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On Saturday and Sunday, September 16 and 17, the 2006 U.S. Surfski Championships came to heaving waters on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge, on a course reaching from Alcatraz past Point Bonita. This event drew more than 100 participants, including local stars, an Olympic medalist from the East Coast and surfski experts from South Africa, Tahiti and Japan.
San Francisco Chronicle provided a nice coverage of the Championships in two articles by Paul McHugh.
Surfski Watch racers fly through foam -- or try it yourself as international stars take to the water
Surfski city, here we come
Among the fastest -- but tippiest -- watercraft for paddlers are surfskis. These long, slim, light needles of carbon fiber and Kevlar have been popular in Australia, Hawaii, Europe and South Africa, and are increasingly making the scene in the United States.
That scene gets a big boost this weekend when the 2006 U.S. Surfski Championships come to the San Francisco Bay on Saturday and Sunday. Besides Bay Area hotshots Dave Jensen, Zsolt Szadovsky and Craig Webber, former Olympian Greg Barton will be on hand to make the foam fly as competitors launch from Crissy Field and charge into rough waters to make open-ocean marks out beyond the Golden Gate. International stars will include Dawid Mocke and Barry Lewin of South Africa. Other U.S. stars are Mark Sandvold of Hawaii and Robert Clegg of South Carolina.
A race paddling a 'ski' on the sea Missile-shaped craft evolved from lifeguards' rescue vehicles
No boat resembles a guided missile more than a surfski. The fact that a "'ski" is propelled, not by a rocket motor, but a human swinging a paddle, adds cachet. Slim, light craft invented by lifeguards to aid in offshore rescue, surfskis evolved into race vehicles that have begun to take the California kayaking realm by storm.
"This year's contest was the most competitive we've seen," said Craig Tanner, a local paddler who served as event spokesman. "We had a U.S. Olympian, Greg Barton, trying to reclaim his title from the South African champ, Dawid Mocke. Two Tahitians battled to finishes in the top 10. When a top local guy like Dave Jensen comes in 12th, saying he had a great race, you know you're seeing depth of field. It was on the order of the Molokai open ocean race in Hawaii, or a World Cup event in Australia."
The second article contains a nice introductory video clip about surfskis with David Mocke teaching a course before the race and some comments by Greg Barton and Patrick Hemmens. The surfski paddling is "bumpy, windy and awesome."
"In surfski design, you juggle three things to reach a balance," said Barton, who founded a race-paddle and race-kayak company, Epic, in 1997. "Speed is first and foremost. Next comes stability, and finally, open-water performance. You examine all existing designs, create the fastest possible new shape, then de-tune it slightly until you have that minimum amount of stability you need."
The first surfskis, reportedly used in Australia in the 1920s, were essentially painted balsa wood planks that could be paddled through breakers to rescue swimmers. They became a substitute for the heavy surf rowboats also used for rescues, which need a crew of five or more. Lifeguards being an athletic, highly competitive lot, soon used skis to compete with each other over speed courses. Their craft steadily grew longer, lighter and narrower. By the 1960s, skis were built like surfboards: shaped from foam blocks, then sheathed in thin fiberglass.
Today, they've become hollow shells of fancy fabrics such as carbon fiber and Kevlar, stiffened by high-tech honeycomb materials. Generally, modern surfskis range up to about 21 feet in length but are no more than 20 inches wide and often weigh less than 25 pounds. They have a chisel bow that slices through chop until buoyancy lifts them over waves, an open cockpit scooped low into the upper deck, and a skeg (fin) steered by foot pedals.
On hand for the demo day, besides needle-like craft for top racers, were wider, entry-level models from top makers that emphasized stability. These included Epic's V-10 Sport, the Huki S1-R, and Fenn's Mako XT. People stood in line to give them a whirl, which reveals that surfskis are starting to penetrate the recreational paddling realm.
The results of long course singles, open division:
1. Dawid Mocke, 1:56:02; 2. Barry Lewin, 1:57:39; 3. Lewis Laughlin, 1:5822. Masters: 1. Greg Barton, 2:01:47 (4th overall); 2. Robert Clegg, 2:05:17; 3. Mark Sandvold, 2:07:46. Sr. Masters: 1. Dean Bumstead, 2:21:56; 2. Jim Baumann, 2:23:07; 3. Bruce Gipson, 2:30:18. Women: 1. Tracy Landboe, 2:29:42; 2. Kamini Jain, 2:30:36; 3. Kathleen Petereit, 2:47:38.
For the full results including a short course and doubles, see www.usssurfski.com . You can also find more reports and pictures on surfski.info, and more pictures at
OceanPaddleSports.com.
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