Posted on June 6, 2020

When paddling John's Stealth Profisha 575 I noticed that it worked my body in different ways from a sea kayak. Especially the obliques play a bigger role, also a number of Hip stabilization muscles like the gluteus medius, gluteus maximus, piriformis and deep core muscles, are excercised differently because on a surfski one is not connected to the hull by wedging ones thighs against and under the deck. It might make sense to start paddling a surfski for general conditioning.

A shop in San Rafael, 101 Surf Sports, offered a demo of a ski that would suit me (based on their recommendations) and a couple of days later I found myself in an Epic V8 Pro on the San Rafael creek.

The V8 Pro is best described as an intermediate level surfski, basically where in my opinion the intermediate level starts. There are more advanced designs which are also considered intermediate level, and the ways they might feel and challenge you can vary quite a lot. Therefore, it is important to try things out.

The V8 Pro offers some very nice features, especially the built-in handle rails were great (many surskis don't have handles at all), the hull was sharp and already quite challenging for my first-timer skillset, but it still provided a bit of a chine in the mid section and therefore some degree of control.

The specs of the V8 Pro are as follows:
Length: 19'0" (5.79 m)
Width: 20" (50.8 cm)
Depth: 12.6" (32 cm)
Capacity: 80 to 280 lbs (36 - 127 kg)
Paddler Fit: 4'9" to 6'5" (1.45m to 1.96m)

Since then I spoke with Huki owner and designer Jude Turczynski who said that the V8 Pro felt good because it was too easy for me. Yes, on that first day it is a great ride but three or four months later I would be looking for something more advanced and therefore he recommended a Huki S1-R, a ski 19' 11" LOA (Length Over All), 18.5" BOA (Beam Over All), so about a foot longer and 1.5 inches narrower than the Epic V8 Pro. Whether Jude is right or not I have no way of knowing, but he's extremely experienced and for now I'll take his word that I should look for something a bit more challenging before plunking down big $$$ for a new Epic V8 Pro.

Should I find a used V8 Pro for a reasonable price I would still go for it, surfski paddling, even on flat water, is a ton of fun and you don't need the perfect ski to enjoy yourself.