Transitioning from Epic V8 Pro when only paddling twice a week

I like my Epic V8 Pro but I've mastered it in my local waters so want to move on to something more advanced but realistically still achievable to paddle. The Revo R3 looks interesting but if I were to stay with Epic's, would a V10 G2 or new G3 be a step too far do you think when I only paddle a couple of times a week ? (The V10 sport is so close to the V8 Pro in speed to make its purchase not worthwhile).

Any thoughts ?

So you say you have mastered the ski? How fast are you going?

On a decent downwind in the V10 Sport I was just under 15km/hr, from what I have heard from others the Pro is a tad slower. On the V8 I am generally just over 14km/hr.

I get this all the time, people wanting to upgrade, so I give my piece of advice, usually ignored! Most end up getting the elite racing ski that the world champions are using and end up going slower, falling out and wobbling their down the coast. What makes it worse it is much harder to sell an elite level ski as opposed to a stable ski, so they are stuck with a ski they cannot paddle or sell.

The V10 G3 is a very nice ski and is an intermediate to elite level ski and I would be going at over 15km/hr, so not a slow ski but a far cry from a Pro.

I typically paddle at an average of 12kph for an hour on flat water at a tempo pace. Most of my local waters are flat, chop or waves upto only 3ft high. I don't really do downwinders of any size that regularly. I'm comfortable in my V8 pro in pretty much anything I see so would like some more speed but I'm not sure if the jump would be too big to the V10 when I can only paddle twice a week with the occasional race.

Best solution: Get the v10 g3 and keep the v8p !

Out of interest, how fast have you had the v8pro up to? I've had mine at 23km/h or 25km/h (I can't remember which, one of those) at times, and the hull makes a sensational humming noise once it hits the high teens upwards. I don't get that hum in other boats. It's awesome!

feeny wrote: Best solution: Get the v10 g3 and keep the v8p !

Sadly it's not an option for me. It needs to be one in, one out.

How long have you been paddling the v8pro?

I just picked on up a little over a month ago and I love it. I've had it out in all sorts of conditions and its about as stable as a floating dock. Just did my first race this past weekend. Everyone there was in a v10, v12, or v14. Needless to say I got smoked. I wasn't concerned about place because I was going for time. I wonder if my times would have improved a bit with a v10? I will continue to train and race the v8pro, but sometime I'd like to see what I could do in another boat.

12kph for an hour is a darn good clip to run at on flat water. The V10 would be the next logical jump. On the flats, you probably won't notice much of a difference. The secondary stability will kick in a little later. In the bigger chop is where you will notice. Nothing that can't be learned though.

Epicpaddler wrote: How long have you been paddling the v8pro?

I just picked on up a little over a month ago and I love it. I've had it out in all sorts of conditions and its about as stable as a floating dock. Just did my first race this past weekend. Everyone there was in a v10, v12, or v14. Needless to say I got smoked. I wasn't concerned about place because I was going for time. I wonder if my times would have improved a bit with a v10? I will continue to train and race the v8pro, but sometime I'd like to see what I could do in another boat.

I've had it just over a year. It's a great boat.

(To me, it's almost like Epic need to tweak the V10 Sport to move it away from the V8 Pro in terms of performance and bridge the likely bigger gap to the V10.)