So, it must be spring again! Because the Swedish Surfski Spring camp is on this weekend! It’s still a bone shaking 10degrees outside and the water hasn’t become warmer than a cold beer should be.

Ask any old grizzled surf ski paddler, especially one who's done precious little training, and they'll tell you that downwind specialists don't grow old, they just look for bigger runs. The Seamasters race started at 12.00 on the Sunday and when I looked at Windguru in the morning I was very happy what I saw on the computer. This was confirmed at the race briefing in Arkosund the morning by Erik Wallgren who told me said that when he put out the Thule Buoy at the finish the waves were at least 2 - 2.5 meters.

Whilst epic battles were held in the tropical waters of Durban and Mauritius I was paddling in downtown Stockholm…

Olympian Tommy Karls won his second consecutive Seamasters Swedish Surfski Championships in testing conditions, holding off a charging Oscar Chalupsky who ended up second.

South African Sean Rice won the surfski section of the Arctic Sea Kayak Race this afternoon – the first time surfskis have taken part in the spectacular event, held annually inside the Arctic Circle.

[Editor: Paul Rosenquist, a Dutchman living in Sweden, sent this hysterical study of the ongoing culture clash that ensued when Oscar Chalupsky arrived to take part in this weekend’s Seamasters Surfski race.]

Registration for Seamasters - the Swedish Surfski Championships to be held at Arkösund/Oxelösund, Sweden on 31 July, 2010, is open.

“Sweden is thawing fast,” said Seamasters race director Erik Wallgren, “but until a few days ago, you’d have to strap skates to your surfski…!”

Surfski paddling is taking off in Scandinavia - the first surf ski race ever in Sweden took place on September 1, 2007 near Arkösund.  The race course was 20km in calm weather.  Oscar Chalupsky, in Europe to attend the World Kayaking Championships in Hungary took the opportunity to participate in the race.

Fredrik Lindström of Nordic Kayaks shared with us some of the thinking behind their new Fusion surf ski.  Following sea trials of the hull, the design has been finalized and the plug is being machined even as I write this.