Latest News
On Training: Attention and Its Limits
The paddler to your right has been pushing the pace for the last few minutes, and you've been tracking them. Watching their rhythm, watching the gap, watching whether they're going to open it further. Somewhere to your left, a run has been developing for the last few seconds. It would have [...]
On Training: Seeing the Water
The first time something catches your eye before you understand what it means, you almost dismiss it. A change in texture fifty meters ahead, a slight darkening of the surface, the way another paddler two boats over suddenly lifts their pace before you've registered anything worth responding to. It registers briefly [...]
National Series Notebook: A Loaded July
Patrick Dolan flew 5,000 miles from Hawaii to Massachusetts and won the 2026 USA COR National Championships on a grueling open water course against a stacked field of athletes. Five days later, Austin Kieffer won the showcase race at the Gorge Downwind Championships paddlesports festival in the biggest conditions the event [...]
On Training: Physical Integration
The race was two-thirds over and the aerobic system was still running cleanly. Breathing had stayed in control, the stroke hadn't collapsed, and the pace was within the range that should have been sustainable. But something had shifted in the last thirty minutes. A shoulder carrying something separate from the general [...]
On Downwinding: Leveraging Energy
The difference between flatwater paddling and downwinding isn't subtle. Grinding a flat stretch is the opposite: all work and no rest, every foot of distance earned stroke by stroke with nothing free about it. Catching a wave takes a handful of hard strokes, sometimes just one, and then the boat rides [...]
On Training: Efficiency and Friction
During any long session or race, most of each stroke converts cleanly into forward motion. A small fraction gets diverted into correction, stabilization, and adjustment. Some of that cost comes from outside: the ocean pushes, the boat responds, and effort goes toward holding a line and keeping the hull settled underneath [...]
Surfski Reviews
Looking for an ocean ski? Check out the surfski comparison chart!
Wesley’s Next Surf Ski Review:Think Uno 2G
The video by Chris Chappell, above, is me demoing the Think Uno 1G on the Charles River in 2009. I bought that boat knowing I could only paddle it on flat water or calm ocean conditions. Although I paddled it once on part of the Ride the Bull Course, one [...]
Nelo 550, Think Evo 3, Stellar SEI, Surfski Time Trials
In my garage and basement I have my favorite skis. As usual it is a mix of advanced skis (Think Uno 2g, Ion 3G, Epic V12 2g, Stellar SEL 2G, Nelo 560M and intermediate skis( Nelo 550, Stellar SR 2G, SEI 2G, Think Evo 2, Evo 3). Of the advanced [...]
Epic V10L Performance Review – by Wesley Echols
For several months I paddled a fiberglass ‘performance’ layup V10L. What immediately struck me back when I owned that boat was how comfortable the cockpit is. The bucket is very shallow compared to the other High Performance Skis (HPS), however, your feet are below your seat. Because of this, leg [...]
Epic V10L Ultra Review – by Wesley Echols
For several months I paddled a fiberglass ‘performance’ layup V10L. What immediately struck me back when I owned that boat was how comfortable the cockpit is. The bucket is very shallow compared to the other High Performance Skis (HPS), however, your feet are below your seat. Because of this, leg [...]
2020 Surf Ski Comparison Chart
I updated the 2016 Surfski Comparison Chart with many new skis. Please click on the CHART ALL SKIS header tab above or on the Home page to view the 2020 Chart and the 2016 Chart. Be sure and read the text accompanied with the Chart for clarification. Enjoy! More boats [...]