Big wave kayaking?

Evil Phil

Is there such a thing? I'm wondering if anyone has kayaked Aileen's.

KenHy

I doubt it! not that easy to tow onto a wave on a kayak!

irishlostboy

it is possible to ride some pretty big waves in a surf kayak. i know Will Matos and friends rode teahupo and a few other similarly notorious waves in kayaks years back. kayaks still cant extend as big as boarders though. you cannot distribute your weight as dynamically as you can on a board.
tow-ins are perfectly possible and done all the time on lachine and similar.

kayaksurfbum

Kayaks just are not fast enough. iv surfed 16ft plus in easky and when you make the take off the boat just bounces, no control and no speed. if the face is clean enough then you can get speed but big waves are rarely that clean.

Zuppy

kayaksurfbum wrote: »

Kayaks just are not fast enough. iv surfed 16ft plus in easky and when you make the take off the boat just bounces, no control and no speed. if the face is clean enough then you can get speed but big waves are rarely that clean.

Not even a surf kayak? Seen some of them rip up large waves. (not what I would call big waves but big enough)

hertz

As Kayaksurfbum said, kayaks aren't fast enough for massive waves, they need to pick up enough speed to stay way in front of the wave in order to avoid hitting the steep part and doing a nose dive which ends in a wipe out!! Fibre glass surf kayaks have a good advantage on most big waves but not the massive waves, as they are light enough to pick up speed.

k_d

hertz wrote: »

kayaks aren't fast enough for massive waves,.

Rubish. Surf kayaks and waveskis are performing much better than years ago, design has advanved as well as materials etc.

You tube some "waveski" videos and you can see there speed,

Weight does not have anything to with speed, Big wave surfers actually ad weight to there boards. some boards can weigh up to 20kg and more.

Im surfing a ski at the moment that weights the same as a board!!

As tim says there is an advantage to being on a board as your legs can take the bumps and vibrations of a larger wave, However hull desing does help.

Mickeroo

look on you tube,plenty of kayakers on big waves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2FFUA2XE2s

irishlostboy

Mickeroo wrote: »

look on you tube,plenty of kayakers on big waves.........

those waves are nice and all, but max out at about 10 foot. which is fine and big in a kayak, but is not really Aileen's level of big.
of course "big" is interpretive and does not just cover height in feet above sea level. overall wave shape, speed lip thickness, etc all come into play. the likes of Aileen's and teahupoo are not about the wave height. they are hollow thick-lipped monsters which break people up. in theory, with the right shape of wave, size is not really relevent. course i have yet to see an 80 footer with a slow gentle face that breaks gently down its height instead of hollowing out and dumping right on top of you. but i can dream right? lol.

i am not a big surf guy. it scares the poo out of me. karl there has been into his surf for about a decade now and loves it. personally i would love to see more vids and pics of kayak surfing. it is vastly underpopularised aspect of kayaking and surf is a great resource to us in ireland.
http://www.paddlesurf.ie/
this is the paddlesurf website for ireland. well worth a look to see what is happening.

k_d

http://www.afacblog.org/?p=807

kayaksurfbum

weight does matter for getting a good take off, the lighter the boat the sooner you will start planning on the face. also it make cutbacks a bit easier.

Iv been surfing carbon surf kayaks for years now and all of the boats iv had go out of control on the big stuff, even the 3.5m international boats bounce out of control on a very fast break.

Used to have good crack in plastic on big days, just going for the biggest drops and trying to get the bounce for the air moves, but that not really surfing.

ozt9vdujny3srf

irishlostboy

where did you find this? that guy is about to have pain redefined for him. it even looks like he is in a playboat instead of a surf boat! goodnight!

ozt9vdujny3srf

http://paddleblogs.com/andrewpoll/2009/10/

adrianshanahan

irishlostboy wrote: »

where did you find this? that guy is about to have pain redefined for him. it even looks like he is in a playboat instead of a surf boat! goodnight!

He is in a Fluid Nemesis Composite construction boat... and from the photos on his site and Dave Fishers film he seems to do just fine in it....

A

irishlostboy

adrianshanahan wrote: »

He is in a Fluid Nemesis Composite construction boat... and from the photos on his site and Dave Fishers film he seems to do just fine in it....

A

this is so not doing fine. lol.

but this shot is probably not the same wave ride. same session though. got that shot from steve fishers facebook page. facebook is great! lol.
are you sure it is a nemisis and not an element? i want an element!

adrianshanahan

irishlostboy wrote: »

are you sure it is a nemisis and not an element? i want an element!

Yep your right I had ment to say element.

A

irishlostboy

adrianshanahan wrote: »

Yep your right I had ment to say element.

A

i dont think i would go out in that even in an element. class boat though.

kayaksurfbum

Super clean wave. Where is it anyone know?

ec18

off the coast of south africa i believe

MugMugs

irishlostboy wrote: »

where did you find this? that guy is about to have pain redefined for him. it even looks like he is in a playboat instead of a surf boat! goodnight!

pfttt ! Surf Boats are for weeneys !

Playboats are made for surf ! :P

irishlostboy

MugMugs wrote: »

pfttt ! Surf Boats are for weeneys !

Playboats are made for surf ! :P

um, yea..... i would have agreed back when i was still paddling my sub 7. but not in todays playboats. ........but whatever boats your float yourself!

ec18

why not todays?

adrianshanahan

Modern Freestyle boats are just too slow to really cut in surf, while the older boats were longer / faster they are still eclipsed by the proformance on offer from a surf kayak HP or IC.

Personaly I'd love to have a Megathron but don't go surfing near enough to justify having a surf spisific boat.

A

irishlostboy

ec18 wrote: »

why not todays?

ya, like adrian said, its all about speed. modern playboats have a lot of rocker either end to give bounce and loopyness. that makes them very slow. they dont carve accross the face for peanuts either. like William Mattos said in his surf kayaking book, playboats having properties condusive to good ocean surfing ended about the time of the pro-zone (anyone remember that boat?)
back then boats carved and cartwheeled. once bouncing was the game, cross-face carving speed had to be sacraficed for bounce.
all kayaks surf somewhat. playboats point at the beach and bounce and bob to shore spinning, bouncing etc with little clash-carves to get into position on a wave. surf kayaks carve across the wave more like a surfboard. both are surfing. but both are very different.
when i got my fluid flirt i took it to easkey left. i was shocked at how slow it was. usually those shoulders are super slow and easy to work, but every time i tried to carve the shoulder it would just spin out or just be too slow. the older playboats such as pro-zone, inazone, sub7, techno etc were a reasonable halfwayhouse between the current playboats and surf boats for ocean use. they could carve sections. just not very quickly.
i would kill for a short surf kayak from mega or similar. i surf a lot (being in the northwest) but i cannot afford yet another boat.

ec18

irishlostboy wrote: »

ya, like adrian said, its all about speed. modern playboats have a lot of rocker either end to give bounce and loopyness. that makes them very slow. they dont carve accross the face for peanuts either. like William Mattos said in his surf kayaking book, playboats having properties condusive to good ocean surfing ended about the time of the pro-zone (anyone remember that boat?)
back then boats carved and cartwheeled. once bouncing was the game, cross-face carving speed had to be sacraficed for bounce.
all kayaks surf somewhat. playboats point at the beach and bounce and bob to shore spinning, bouncing etc with little clash-carves to get into position on a wave. surf kayaks carve across the wave more like a surfboard. both are surfing. but both are very different.
when i got my fluid flirt i took it to easkey left. i was shocked at how slow it was. usually those shoulders are super slow and easy to work, but every time i tried to carve the shoulder it would just spin out or just be too slow. the older playboats such as pro-zone, inazone, sub7, techno etc were a reasonable halfwayhouse between the current playboats and surf boats for ocean use. they could carve sections. just not very quickly.
i would kill for a short surf kayak from mega or similar. i surf a lot (being in the northwest) but i cannot afford yet another boat.

ah thanks for that bit o information

kayaksurfbum

iv a mega vanquish id like to swap for a plastic if anyone is interested? Riot, Dragorossi or something similar.

militia

Firstly - hello!
Just thought I'd chip in, as I noticed this post while trawling. I tried towing a few times. Last time as on a swell that was 25 foot, at 22 ecs giving 40 foot + waves. In my opinion, it doesn't work. you can't turn when towed, you can't use your legs to absorb bumps like a down hill ski'er, and when you let go - it's like you've but a brake on. Besides, towing is far easier for big waves - paddling in is LOADS scarier. Cos of the speed of big waves, you have to paddle right under the lip - and make the drop. This was the following day, paddling in:

gally74

Well as per previous comments , speed is the problem, have been out in Hugh surf in easky and the boat bounces like he'll even a fiberglass slal boat, found my hurricane the best, board surf now so smaller waves are plenty