Any one paddle A CD speedster. Tried one out last year could use toe straps.Or paddle any of these boats
Futura SX-1
Inferno.
Looking for impressions and hard data as well
Aloha Dan
When searching for info
on the S-1X, you’ll get more info asking about the HUKI S-1X, than the re-branded Futuras Vince is selling.
Same boat, but I think most out there now are sporting Huki logo’s, and most think of it as a Huki boat.
Post to the Yahoo Surf Ski goup if you haven’t already. Many more ski padlers there, seems like very few here.
Address
Thanks what is the address.
Dan
Address
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/surfski/
411 members - Global membership
Free to sign up, usually only a few emails a day from the group, so it won’t flood your inbox - or just read online if you prefer. Nearly all entertaining (race adn shark reports from down under) and/or with good info (skis, technique, etc). Think you can search the messages too.
You might also want to consider
the South African boats–Fenn Mako and XT and Custom Kayaks Mark 1 and new Icon.
Surfski
Aren’t HUKI made by Futura and sold as HUKI?
As far as I know Futura is the real factory.
ski
Stay away from the Futura as mine leaked and cracked on the side rail seams.Lets just it was a shotty job.If you want the best visit oceanpaddlesports.com.Deanne and Patrick sell the South African Fenns which are the best plus they stand by their product unlike Vince at Futura.
Don’t think so
but I don’t know the business relationship between them. I assumed they were Huki built as they’ve been doing OCs long before and just added skis to the mix. Maybe Huki make the OCs Vince sells too.
I kept an eye on the development of both the S1-A and S1-X by Huki. The boats showed up on the Futura site well after they were on the Huki site.
Almost emailed Jude about the Futura thing when I saw the boats there but it’s his business,and he has better things to do than answer my curiousity (which he was very good about regarding boat questions).
Futura = Overpriced
I don’t know why, but most of the Futura boats are very well overpriced. In addition, during the last couples of years, they did not show anything interesting against other skis.
I guess that this is why SA boats rule the market. Not too expensive, and winner in most of the top races worlwide.
Regard,
Iceman
Futura
Any surfski can leak.
Fenn Mako are a little heavier than Futura, may be
they last longer.
But Futura is old and proven design and probably outnumber Fenn 5 to 1.
I think that Vince at Futura is one of the designers of HUKI and until proven otherwise
I would think that Jude at HUKI builds OC’s
and Vince at Futura builds skis.
Besides in SF bay area HUKI is replacing Mako
and there is some info on surfski board about that.
De Anne and Patric at oceanpaddlers.com are
very nice people, they organize surfski championship, but they don’t build boats.
Besides exchange rates are hurting the price
of Fenn Kayaks.
Can’t let that go by
– Last Updated: Jun-10-04 10:54 PM EST –
Hukis and Futuras may outnumber Fenns in California--I don't know--but the Fenn Mako is pretty much the gold standard world-wide. It's fast and well-built, and any weight disadvantage is pretty marginal to us mortals. And exchange rate or no exchange rate, the Fenns still beat the Cali boats on price.
BTW, I'm pretty sure you're wrong about the relationship between Huki and Futura. Go look at Huki's website and at some of Jude's posts on the surfski list. I can't say for certain that Futura hasn't been building boats for Jude under contract or something, but I've never seen anything suggesting that's the case, either.
Huki, Futura who cares,
The only I know is that buying from Huki is way cheaper than buying from Futura.
I don’t know and who cares what other paddlers do in SF. However, SA boats were and are on the top of all worldwide races. When any local boat does they same, I will buy it 
Regards,
Iceman
Hey DLonborg,
Hawaii holds one of the most important surfski race of the world. Can you tell us how many Huki/Futura have won there or at least finish a race?
Regards,
Iceman
Well
I hoped to see an S1-X or two here for Molokai, but didn’t. I can’t say for sure that there weren’t any there, but I didn’t see any, and they sure weren’t among the top few finishers. I was sitting off Portlock Point with my son in the plastic tandem as the first few came by, but had to go in after that. We had lunch over by the finish line later and walked by a lot of boats, but didn’t see any Futuras or Hukis.
There’s one of the smaller Hukis around and I’ve seen a couple of old Futuras, but it’s mostly Fenns, C-Skis, Twogoods, Haydens, Hydroskis, and maybe one or two others that I can’t think of offhand. For Molokai, there were some other Aussie boats–Dolphins, Ozflytes–and a Mark 1 or two. I haven’t seen an Icon yet, but maybe there was one there.
The S1-X may be everything Jude says it is, but it’s going to have to win some races outside California to establish itself as a rival to the Fenn. It’s cool with me if it does, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Hukis are pretty new
Both designs came out very recently. Mako’s been around for a while now. The top paddlers tend to already have their favorite boat. I don’t see a Molokai veteran switching until a design is more proven. Give it time.
Sure, California isn’t SA, or Australia/NZ - and price WILL prevent many going down under, but the way the S1-X is replacing other boats on the West Coast is still worth watching.
I looks like the new ICON will be giving the Fenns a run too.
No argument with that
Although I do think a lot of top paddlers will switch PDQ if they think it will make them faster. I just would like to see more good skis distributed more widely. Pat and DeAnne Hemmens are doing great work with the Fenn and Custom Kayaks boats and have done a lot to earn paddlers’ loyalty, but it would be nice to see the ski market growing the way the OC-1 market has.
Evolution!
– Last Updated: Jun-11-04 12:18 AM EST –
I don't doubt that sooner of later will come a newer and faster design, and it will replace the Mako Empire. However, I am sure that it is not the S1-X.
In order to have a faster boat than the Mako, someone has to build an even narrower, longer, and of courser, way tippier model.
The S1-X is a great boat for the intermediate paddlers looking for a fast ski, but not as tender and faster as the Mako. For them, the S1-X may be faster due to fact that they can put all their power without worring about stability.
However, for the Elite, stability is not an issue. Therefore, no top paddler will want to go to wider boat.
Only my two cents,
Iceman
Dimensions
I don’t know that you can go much narrower and still be able to get your butt into the boat (especially if you’re Oscar Chalupsky). Maybe you could narrow the waterline beam a little by raising the seat, but I think the Mako is getting pretty close to the tippiness limit for even a very good paddler to push all out in rough water. IIRC, the S1-X dimensions are pretty similar to the Mako. I gather that it picks up whatever additional stability it has by being a little flatter through the midsection and aft, but don’t know that for sure. 21’ may be around the sweet spot for length, too. Some of the OC-1 builders experimented with lengths up around 24’ or so, but the current boats seem to mostly come in around 21’. Beams are narrower, though.
FUTURA S1-X is all HUKI…
Aloha,
I thought I should set the record straight.
The HUKI S1-X was completely an “in house” design from the beginning. Never a modification of another boat, not even part of it. There was absolutely NO input accepted from outside HUKI in it’s design and development. Specifically, she was designed by Jerry Montgomry and myself. Jerry is an employee here and has been since I began the company. He has been the central mind behind every one of my in house designs.
The only place where someone else’s idea was used was in our “adjustable footwell system.” I studied the FUTURA adjustable footwell and improved on it to reduce weight, leaks, cost and efficiency. I made our “adjustable” footwell to use the existing FUTURA sliding foot base and pedals, with intentions of having Vince market the boat. Vince personally had absolutely NO input in the concept, design, configuration or shaping of our adjustable footwell. I [HUKI] incorperated the “idea” under license from Vince at FUTURA. Vince wasn’t the designer of the FUTURA adjustable footwell and parts.
The HUKI S1-X was developed with computer, tested and retested as a foam plug. Her conceptual shape, performance characteristics and cockpit configuration were my very specific idea. I based these ideas on inspiration from several different cross sectional hull shapes and the relationship that these shapes “could” have with the cockpit and rocker. Jerry conceived the shapes as a whole, refined it by computer to achieve the performance targets, and he shaped the plugs by hand, along with building the first mold.
Only HUKI manufactures the HUKI S1-X and the FUTURA S1-X, which are exactly the same boat. To date, no one has ever been licensed to manufacture, copy, modify or otherwise use the S1-X shapes in part or in whole. Anyone who has, is a f@#*%^> low-life pirate! Anyone else will have to start from “scratch,” like I did.
We began manufacturing the S1-X in November of 2003. We’re a small factory, so we can make only so many. The S1-X has been displacing other popular surf skis in Northern California, Bellingham Washington and is just now beginning in Hawaii. I recently sent two to Florida. Outside of these areas, I haven’t had time to sell anywhere else. One thing is sure. Everywhere I’ve sent ONE S1-X, I’ve had a sudden flood of orders from experienced, top end racers. It starts slow and builds to an avalanche. I’ve just started receiving sales from Hawaii about three weeks after the first two S1-Xs made land on Oahu and Maui. There may be a couple HUKIs in the next Molokai. I’d like to sponsor a top paddler some day, that would be fun.
Vince at FUTURA is a good friend. I’m not permitted to speak about “who manufactures the FUTURA surf skis of long standing.” Vince [FUTURA] is a HUKI “Dealer.” Because he’s a good friend and a hell-uv-a-marketeer, I’ve permitted him to call it a “FUTURA S1-X by HUKI.” By doing so, I’ve given Vince great incentive to do his marketing magic…And he is in high gear. He has agreed to leave that phrase, “by HUKI” on every S1-X that we build for him to sell. This has resulted in some confusion and controversy. If he ever takes credit for anything I’ve listed above, let me know.
The Vac’d Carbon S1-X goes for US$2100. Add footwell drains and fancy appearance and you get $2350. Compare to the Vac’d Carbon surf ski from Ocean Paddle Sports, which retails for US$2575. Which one is more expensive??? Even consider my Vac’d Double Carbon S1-X which comes to $2550.
The 33 pound Non-Vac’d Carbon Fenn Mil runs US$2050 We build a 30 pound Non-Vac’d Glass S1-X for US$1700. We build a 27 pound Vac’d Glass S1-X for US$1900. I’m proud that we have them beat, almost any way you look at it, except for this way…
Patrick and DeAnne have promoted Offshore Surf Ski Racing to a far greater degree than I have even thought of or considered doing myself. They’ve played a hefty role in making the Fenn Mako the “STANDARD” by which ALL other surf skis are measured. Their success dictated the perimeters for my design. The success of the Fenn Mako has allowed them to finally charge a price that they can make a good living from. They no longer need to beat the market with price, they beat the market with proven VALUE. I want to be where they are. It’s just like a paddler in “the leading pack,” just a few meters behind a great name like Chalupski in the middle of the channel. …I know my boat is better, I know I can do it, I just have to be smarter and work harder.
HUKI no ka oi, a hui hou,
Jude Turczynski
HUKI ® Outrigger Canoes
www.huki.com
916-730-JUDE
surfskis I’ve paddled
I didn’t respond to Dan’s psot, because I haven’t paddled any of the sskis he was comparing. But reading opinions about skis that nobaody has paddled seems to fall off the question asked in the thread. the three skis I’ve paddled are :
one from stealth called the elite life guard spec ski. It was extremely tippy, but a blast in the beach break waves. slow for distance and fitness paddling.
second the Mark 1. a very stable fast ski, probably the best choice for Dan of the ones I’ve paddled. Good for the slightly heavier paddler too. afolpe took this ski out and on the first day had it well up over 7 mph on a lake. It is well built and perhaps heavy because of it, but a great ski to go from a kayak to. It does not leak at all.
third. Mako Millenium by Fenn. I don’t need to say anything about its speed. Its really the question, can the paddler tame the wild beast? I can’t imagine building narrower than this and still be able to put the hammer down. I’ve had no problem paddling it at 70-80% HR and feeling fresh, but when race time comes and I am banging out at 90-95%, every little nuance gets hyper focused=balance issues. I’m not giving up as I enjoy it glide and speed immensly, but it pushes my limits, and I will be a better paddler after it all. It does not leak at all with a proper vent installed. I recently installed thigh straps and am testing them as a stability enhancing idea.
Hukis, futura’s and others I know nothing about. My guess is , you have to start somewhere, and once you do, you will be happy for it. Skis can really go!