Oscar on the Dragon Run starting line

On November 20th I was in Hong Kong giving surf ski clinics, a precursor to The Dragon Run, one of the world’s premier surf ski events. This round of clinics was particularly exciting, as I knew I’d have the new V8 surfski available, our latest entry level ski that is perfect for my clinics. The more stable the boat, the easier it is to provide instruction. This was confirmed by clinic feedback - the students loved it! Many of them credited the boat right away for getting them more excited about paddling in surfskis. They kept saying it sure was nice to spend more time right side up than upside down!

Once I was there, and the boat was there, I started thinking about paddling it in the big race. Given my current fitness, I knew I wasn’t in contention for a win. Why not have some fun and put the new boat through its paces? I’m a sucker for fast and stable boats, and I knew the sleek surf ski outfitting on this rock solid hull would make for a fun race!

It was a great ride! Totally comfortable and a perfect fit. The stability was so good it felt like a luxury car – smooth. The deck cutaways balanced out the extra width of the boat very nicely, and I felt I was able to paddle aggressively without any hindrance at all.

While I was able to finish ahead of some strong paddlers, I was never in contention for the leader board. But the conditions were not true downwind racing either. What I found interesting is that on the nice runs that were out there, I was able to catch them and hit the same top speeds as the elite class boats. After the race I found that Dawid and I had the same top speed (max speed not average), all it took was getting that good wave. In a big downwind race, I believe I could have paddled into the top 10.

I definitely look forward to racing the V8 more in the future, particularly when there is a solid downwind course with good conditions. Who knows, maybe I’ll get back to Molokai with one! And without a doubt I’ll be using these boats as much as possible in my clinics. They are such a valuable teaching tool; I hope to have one with me in Australia when Dean and I do our big clinic.

If you can make it out to a clinic, come by and we’ll go for a spin in the new boat!

- Oscar