World Series

Is it just me or do you also believe that the prestige of the world series is slowly fading? In my opinion there is less media coverage of the events and no Surfski World Series website? Surfski.info is a fantastic website but I believe that there is not enough coverage of the World Series. There needs to be a website purely dedicated to the world series. What has happened to Surfski TV? Many people were exposed to this great sport and I am sure that many viewers, after lying in bed watching the world's best paddlers flying on massive runs, were convinced to try the sport out.

I understand that prize money is increasing and so are the number of paddlers around the world but I believe that the growth could be greater. The top athletes in our sport deserve more media coverage and so do the sponsors who are putting money into the sport. I believe that more TV coverage is needed. If you look at the Surfing World Championship Tour (WCT) as an example, they have their own website with rankings, galleries, interviews, coverage of events etc. Their events are well broadcasted on television and this has helped more sponsors putting money into the sport.

The sport of surf ski is awesome and I believe that the World Series needs to be more prestigious and acknowledged. If you were asked, "Who is leading the World Series?", would you know the answer? sadly I doubt that you would...

This is the Surfski World Series web site. It is run by Rob Surfski.info. I'm sure he would love sponsors and to expand teh profile of the series but he is only 1 man. Help him out by arranging high profile events and sending him press releases.

I agree with expat and might go one further.
I'm sure this site has become a valued resource and enjoyable visit for many paddlers. I have referred people to it who are now becoming interested in surfski, and wonder how much like interest is being generated around the world.
The manufacturers and equipment suppliers are getting a lot of valuable exposure and perhaps that fact should be reflected in their advertising support here. I know there are a lot more more builders and suppliers than I see advertising here.
That can only help to generate more interest.

You are SO right but... we're working on it!

www.surfskiworldseries.com is under construction.

The current World Rankings will be out in the next few days...

We're also working on:

Sponsorship for the World Series
World Surfski Federation

Exciting things... (but lots of work)

Cheers
Rob

Firstly I was not trying to make the work done by everyone on surfski.info seem inferior but rather express my opinion and the way I, a member of public, see it. Without Rob and Surfski.info there is no doubt that surf ski paddly would be at a terrible deficit!

However all I was tring to say is that it would be great to somehow hold the world series in a higher regard - with if your name displayed on the rankings as an achievement alone. To recognise all involved in the world series as ultra-athletes in our sport.

I am happy to hear that news Rob and I believe that this sport is going to grow even more than at the current rate.

Hey Dave1,

I was not trying to make the work done by everyone on surfski.info seem inferior

I certainly didn't read it that way.

You're absolutely correct - we've had 5 World Series races already - where the heck are the rankings????

My only defence is that you could the rankings don't really mean much until we've had several races... But that excuse just reached its sell-by date!

The rankings will be up shortly, and will include everyone who has raced in a WS race this season, what we want (and were starting to see last year) is to see guys around the world comparing their rankings and going to all the races they can to beat their buddies...

Stay tuned! (And thanks for the patience!)

This thread is starting to get close to a topic I feel very strongly about, and one we are going to see come up more and more in the next year. It all revolves around a group called the ICF.

An attempt was made over the last 4 or 5 years to incorporate surfski into the mainstream of international canoeing. Unfortunately it did not get off to a good start. Possibly the wrong people were on the ICF committee, possibly surfski organisers didn't come forward to offer their expertise - I don't want to lay blame with either camp, but the final result was not encouraging. The surfski (Ocean Racing) committee reported back to the ICF that there was no interest in the surfski community to form a centralised, cohesive group to manage surfski on a worldwide basis. I think that this is basically untrue and I was very disappointed when I read the report.

So the way forward may appear to set up a separate International Surfski Federation. That is great, but it takes time, effort and a lot of organisation - not to speak of money. After that you need recognition, will teht Federation try to get membership of national federations who already support surfski, as CanoeSA does?

And then there are the "old" countries of Europe who are just coming into the game. They are very tied in to legislation and their events are already run under the authority of their national federations who look towards the ICF for guidance.

Will we end up with 2 federations governing the sport? I honestly think that the leaders of Surfski around the world, SA, Australia, NZ, USA, France (Tahiti is French) etc need to come together, form a group and ask the ICF to reconsider their position on surfski. There is no point in standing on the outside criticising, when you actually need to be on the inside helping to bring about change.

Lets get surfski representation on all our national federations - SA has shown the way - and then we can work on the ICF to clean up the mess they have made and get a recognised world championship event moving.

In the meantime, keep it up Rob - maybe we can get you elected to the ICF board.

vent over.

Expat- what do you see as immediate benefit to surfski with ICF involvement? Do you see olympic inclusion in the future?
At the national level I think all, or most, paddling disciplines should come under an umbrella orginization. That would be for cost benefits for event insurance, dealing with government(s) and so on, as the numbers are greater. Also different disciplines feed each other with athletes.
Speaking of numbers-why isn't outrigger and surfski combined in the races? Is it logistics?
Maybe we are off topic here.

Jim, I agree with all your points about surfski being included in the national federations. I don't see Olympic participation happening - I'm not even a great fan of the Olympics, but I think ICF representation would have the following to offer:

The major benefit is being included in an existing international forum (no re-inventing the wheel).

It will also help those NFs who don't currently recognise surfski to include them.

There is a framework in place already for world championships etc

It gives the whole organisation existing credibility, without having to go through a growth process.

I have very little experience with OCs but would think that it would be logical to include them with surfski.

If you want ICF inclusion, then we are going to have to look at rules and specifications for craft when holding World Cups and World Champs.


How's that going to sit with the surf ski community?

Stew, the best way for the surfski community to get the rules they want is to write them themselves. That means getting involved and and making sure that uninformed but well meaning people from other disciplines are not landed the job as happened with the draft rules.

Those draft rules are a cut and paste of existing French Ocean Kayak rules, marathon rules and extracts from surfski race instructions from different events. They were put together by a group of people who had very limited surfski experience - and it is painfully obvious when you read them through.

I believe the way forward is to get surfski representation on teh boards of the national federations of all the different countries we represent and get them to lobby the ICF to put together a new group, made up of surfski (and OC) paddlers from around the world to put together a working set of rules for our sport.

Phew - lots of rants today.

BTW, I am on the board of our (very small) National Federation and am in close contact with working groups from the ICF. But one NF is not enough. We need more NFs involved who recognise the potential of surfski.

Wouldn't class is as a rant at all, you're pretty much on the money.


Where we do need to be careful is who drafts the regulations for craft, and how those rules are representative of the whole community, and not a small section.

I've said it before but my feeling is that the best part of Surfski (other than a massive downwind paddle) is that there are no rules in craft design!

It would be so limiting and boring if there was a set weight, length, width, rocker, scupper design etc...

The only regulations should concern some form of flotation even if the craft is full - maybe the same as bouyancy aids here in SA - say 6 kg positive bouyancy even when completely full.

Hi Andrew
Rules don't necessarily mean that there should be limitations on the craft. A rule can easily state that design and material usage is open.

Even things like the format of the race, the starts and finishes etc can be left to the organisers discretion to preserve traditions in different areas.

I wouldn't even like to see any minimum flotation imposed. Maybe the only rule as far as that goes, is that minimum flotation should be clearly marked on the boat so the paddler knows what he / she is getting.

Rules that establish paddler nationality, format for championships, doping etc. are the ones that are needed to bring the sport together and help it mature.

I agree that certain rules should be standardized. Enforcement will come at some cost though, especially doping control. How would you propose costs be met?
Maybe more importantly, as event profiles increase so will security needs. That could be a tricky one to arrange for at some venues. It's all doable but will take some around the world coordination.
Perhaps better to initially work within national bodies? Most of them are ICF members and maybe an easier place to start?

Jim, I agree that the NFs are the place to start. As far as I know, there are very few that have adopted surfski / ocean racing as a discipline. I think CanoeSA is one of the few major NFs to fully support the new discipline (apart from the NACF - www.canoe-na.com - who has a seat on the ICF with less than 30 paid up members).

As far as budget goes, the NFs already have anti-doping programs in place for flatwater and marathon, so expanding it to surfski should not be a challenge.

For safety, I am less am less in favour of centralised control. Different races in different areas have their own challenges and safety issues. If I had a hand in writing the rules I would keep mandatory safety aspects to a minimum and leave the bulk of it to the race organisers, operating within the constraints of their insurance and maritime authority's requirements.

Maybe it is time for a new heading.