FP hanging out with the Stellar and Slipstream Surf crew at the Summer Series

The start of 2012 has been surreal. I’ve gone from tentatively sitting on a surf ski for the first time, barely able to stay on in completely glassy waters, to rolling up to a surf ski race on Botany Bay four weeks later with a  secret hope that I stay on at least long enough to limp over the finish line. During that time I’ve trained zealously in the gym, everyday, in the hope that diminishing weight and a stronger core accelerate my ability to paddle the long white rocket currently sitting in my garage.

Nat finishes up strongly on his Think Evo. One day I'll beat him, just you watch.

To be honest though, the Stellar SR surf ski I’ve been using (thanks Slipstream Surf) is pretty stable in the surf ski scheme of things. It’s design is great for entry to intermediate level paddlers as it has great secondary stability (for a ski). But there’s still a certain amount of paddler stability that needs to be finessed before taking it out in anything lumpy (unless you like swimming) so the onus has been on me to get myself more “ski ready”.

Eleven kms on Botany Bay and it looks like FP might make it high and dry

So I’ve been training. A lot. Daily routines of cardio and core strength exercises, backed up with a nutritional plan put together by Benefit Active. Since I started training 6 weeks ago (ie two weeks before I got on the ski) I’ve lost 14 kgs / 30 lbs. This is a substantial amount of weight to lose in such a short period of time, but I’m doing it healthily. Great food, lots of exercise, carefully planned by fitness professionals.

Mogo looking great on the Stellar SR surf ski. Also looking very WET!

Of course, all that is irrelevant when it comes to racing. Botany Bay is protected from the ocean but it does get wind-blown lumps and swell squeezing in from outside. The water was certainly dynamic enough to have me worried, but I didn’t want to let on to my fellow Team Fat Paddler members so I forced a smile and off I went. Fortunately fellow TFPer Mogo had borrowed a Stellar SR ski from Slipstream Surf that morning as well so I wasn’t alone in my stability nerves.

Malcolm from Carbonology Australia gave us all awesome on-water support and advice. Legend!

To say I was slow is an understatement. For the first 1-2 kms I took it very slowly, keeping my rhythm steady and cadence slow as I concentrated on keeping the boat stable. Mogo started falling out a bit and as other TFP paddlers went to his aid, I found myself alone in growing chop and swell. I had catchable waves hitting me from behind and at a 45 degree angle, so I zig-zagged through it to enable me to gain the benefit of any runners I could catch.

In the TFP kayak (male) division, The Riddler flies into the finish and a podium place

In the TFP kayak (female) division, Series leader Meg wins another race in her division!

The acceleration on waves was intoxicating, the spray kicking up around me as I desperately fought to keep myself in the boat. Sometimes I’d dip a gunwale into a wave and the cockpit would instantly fill with water, reminding me of Nat’s submarine video on Sydney Harbour, but the gurgling venturi quickly emptied out the water and everything was fine. As I wobbled my way through the chop, I noticed a funny thing. I started to smile, a big heartfelt “THIS IS FUN” kinda smile. Much like the rush of surfing through rocks or bouncing around in whitewater.

Footage from the GoPro. Running the lumps, hell yeah!

As the race went on I kept learning about how the ski reacted to different lump shapes and changing wind conditions. I managed to assist another paddler who’d fallen out, turn the buoy and then battle on through the headwind and side chop back to the start. By now my stability had really kicked in, I’d worked out how to build stability via acceleration, and was genuinely loving the bumpy ride on the return leg. When I started I had no idea what I’d think of this surf ski stuff, but suddenly now I could see why it’s growing as a sport so rapidly. The sensation of racing through lumps on a sleek boat is truly awesome.

Winners are grinners... and we're all winners in our own way!

Needless to say I didn’t win. In fact I wasn’t even in the middle pack – I came into the beach at the finish with only two skis behind me. But to me it was a big win, because in just four weeks I’d managed to somehow race the surf ski in a few lumps without falling out AND actually finish. I’d learnt a heap about the boat, and about how to stabilise through keeping my body relaxed and my speed up. Sure, I have a ridiculous amount still to learn and a huge range of skills to pick up, but they’ll be future wins I can work towards. For now, I’ll be happy with the finish and use the success as motivation to keep up the training. Cheers – FP

Team Fat Paddler racers for Summer Series Race 3 - Mogo, Riddler, FP, Meg and Nat

Special thanks: Gavin and Slipstream Surf for the use of his Stellar SR surf skis, Malcolm and Carbonology Australia for the use of the carbon wing paddles and for his care and advice on the water, Dez and the Blast Paddlers crew for putting on the Summer Series, Alex Francois for the use of his photos from the event, and of course to my Team Fat Paddler members who make all my paddling experiences awesome.

Tags: Blast Paddlers, Carbonology Australia, ocean ski, Slipstream Surf, Stellar Kayaks, Stellar SR, Stellar Surf Skis, Summer Series, surf ski, surfski

Stellar SEL and Stellar SR surfskis ready to go exploring

Surfski training continued this weekend with a 22km paddle on the mostly-calm waters of Middle Harbour here in Sydney. With a 6am start, I was joined by Dez Blanchfield (BlastPaddlers.com) on a Stellar SEL surfski, Nat (SydneySurfski.com) on his Think Evo II and the Riddler (Team Fat Paddler) in his sea kayak.

Dez getting his glide on, upper reaches of Middle Harbour Creek

For me this paddle was still very much an orientation to using a wing paddle and a surfski, and I’ve struggled a bit widening my paddle grip from the Greenland-style to the wing style. I’m also still coming to terms with the stability required for lumpy water, and ended up swimming later that morning after taking on some boat chop from a passing pleasure cruiser. But regardless, time in the boat is critical with Mauritius now only 5.5 months away, so its all good. Thanks to Dez for the paddling tips and Slipstream Surf for the loan of the Stellar SR. Cheers, FP

Tags: ocean ski, Stellar Kayaks, Stellar SEL, Stellar SR, surf ski, surfski

The surfskis we're training on - Think Evo II and Stellar SR

My old friend Nat, fellow Team Fat Paddler and blogger of Sydneysurfski.com fame, dropped around the other day with his family  to spend a day of fun with us. We’d planned on an early morning paddle the next morning and decided to lay out the two surfskis we’re using side by side for comparison – his Think Evo II and the Stellar SR that I’m currently learning to ski-paddle on. This post is the outcome of that exercise.

Let me state up-front that this is in no way a performance comparison piece. This is simply a visual comparison of the two surfskis that Nat and I are training on for the Mauritius Paddlers challenge ahead. We are two relative newcomers to the sport and have no basis of expertise whatsoever – ha!

First thoughts - damn, those racing stripes look cool. But orange??

STELLAR SR | THINK EVO II
Length = 19’2″ (5.84m) | Length = 20’6″ (6.25m)
Beam = 18.9″ (48cm) | Beam = 19.0″ (48cm)
Capacity = 295lbs (135kg) | Capacity = 240lbs (110kg)
Weight = 14kg (Advantage layup) | Weight = 15kg (Fibreglass layup)

The Think is clearly longer, and seems narrower in stern and bow

When looking at the two boats upside down, you can see the real difference in shape between the two surfskis. The Evo maintains its full beam at the paddler-point but very quickly tapers front and rear, making the ski look narrower than the SR. The Stellar maintains more volume throughout the length of the ski, most likely making it both more stable and able to contend with bigger paddlers, which the capacity difference proves.

Two quite different cockpits - Stellar SR on left, Think Evo II on the right

In the cockpit there are quite discernible differences. The Stellar SR has quite a roomy, boxy cockpit that takes up almost the entire beam of the boat. The Think Evo II has a tapering cockpit that narrows into the footwell. I’m guessing this keeps your legs together for more drive and means less water in the cockpit if you tip it over (Nat would know!). The wider roomier cockpit of the Stellar SR is more accommodating to the, er, “wider” paddler, with considerably more room for both arse and legs. The wider footwell also means you can spread the legs a touch, which adds a little stability.

Respective foot-plate setup on both skis (Evo on right, Stellar on left)

The foot-plate set-up is quite different on the two skis. Whilst the Evo has a fairly standard two-point securing system, the Stellar SR has a three point system that I’ve been told has been taken from rowing shell design. It’s easy to adjust and is very secure once locked in place. Both skis feature individual foot-straps rather than the single strap favoured by some other brands.

The Stellar SR and the Think Evo II - two great surfskis for two average paddlers!

In all you have two fairly different skis. The Evo II is longer and tippier but has a very fast profile to it. The Stellar SR is shorter and has more width along it’s length for added stability. For Nat and I however these skis are great for our individual needs – for a Fat Paddler, Nat is a lightweight at sub-90kgs and the Evo is great for his smaller stature. For myself at sub-130kgs, the extra room and stability of the Stellar SR makes surfski paddling accessible and gives me a great platform to build my skills at this new style of paddling.

The Facebook page for Sydneysurfski.com

Lastly, to celebrate his love of his surfski, Nat is running a give-away competition on the Sydneysurfski.com Facebook page with a bunch of THINK tshirts to giveaway. All you have to do is go to the page, “Like” it and post a message on why you think the THINK tshirt would look better on you than on Nat…. which is WAY too good an opportunity to give him a kicking to miss (the tshirts are just a bonus – ha!). Cheers, FP

Tags: ocean ski, Stellar, Stellar SR, surf ski, surfski, THINK, Think Evo II

Nat loves to spend more time in the water than on his surfski, apparently

On a recent paddle on my loaner Stellar SR I had a first-time experience of falling off the ski. My re-entry was awful and fortunately I had another paddler there to help a touch, but it worried me that I didn’t quite know how to get back on. So I turned to Team Fat Paddler member and Sydneysurfski.com blogger Nat, since he’s fallen off his surfski more than any other man on the face of the planet! Now he’s no expert of course, and gracefulness has never been his speciality, but he is effective!

So there you have it, a demo of The Bradford Method of fat blokes surfski re-entry. I expect I’m going to get lots of practice myself very soon! Cheers, FP

The Stellar SR surfski - stable, fast,a big cockpit, and can hold up fat blokes!

Tags: ocean ski, remount, Stellar SR, surf ski

The Stellar SR surfski - a mighty vehicle even for a fat man

With next year’s challenge looming in the background, it’s been time to switch my paddling from playing in the rocks to surfski training. This flavour of paddling is almost completely different from the yakking I’m used to, and time in a ski is critical. Fortunately the good folks at Slipstream Surf and Stellar Kayaks came to the party and lent me a Stellar SR surfski to train on, so over the past few days I’ve put in around 20km on the gentle inland waters of Berowra and Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park.

Of course it’s been a little shakey, as my body tries to adapt to the stability needs of a ski. I also don’t have the paddle of choice for skis (wing paddle) and have been using a traditional Aleut paddle instead. But over time I’ve already started to feel my stability increasing and as I do so, the true joy of paddling a ski has already become apparent. Despite the fact I’ve not taken the surfski out in anything lumpy yet, I can see why my pal Nat from SydneySurfSki.com loves skis so much.

With that, here’s a little video of my first sessions on the Stellar SR. Nothing spectacular, just a gentle orientation on the ski through some of the spectacular waterways of Sydney’s Hawkesbury River river district. With some kicking Aussie beats of course! Cheers, FP

Tags: Berowra Waters, ocean ski, Slipstream Surf, Stellar Kayaks, Stellar SR, Stellar surkski, surf ski, surfski