Top 50 skinniest boats (or Helping RAB Pick a Ski)

My apologies people, whilst going over my research on the net I noticed a howling error that I`d made. I unfairly credited the Swordfish with the designated beer bottle holder, when in reality it is, of course, the V8 from Oscar`s Epic stable that has such a function (yes, I really should have known better!). Not to knock the Swordy though, she sounds like a great boat too.
In other news, Mark Ressel in the UK has just launched his Icon `Genesis`. Will hopefully get the specs from Res soon.

Owen

Please add the Stellar S18S to the list.

Length 550cm and beam 53.5cm

And yes, it has a "beer holder" too!!

Scott

Be good to have this thread stickied somewhere so that it doesn't get lost with time.

Stickied. (Haven't stickied a thread for a long while so I'm not sure of the exact effect! I'm assuming that it'll lurk at the top of the Announcements topic.) I intend to make a proper article out of it at some point too...

Good point Greg - I think Rob is on the case already!

un-official pictures of the new ski from the UK have been circulating recently, although we`re still waiting for specs from Mark Ressel for his `Genesis` creation...

It may be beneficial to also record the Boa (Beam overall) measurement along with the Bwl. Though these numbers really do not indicate much as far as true transverse stability and potential speed, they can give at least a trend. Small Bwl with a larger Boa will give low initial transverse stability, with nice "secondary" stability, though possibly feel twitchier in multi-chop because of that secondary, whereas a small Bwl and smaller Boa may feel more planted in those conditions. All of this depends on the overall displacement, especially noticeable with the small Bwl/large Boa boat.
But then, I'm singing to the choir I suppose. I'll shut up now.

I suppose that I didn't carefully and fully read the openning statements. Those are merely the Boa measurements. Ok.

Here's an additional boat that may not have been addressed...

Huki S1-Z

40.64 cm Boa; 33.65 cm Bwl @ 190 lb (86 kg) pilot, 23.8 lb (10.8 kg) boat; 629.9 cm Loa.

If I could get my arse into that one, it'd be a real trip! Jude indicates decent sized guys can fit!

Hi Doug,
Thanks for doing the conversions. That is one skinny boat!
Here is a link to it for everyone to see:
www.huki.com/index.php?page=S1-Z

Physio just posted this on another thread, but I think it also deserves a mention here too:
vaaka.co.nz/page2.php

As promised, the new Icon `Genesis` from Mark Ressel in the UK. 44cm beam, don`t have the length details yet:
www.iconsurfcraft.com/genesis-ocean-ski-gallery.php

Three more boats to add, from the Seabird stable (thanks for the link opl1). Looks like we`ll soon be up to the top 75 skinniest boats...
www.kajakk.biz/storefront.php?c1=263
Owen

Any chance of an updated list now? Rob?

Message from Stew at Think Aus (thanks for the update Stew):

Spec correction on the website. The Uno Max was listed at 42cms, it's actually, 43cms. Sorry if it caused any confusion.
Uno Max – Think Kayak
www.thinkkayak.com.au

Flow Kayaks Superstar, 5.95m long x 49cm wide, intermediate ski.

www.facebook.com/pages/Flow-Kayaks/258338520890446

Is there an after market kit for the beer holder to fit a V12? Seems unfair that the guys in the V8 should have all the luxuries.

Too many mistakes per example Fenn XT you mention 560 and is 580, you mention 47 and is 48,5 I have not time to check all measures but with one sample is enough for me to credit.

Slim White, gracias for your input.

I have a couple of points that should help you to see my rough list in a better light.

Firstly, my list (from February 2012) records the Fenn XT stats as: 47.5 600.
It seems that you have misread the information. I wrote width of 47.5 and length of 600. You have read it as 47 width and 5 600 long.

Secondly, as much as possible, statistics for all the boats were taken from the manufacturers own websites. To give you an idea of the confusions that may arise, please have a look at my results for a Fenn XT specs search on the web today:
Website name of ski width length
Fenn South Africa Mako XT 49 588
Fennsurfski.com XT 48 588
Fenn Kayaks NZ XT 48 590
Fenn France XT 48 580
Ocean Paddler Aus New style Fenn XT 48.5 580

Thirdly, I searched the web in February 2012, so many of the sites may have been out of date already.

Fourthly, Many manufacturers have been very busy creating new boats and re-designing older boats recently, which is fantastic for our sport, although it creates more work to keep a list like this up to date. The Ocean Paddlesports page mentions the `newest Mako XT`, and the Aussie Ocean Paddler site informs us that "In 2011 Fenn introduced a new style Fenn XT".

I think I already pointed out a lot of these shortfalls as caveats on the original posting.

I hope that clears up your misunderstandings Slim White. By the way, you are correct in suggesting that the list is not perfect. It really does need updating. If you do find the time to do the research, I`m sure that many paddlers around the world would really appreciate your effort.

Happy paddling amigo,

:-)wen

I could accept that all factories do not give exact measures, because the after moulding process could variate some centimetre. Also the weight of the surfski never can be assured, because as the gel coat process depends of the material used and the handicraft .
Distributors normally described in their advertising mistakes in the size of their products. One measure from the same boat in Denmark will be different from other from Norwegian. I do not know why. It is much better consider the measures facilitates from the web of the manufacturer to avoid this kind of mistakes.

How about the Huki S1-A?

Anyhow, your compilation is very much appreciated. Only a more consideration: measures gives only a relative idea of stability and speed of the surfski, but in fact the real thing is the shape of the hull, the volume of the deck and the position of the seat in relationship with pedals.

I should appreciate if you could change the image with the dead octopus. I understood that a surf-skier is a lover of the creatures that swim on sea free and happy as all of us with a sport mentality.