than..," and a misalignment between what brands readers see on the site and what brands they see on the water.

Now the challenge is that to acknowledge a problem also usually begs a solution. To which my first stab was to publicly acknowledge that ads are ads (Epic or otherwise), content is king (stories that Rob, Alain, and unaffiliated writers supply), and infomercials can be entertaining (Oscar really is interesting) but are advertising nonetheless. That's all.

Perhaps a better solution is as simple as identifying the story authors as "staff writer, manufacturer rep, etc" in the story headers on the site, but that's only for me to comment and for Rob and Alain to judge.

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Advertorial/Infomercials?
written by Rob Mousley, June 09, 2008

Hey Jeff, thanks for expanding on your original comments.

I'd just note that we always publish the author's name at the top of the article so anyone reading about Oscar's trip to Japan must know that it came from Oscar!

I understand that those articles could be seen as infomercials - but as you say, Oscar makes a good read anyway!

And a good read is really what we're about - so we'll continue to consider any articles to do with paddling that we think are of interest to our readers...

And guys, Epic (and our other advertisers) are clearly getting value for money with their ads, otherwise they wouldn't keep renewing their contract - what works for them would work for you - anyone can advertise on the site - Alain is ready and waiting to send our rate card!

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Advertising
written by Alain Jaques, June 09, 2008

Yep, ready I am.

Point 5 wetsuits for example are getting good value from their advert - they were our first advertiser and have kept renewing each and every time their account runs low. Why? Because their increased revenues more than cover the costs. It works, give it a try.

The nice thing is we can geo-target the advert so that is only shows in the country you want to sell in. We can tailor an advertising package that is right for you.

Payment is easy using either paypal or credit card on a secure payment gateway.

And it helps us pay the bills....

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Info
written by Gavin Dickinson, June 10, 2008

Hi Jeff.

Agree with you 100%.

The reality is that I think we all wish that there was more content. I could not care if a Fenn / Red 7 / Icon / Huki rider sends in a report - I just want to read the story & see the sport extended. Once this happens SS.I can hire real jorno's to travel the World & you & I get to read much higher quality content. Glickers writing is so much better than O's as that is what he does for a job.

Anyway - we as a sport are getting there & SS.I do a great job - with the means at their disposal. Support them!!

Cheers Jeff - hope to buy you a beer at the US champs.

Gavin

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