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.

Most of us know the sadness and despair of breaking a ski, and usually the pieces are consigned to a dumpster.   But when Dale "T-bone King" Lippstreu smashed his new Fenn Mako Elite Double recently at the end of a downwind paddle, he met the challenge full on.

[Three weeks ago, Dale Lippstreu and I did back-to-back Millers Runs in two different double skis: the Fenn Mako Elite Double and the Custom Kayaks Apex.  Dale was the driver in both cases.]

[Editor: Dale Lippstreu recently bought a new Fenn Elite Double to race the doubles season here in Cape Town, South Africa. Here’s what he found.]

It has been my good fortune to have an Epic V10 Ultra to paddle for the last month - and it's been a treat. 

"A superfast ski... stable for accomplished paddlers."  That's how Think CEO Daryl Remmler describes the new kid on the Think Kayaks block - the Think Uno.

"We're taking the team up to Mauritius to test the new boat," said Epic Kayaks CEO Charles Brand. "Would you like to come?" 

And so three days ago I found myself on an Air Mauritius flight from Cape Town, heading towards the tropical paradise of the "Ile Maurice".

During September I was lucky enough to have a brand new Custom Kayaks Synergy surfski to play with while its owner Billy Harker was overseas.  Thanks Billy!  This is what I found.

A New Generation Double: The Custom Kayaks Apex

With time we will look back on the decade from the mid nineties to the mid noughties as a time when new boat design was caught up in an indecent flurry, aggravated by the scrapping of the ICF kayak width rule. In a drive to be faster and cooler, boats became thinner - and dramatically less stable. However as Dave Macleod found after testing the new Custom Kayaks double ski, it is time to enjoy the new age where speed comes with stability.

The new Fenn Mako Elite has now been out for, what, 8 months?  And, like others, I've been looking for a thorough review of the ski but haven't seen one.  So, exercising fiduciary irresponsibility, I went ahead and purchased one before I had seen or paddled it. 

Fenn Mako Elite (pic: www.oceanpaddlesports.com)