Best whitewater kayak for ocean surfing?
I was thinking about picking up a whitewater kayak for ocean surfing.
After doing a bit of research, I found that Necky Jive is a great surf boat. However, Necky no longer makes this kayak, and I am not lucky enough to pick up a used Jive.
What is the best whitewater kayak for ocean surfing (both Used and New)?
Many Thanks.
Terrain?
Amongst what features are you surfing? Open sandy beach with spilling waves on the Pacific Coast, dumping surf or in/amongst rocks off the RI or OR coast?
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
hudsonriverpaddler.org
Get a surf Kayak…
Best thing for the surf. Check out http://www.surfkayaks.com/ or http://www.rpfkayaksusa.com/ or http://www.watertechkayaks.com/
Lots of cool boats out there. Some manufacturers are also offering plastic surf boats now as well…
rocky area
– Last Updated: Jul-28-14 4:49 PM EST –
most likely rocky area.
Thanks for the replay.
plastic sit in boat
looking for a plastic sit in boat
Thanks for the reply.
Some info …
– Last Updated: Jul-28-14 5:01 PM EST –
Necky Jive certainly is a pretty good whitewater boat to get started in the surf. There are a lot of them out there. If you post on bulletin boards like Boatertalk or Eddyflower gear swap in US you would be pretty likely to find one. Also old Necky rip is good too.
The advice to go with a plastic surf kayak is good. The plastic neutron from mega was good; they probably have newer models. The old Maverick was OK too.
The valley storm was a really good plastic boat design for speed and maneuverability. They tended to get trashed easily though.
One issue with all of the plastic boats I mentioned is they are designed for athletic surfers under 180 lbs. Over 180 lbs and your butt will be sinking the boat.
I pretty much have given up surfing kayaks and now use waveskis all the time. These actually work much better for rocky beach launchings and landings.
Look into Tyler Lausten Waveskis and Infinity waveskis depending on the kind of surfing you will be doing.
A few options…
http://exokayak.com/xw-1/
http://www.fluidkayaks.com/us/kayaks/whitewater/element.html
The plastic valley already mentioned. A surf kayak will outperform a ww boat in the surf, totally different animal with the rails and the addition of fins. Not sure if anyone is building a long (10 foot) boat out of plastic, they make a great first surf boat and can ride smaller waves. The short HP boats need waves with some oomph to them to ride.
wave ski
I know it is pretty annoying when a poster asks for advice on one thing and gets suggestions for something different yet here I go, please forgive me… You asked for advice on a WW boat for ocean surf. If that is all you want it for then I strongly agree with the above posters, get a real surf specific boat. In my opinion white water boats are poor at best for surfing ocean waves. Surf kayaks are WAY better. Furthermore, in my opinion, wave skis are even better. “Better” meaning both performance and ease of use. Good luck
Dagger Axiom
We had both a Jive and an Axiom. I was surprised at how similar they were in the shape and contours of the hull.
The Jive was sold off because she wasn’t comfortable in it - some people don’t fit well in last century’s outfitting designs.
I still boat the Axiom, I bought it to replace the RPM Max I originally bought for surf play. Plus, the Axiom is a lot of fun on the river, where I seem to use it more than I get to the ocean these days.
No doubt a dedicated surf boat coupled with the skill to use it is better ocean surfing than a WW boat, but for someone like me the Axiom serves two purposes well enough for me to have a lot of fun.
Ocean Surfing?
Are you referring specifically to the surf of the seashore or to the surf of the open ocean? There is a big big difference and specially designed craft exist for both. You’d probably cork around out in the open ocean attempting to surf the waves and ground swells that exist out there on your white water craft, but probably be more successful catching them when they become shore break stuff.
The Old Neckys…
were decent surfers as far as whitewater boats go. But, as you noted, increasingly harder to find. And the ones available have years and sun-damage along the way.
Why not just break away from the SINKs altogether for surf? Understandable someone just getting into surfing may not want to invest in a waveski (or know what to look for), then go with one of the plastic SOTs. Seen plenty of WS Kaos (with fins) out in some of the local breaks. It can hold some bigger paddlers. More important, the Kaos outsurfs the old Necky WW boats. With thigh straps, and some practice, you can roll a Kaos as well as the old WW boats.
sing
Another “vote” for the Dagger Axiom
It is one of the better surfing WW boats out there. The Jackson Zen and Funrunner series might also do the trick, though I think the Axiom is edgier.
Get the right size - the 9.0 is reserved for heavy folks in the 250lb+ range, IMO.
Thanks
Thank you so much for all your help I really appreciate it.