I have only this photo and nothing else. Trying to find out what make it could be. From a local ad.
don’t know…share the ad or ask them. My first guess would be a Think surfski.
Its…not worth buying. These old ski designs suck (a lot) compared to new designs. compared to current boats, they are unstable for any given width, the seats are high and unstable, not very comfortable, high knee hump, mediocre at turning or surfing, fixed leg length means no adjustment or fine tuning, heavy and weak layups. Essentially everything about them is inferior.
Its like comparing a car from the 90s to a current one. Boat design, composite construction, and everything else has really advanced 30 years worth.
I wouldnt even recommend these old boats to poor newbies. The fun factor will not be there so you probably wont catch the Ski bug. Multiple swims will deter many newbies.
I recommend saving up your money for a better boat that is at most 15 years old, and ideally less than 10 years. Nothing older than an Epic V8. Contact your local ski dealers and tell them you are looking. Many times they take in trades or know of local people selling better boats.
Look for an Epic V8, Fenn Bluefin, Think Eze, or other semi recent 20-24inch beam boat depending on how stable you are already (24 if unstable/untrained, closer to 20 if you are stable and trained on other skinny-ish kayaks). The new Kai Wa a Vega Arc is the hottest beginner/low intermediate boat coming soon if you have deeper pockets. The V10g4 is also an advanced surfing monster on the waves.
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Slightly off topic, but I recently viewed an Australian surfki from the 1960s. The guy who paddled it won in the Olympics. The maritime museum in Santa Barbara has it on display.
I was shocked at how much it differed from any other surfskis I’ve seen. The ski is wood, it has a flat deck, the seat looks like maybe a 1/4” thick piece of ski boot lining, and the feet are held in position by what look like hard loops attached to the deck—placed at the outer edges of the deck instead of close together in the middle.
That thin pad glued to a FLAT deck makes me cringe. No butt contours whatsoever.
I found out about the ski.
It is a Paul’s ski, built by Oskar Chalupski, his father, and Tony Scott in 1979 when Oskar was 15 or 16. Oskar himself verified thus. Used for training for lifegaurd competitions off the coast of South Africa.
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Thanks for the follow-up post.
That’s quite a back story. Is the ski in South Africa?
No, here in the US. Another guy out west has 3 about the same. During the early 2000’s more than a million people left South Africa. Shipping conainers were just filled with everything, including boats. So a few got transported all around.