23-06-2013
Wind: SW 6 bft. Playing in surf at the coast near Castricum.
It might be the result of the strong winds yesterday: today the sea was white with foam and the waves dumped and were filled with sand. But this was a good occasion to paddle the SI18 in cresting waves.
Maybe it was not an ideal sea for surfing as the waves were rather steep. But the kayak functioned well in these waves. Stability was good; thanks to the tailor fitting of the cockpit. Manoeuvrability is always less between cresting waves; this has something to do with the currents and the turbulence in surf. Bur for a seakayak the manoeuvrability is good. And it will not be a surprise to you as I say that the kayak cuts nice through the waves with her sharp bow.
Because the waves followed very close upon each other, it was difficult to turn the kayak in time to pick up a surf. So often I surfed in a high- or low brace in a broached position parallel to the wave. But also when surfing straight down a wave, the kayak broached when the wave starts cresting and the kayak likes this broached position best and refused to come out.
It seems also that in a broached surf with high brace, the aftship is pressed down more than the front-part, causing the kayak to surf a bit backwards. Although I must say that I saw this phenomena also happen a few times with the WW-surfing kayaks paddling around me; so it could be that this is due to the wave-condition of today. But it sounds realistic to me that it could be caused by the kayak design because the aftship is indeed rather slim and the frontship rather voluminous. Surfing backwards can be a bit awkward as this could result in a backwards loop or salto, due to the slim aftship sinking deep on a steep wave.
My general conclusion about the SI18 in surf is that she performs well but does not surf easily on short, cresting waves. Probably she likes the longer swell out at sea much more. It's not a playboat but rather a mile-eating seakayak.
I hope for another opportunity in the near future to paddle the SI18 in surf with different conditions and with longer waves.