The smokin spring and summer Maliko report

[LaPerouseBay]

Well, as usual, 1p2p, you are right about the V-10.  I did my first downwinder tonight and the boat is just amazing.  It steers better, accelerates better and pretty much does everything better than the V-10 sport. 

Conditions were light, barely whitecapping.  But the reefs do lift the water up a bit.  I know the run well and have done similar conditions many, many times.  This boat is just unbelievably fun to paddle.  I'm a VERY happy camper.

I was contemplating paddling flat water early in the mornings to help my form, but man, that is tough sledding.  I did some yesterday and it almost killed me.  One hour of that feels like two long downwinders.  Maybe I'll try it a few times a week.  Evening downwinders after work are going to be so fun.   

The first clip in this video shows how nice the sliding leash is.  It's back out of the way and will slide back if needed.

The second clip is the fastest minute of the run.  9.7/min is almost as fast as anything I've ever done in the V-10 sport.  And I wasn't even trying.  Woo Hoo!     

south shore 6-12-12

[LaPerouseBay]

My biceps feel a bit tight this morning, which tells me I was 'arm paddling' more than usual on that downwinder.  That makes sense to me, because I'm still not capable of using my legs to drive the V-10.  Each time I experiment with kicking the footplate and driving with my hips, the boat rolls too much.  Hopefully, that will gradually improve, because thats what really makes a ski go, IMO.  

And to clarify my comment about flatwater almost killing me, it's so hard because it allows real focus on form.  We have enough time to think about doing things correctly.  I find it extremely difficult to sit tall, get that top hand up where it should be and drive with the core.  Spearing the water is tough too.  Experts make that look so easy.  My balance goes all over the place on flat water, the core works overtime to stay upright and I'm fried.  Tough sport.    

After a session of that, my biceps don't feel a thing.  Fatigue is down between the belly button and upper thighs.  That's where the real power is.  K1 sprinters that can draw on those muscles are quite talented.  

The only time I've ever felt as locked in and tippy on a machine was on a velodrome.  Track bikes require good form and go fast, especially in the TT position.  Get sloppy in a ski and it's hello fish.  On a track it's hello boards.    

[1paddle2paddle]

Well, as usual, 1p2p, you are right about the V-10.  I did my first downwinder tonight and the boat is just amazing.  It steers better, accelerates better and pretty much does everything better than the V-10 sport. 

It is not that I am smarter than the average bear, it is just that the boat is so MUCH faster than the V10S (or similar) that as long as you can stay upright in the V10, it will be faster.

No question a 17" boat will test a paddler's balance.  But what is amazing is how stable the V10 is for being that narrow.  Compared to the latest Fenn ski available at the time of my purchase (the Millennium or the Mako 6), the V10 was much more stable.  The Millennium gave me the shakes on flat water.  The Mako 6 was more forgiving, but still could not match the V10's stability.

Where did you get that sliding leash?  My coil leash was really being a pain on Monday, when trying to get my feet into the footstrap in the chop.

[JonathanC]

Was hoping you wouldn't be able to resist the downwinders for long in the new boat!

It certainly looks fast but I can empathize with the more tentative paddling and can see the relative lack of stability in your body compared to where you were in the Sport - sure it won't be long though.
How does the sliding leash arrangement work L?

Never ceases to amaze me how complex the paddling stroke is in the ski, looks so simple when you see the pro's doing it but trying to think about leg drive, core stability, etc etc is really full on and very tiring as you say.

Oh and just so you know, I always find your videos fantastic image quality but very very slow to load. I'm not familiar with using YouTube but maybe there is a way to save them as slightly smaller files without degrading the quality. Please keep em coming

[headmount]

Damn... that really looks great

[LaPerouseBay]

JC, you can choose a lower resolution.  When you click the start arrow a little gear will appear on the lower right.  Click that and choose. 

The leash is my epic.  I attach it to my pfd with the string and the carabiner goes on the slider.  The slider is an idea I got from the sea kayak guys.  I put the bungee on there to keep it taut.  The rear mount is some clear tube through the cover, with some epoxy to reinforce it. 

The hat and glasses are also leashed to the pfd with some leftover camera leashes. 

[1paddle2paddle]

The leash looks nifty, but do you think it will withstand a really hard pull (say if you got rolled by a breaking wave)?

[LaPerouseBay]

^ It's strong enough for the conditions I'll encounter in the near future.  And probably strong enough for a serious yank.  I've heard ski's don't pull hard when they are in line with a wave.

My plan is to keep searching for a stainless tee nut in 1/4 x 20.  I mounted a tee nut in the v-10 sport, but it was electro plated and corroded quickly.  They are super strong if mounted correctly and serve as a camera / leash mount.  

[JonathanC]

^ It's strong enough for the conditions I'll encounter in the near future.  And probably strong enough for a serious yank.  I've heard ski's don't pull hard when they are in line with a wave.

My plan is to keep searching for a stainless tee nut in 1/4 x 20.  I mounted a tee nut in the v-10 sport, but it was electro plated and corroded quickly.  They are super strong if mounted correctly and serve as a camera / leash mount.  

How do you get inside with the T nut L? T nuts I'm familiar with need to have access to both sides of the panel. Maybe a rivnut would work but I'd be worried about the amount of crush it would put on the panel with the self crushing/locking motion.

Seems strange to me that the ski manufacturers don't come up with better integrated leash systems, would be easy to sort it all out during the manufacturing process.

The EZ Stick on leash plugs work really well if you prep the surface properly, you could even put two at the back to make extra sure.

When I was attaching the leash to the footstrap I experienced quite a bit of "pull" on a big day but I'm sure that the sliding leash line will let the boat align with the swell and help reduce the pull.

[1paddle2paddle]

I imagine if the boat it attached to the leash somewhere near the tail, then it would be more likely to be in line with the waves then if the boat is attached via the foot pedal (where I have mine); makes sense that if the boat is attached via the footpedal then there is a greater chance of the boat ending up perpendicular to the waves.  I've been rolled a couple of times by breaking waves between Light House and Kaimana on the skis, and it was difficult to remount when I was getting worked by wave after wave.

Jonathan makes a good point about manufacturers including a dedicated leash attachment point.  Seems simple enough.  I imagine because skis started out in those competitions where the riders are standing on the shore holding their boats, leashes are not typically used and so manufacturers never thought it was an important thing to consider.

[LaPerouseBay]

How do you get inside with the T nut L?

I surface mount the nut, with the flange on the outside.  Threads in the t nut are long enough to use half for an anchor bolt and half for the camera mount post.  The anchor 'bolt' is a segment of threaded rod.  I bent it 90 degrees and had it stick out the rear of the boat, (with another nut on it).  The t nut is on top.  It was all expoxied inside the boat.  Very, very strong. 

It worked great, except for the corrosion.  I'm not sure about drilling holes in the new boat at this time.  Maybe when it gets beat up a little.   

Did my first maliko in the V-10 today.  Holy crap that boat loves big swells.  It was dropping into glides with barely any effort.  The V-10 sport required big efforts to get into similar glides. 

My balance needs practice.  Only one fall.  It took several attempts to get back in.  We finished at Kanaha due to a regatta in the harbor. 

Super fun boat.  Scary fast.  Lot's of adrenaline. 

[LaPerouseBay]

Fun times on the south shore today.

Very happy with the new boat. 

south shore 6-23-12

[JonathanC]

Wow, that looked fantastic L!
A couple of times I could see you really paddle to catch a swell in front and that thing accelerated so fast. 

[LaPerouseBay]

^ JC, acceleration of the v-10 is a notch faster than my old sport.  The new boat is a few pounds lighter, that helps.  The narrow width and smooth hull probably help the most.  The sport's previous owner carried the boat hull down a lot, so it was kinda lumpy.  I will never, ever, carry any of my stuff hull down.

The v-10 really shines when it gets moving.  At a certain hull speed the stability clicks like a light switch and it wants to run.  The trick is to get it up there.  My leg drive (stability) is holding me back, just like early days in the sport.

Maliko wore me out yesterday.  Arm paddling into big swells works for about 15 minutes.  3 falls due to exhaustion.  Arms were so tired I couldn't pull myself into the bucket.  New boat is great.  Leg drive, balance and shoulder turn are improving.

I'm anxious to adust to the V-10 and hop in a V-10S.          

[1paddle2paddle]

LPB that looked like a lot of fun.

Do you find that the boat spins out less than the Sport?