Just how much faster?

Well its all relative to what you want out of a ski. For recreational paddling, fitness paddling and having fun on downwinders speed might not be the most important thing. Lots of people are very happy on there Evo, V10s or XT. But if your racing, there is a huge difference between a ski you can push at 6.7 mph and one you can push at 7.1 mph for the same effort (that would be me). I'm more interested in a ski that paddles as easy as possible at 7-8 mph 11.3- 12.9 than its maximum speed as i will spend no time there unless its surfing down a wave.

Bill

Never tried running my boats at a "cursing pace" (unless that's the speed you're travelling when your rudder hits something ), but at one point I had a Stellar S18S, Stellar SR, and a Stellar SE, pretty well hitting the intro/intermediate/elite ski classes. I found about a .2 - .3 mph difference in my cruise speed between each of the boat "levels" (typically cruising the S18S around 6.4 mph, the SR around 6.6 mph, and the SE around 6.8 mph). With the extra stability I could hammer harder on the SR than on the SE, and as such I could sprint to similar speeds, but it was definitely easier to hold the SE at higher levels ("race pace") than the SR. I once ran both boats at the same race (SE in the official morning race for K-1's, and the SR in the afternoon race for C-2's) to see what the difference really was. Again I found about a .3 mph difference in my race speeds.

Haha... Cursing pace is the point where your thinking 'why the f--k is this boat not going any faster!?... oh, It's me.... F--k!!'

My iPad and I often have disagreements on what I was trying to spell and it always wins.

I'm hoping the v10 will improve my paddling and give me the gumption to engage in some racing next year. I figure I will need the winter to get comfterable in the ski. I'm surprised how much more tiring it is to paddle. I'm guessing with the new paddling position and changes to my stroke combined with balancing is just more work. I'm tired after my daly slow-ish 2 hour paddle, not so in the SR.

Bill

As you're building balance skills, you're also working muscles. It will tire you out faster than being in a more stable boat, but over time you'll feel more confident in the less-stable boat, your body will build up, and you'll be able to go out and have fun for much longer periods of time. Just be careful not to let your stoke deteriorate as you build up in the V10.

I'm not worried about the stroke. If anything it's better with the much narrower catch. Going back to paddling the SR is going to be a bit of a shock in that department. I am trying to get use to the lower seat though. With a higher bump in the bucket and the lower seat compared to the SR I find myself leaning farther forward. This keeps me from getting quite as much leg drive and rotation as in the SR. Stability is still a bit of an issue with strong leg drive but that bump doesn't help. I keep playing with where the board is but nothing is quite right. With a bailer that drains so quick you would think they would have gone for a lower bump. I'm sure these things will sort themselves out in time. After all, I have only paddled it for about 6 hours total....

Bill

Yup, I too wish the bump was a bit lower and the seat height to leg height more in favor of the seat. Also, I think the seat could be a bit more tilted forward - as it is I feel it promotes a bit more slouching than ideal. I've been toying with the idea to put a thin pad on the seat bottom that has maybe 1/4" thickness in the rear and thins out to nothing towards the front...

Newbflat wrote: Haha... Cursing pace is the point where your thinking 'why the f--k is this boat not going any faster!?... oh, It's me.... F--k!!'

My iPad and I often have disagreements on what I was trying to spell and it always wins.

I'm hoping the v10 will improve my paddling and give me the gumption to engage in some racing next year. I figure I will need the winter to get comfterable in the ski. I'm surprised how much more tiring it is to paddle. I'm guessing with the new paddling position and changes to my stroke combined with balancing is just more work. I'm tired after my daly slow-ish 2 hour paddle, not so in the SR.

Bill

That is exactly how I felt in my V12. It was just to hard to paddle and I got tired in no time. My solution was to move the kickboard closer and thereby sitting with quite bent legs. My inseam is 84,5 cm and the kickboard is in position 6. Then it worked for me. At the club we have a guy racing K1 vajda supersonic and he is doing it with quite bent legs and over a distance(flat water) of 4.8 Km he is averaging 12.8 Km/h and when you look at him doing it, it doesn't look like he is moving his legs at all. Next door we have some of the Danish elite and over the same distance their average speed is around 14 Km/h. My goal is "just" 12 Km/h and at the moment I am doing it at 11 Km/h. My story, make of it what you will:)

Kocho wrote: Yup, I too wish the bump was a bit lower and the seat height to leg height more in favor of the seat. Also, I think the seat could be a bit more tilted forward - as it is I feel it promotes a bit more slouching than ideal. I've been toying with the idea to put a thin pad on the seat bottom that has maybe 1/4" thickness in the rear and thins out to nothing towards the front...

That is exactly how I feel about the bucket. I was thinking about the same thing with some foam.. Maybe tomorrow.

Kemi..... I will give moving my board closer a shot but I don't think it will word for me.

So I tried one do these today.

www.nrs.com/product/2048/padz-kayak-seat-pad

I taped it in on the back of the bucket so the smaller 'points' are behind my sit bones at the bottom of the bucket. The deepest part of the bucket has no pad in it. Farther back and up than in this picture www.surfskiracing.org/Downloads/Classifieds/Bannow_V10S_1.jpg It says on the package that it's 5/16" / 8mm thick and It did help. I didn't feel like I was slouching as much and was sitting up a bit straighter. I have some 1/2" / 13mm minicell foam I will cut to the same shape tomorrow and see if its any better. I couldn't even feel the padz in the bucket other than it being kinda sticky. What ever one works best I will instal and cover with tape.

Bill

Hmmm, I feel the seat shape is more to my liking if I push myself to the rear, effectively lifting the rear of my bum a bit up and back from the deepest point in the bucket. And back and away from the front of the bucket where the hump starts to raise under my upper thighs. If I understand what you did, you pushed yourself forward, which is the opposite of what I feel I want do do. I got to try both...

By the way, the Epic pads according to Eoic have slick surface for good rotation. Once you dial-in the shape and thickness, might be worth picking up one of them (or the set with adjustable height with hook and loop between the layers)... Does anyone have opinion/experience with these pads?

I've been using the epic seatpad set for two months and love it. I was initially skeptical of the simple velcro adhesion to the ski as well as the velcro between the pads but both have been solid thus far.

The shape is simple but it works. The pads form to the bucket shape to spread the pressure well. Having four total pads to easily vary the height is great, too. Durability seems like it will be very good

The top surface is good but it could be more slippery in my opinion.