Greenland Kayak Style

Greenland Kayak Style

Greenland Kayak Style

Originating in South Africa as a beach lifeguard’s rescue boat, the surfski is both radically fun and fast. Read about what people are doing with surfskis.

What Are Surfskis?

Surfskis look a bit like suicide machines — they’re long (racing boats are often 20 feet or more), very skinny (less than 20” wide), and way tippy when they’re standing still — but they’re unsinkable, and quite safe, in their way, because of that. This is true especially if a leash connects the paddler to the boat.

Unsinkable? Why? The surfski is a version of the sit-on-top kayak: kayaks that are molded closed. The paddler doesn’t get inside them, but sits on top of them, in a seatwell molded into the ‘yak, with a footwell and foot braces. They can’t fill up with water and sink, and the wells are self-draining — that is, they have drain holes that let water in, but also let it out again when the surfski is moving.