- Incredibly Fast
- Good Stability
- Ultra Lightweight
- Fully Adjustable Footbrace
- Epic Surf Ski Rudder
The Epic V10 is incredibly fast and agile while maintaining comfortable stability.
Designed from the ground up by Oscar Chalupsky, Greg Barton, and computer whiz John Dixon. While Epic met their goal of designing a boat that is faster than the competition on flat water, the Epic V10 really shines in downwind and upwind heavy sea conditions.
A fully adjustable footbrace combines with a high-capacity venturi drain to keep water out. The single footwell and front deck cutaway allow for a closer, more powerful stroke.
The adjustable footbrace with self-adjusting pedals will accommodate paddlers from 5'3" to 6'7" in height. Comes standard with the Epic surkski rudder. *A smaller paddler would be better served by the V10L surf ski model.
Club
37 lbs (17 kg)
Fiberglass on a core mat
Vacuum bagged with polyester resin
Blue bow & stern
Performance
32 lbs (14.5 kg)
Infusion grade foam core
Composite hybrid of fiberglass, carbon fiber, and Kevlar
Vacuum infused, heat-cured epoxy
Black bow & stern
Ultra
25 lbs (11.5 kg)
Nomex honeycomb core
Woven Kevlar fabric
Vacuum bagged, heat-cured epoxy
Red bow & stern
Elite
22 lbs (10 kg)
Nomex honeycomb core
Woven carbon fiber
Wet laminate, vacuum bag
All black carbon (no gel coat) with white decals
Black with white bow & stern
Add a Kick Up Rudder to any Epic Surfski for $225
*Available only in the contiguous United States. Actual shipping charges will be discussed with you before purchase is finalized. Shipping charges average $300 per kayak. Delivery time varies depending upon availability.
Length: 21' 4" (6.5 m)
Width: 17.1" (43.4 cm)
Depth: 14" (35.5 cm)
Capacity: 320 lbs (145 kg)
The Idea behind the V12
When we designed the V10 surf ski, some of the earlier versions were actually faster than our final design. We opted to de-tune the faster versions to increase the stability of the V10 and make it appeal to a wider range of paddlers.
With this in mind, I always thought – what if you had a skilled paddler in small to moderate conditions? Wouldn’t it make sense to sacrifice a small amount of stability for increased speed?
Thus the goal of the V12 was to make the fastest surf ski possible. The target would be for flatter water, or moderate conditions that are encountered in many parts of mainland USA and Europe where surf skis are paddled. Going back to the drawing board, I decreased the water line width and played with the cross sectional shapes & rocker profile to create a faster hull. I kept in mind that many races are a combination of flat and rougher water (such as the Mayor’s Cup in NYC that is typically flat for 75% of the race, but conditions pick up considerably the last 10 km; or the US Surf Ski Champs held half in San Francisco Bay and half out in the open ocean.) I wanted the V12 to have enough reserve buoyancy and secondary stability so that it could handle rough water when necessary.
After several iterations, our calculations showed the V12 to be approximately 2.4% faster than the V10 on flat water – a significant improvement. Further, for an 80 kg (176 lb.) paddler, the V12 is faster than an ICF sprint racing K-1 between speeds of 9.7 to 16.5 km/hr. (6 to 10 mph), while being significantly more stable and capable of handling rough water.
What’s up with the Bailer/Drain?
Venturi drains are a considerable benefit for paddlers in the open ocean who are constantly having waves dump water into their cockpit. However, the venturi draining action comes at a price. The flow disturbance on a surf ski hull can increase drag and result in up to 1% speed loss. If you will be paddling in calmer conditions without getting water into the cockpit, why should you put up with this speed penalty?
We installed a bailer on the V12 – of the type commonly used in marathon racing canoes in USA. This gives a smooth hull and faster speeds when draining is not needed, with the ability to open up and drain the cockpit when necessary.
In testing we found that when the bailer is fully open, it drains significantly faster than our standard venturi. However, it also creates more drag. A fully open bailer creates about twice as much drag as our molded in venturi (but drains the cockpit 3 times as fast,) resulting in up to 2% speed loss. Luckily, the bailer can be opened part way, which still gives good draining with less drag increase. The bailer must be opened up at least half way (or a little more.) At 50% or less open, the swinging gate cannot open to let the water out. At 55 to 60% open, the bailer still drains as fast or faster than our molded-in venturi, with similar or only slightly increased drag.
Thus for calm water, we recommend keeping the bailer closed at all times, only opening up if water comes into the cockpit. For steady open water paddling, keeping the bailer at 50 to 60% open will provide good continuous draining while eliminating the need to open and close the bailer each time the cockpit becomes flooded. The full open position should only be used when you want to drain the cockpit quickly and then closed, or pulled in to the half open position once the cockpit has drained.
An added benefit of the closed bailer is that water will not back drain into the cockpit – eliminating the lap full of cold water often experienced on the first stroke with surf skis in colder climates! Even with the bailer open, the swinging gate greatly decreases the back draining of water.
It is possible to remove the swinging gate so that the bailer can drain effectively at lesser openings (say 30% open) to still give some draining action with decreased drag penalty. However, removing this flap will allow water to back drain into the cockpit when the bailer is open while sitting still or paddling at slower speeds.
Why is there a cover over the front of the cockpit?
I wanted to re-create the close catch position of K-1’s in this surf ski. Doing so required dropping the seam line at the front of the cockpit. While it gives a great catch at the start of the stroke, it can allow more water into the cockpit in some conditions. The cover makes for a drier ride and less need to open the bailer in moderate choppy conditions. The cover also prevents catching the paddle blade on the steering pedals or your feet (for those with big feet) – a possibility in the V12 because of the narrowness at the paddle entry position.
Surprise – the V12 surfs and works well in rough water!
When I design a new boat, I analyze data as much as possible, but never know 100% how it will perform in the real world. This is especially true in rough water conditions – which are much more difficult to model than flatwater performance.
Therefore we shipped two V12’s to Mauritius to let some of the team Epic paddlers test them out in a variety of conditions. We were pleasantly surprised, the boat performed well in all conditions! The flare above waterline provided enough buoyancy and secondary stability, that waves were not a problem. In fact it maneuvered and handled as well as any surf ski we’ve paddled! We paddled in conditions up to 4-6 ft (2 meter). It still remains to be seen if the V12 works as well as the V10 in Molokai type (8-12 ft or 3-4 meter waves) conditions.
