nelo surfski » Global Surfski

The New NELO Surfskis are here

Feb 182010

SURFSKI NEWS FROM NELO

This new range of boats incorporates in their conception the same basic guidelines as for all our boats: a fine balance between performance, stability and comfort.

Our well recognized knowledge and ability to conceive comfortable racing boats were appllied in order to make a ergonomic ski, where any paddler from other discipline will feel ”at home”, but at the same time give the more experienced ski paddler a new dimension of positioning.

Being a performance oriented company we putted our best efforts in making a performant shape but keeping in mind the importance of the sea worthiness and surf abilities of such a craft. We have a full range with two sizes M and L, and on a later stage a Vintage model will be also be in the market.

Nelo Ocean Ski L

Athletes Kg Range: over 75 Kg
Boat Length: 6,4 m
Boat Kg Range: WWR/12 – E/10 Kg
Ideal For: Touring | Racing
Beam: 0,42 m
Cockpit: N/A
Stability Level: 2

Nelo Ocean Ski M

Athletes Kg Range: till 75 Kg
Boat Length: 6,4 m
Boat Kg Range: WWR/12 – E/10 Kg
Ideal For: Racing
Beam: 0.42 m
Cockpit: N/A
Stability Level: 2

Top of the range performant ski is the best description for this model, designed to our racing image but incorporating all the specs of this exciting discipline.
Super ergonomic cockpit allows the paddler to apply maximum power in every stroke, and at the same time control the boat in downwind and upwind conditions.
The rudder blade, rudder position, footrest height and footrest composition all was made to make steering in extreme conditions as smooth and easy as possible.

Available constructions & Prices (in Sweden)

WWR – Carbon/Kevlar Epoxy Vacuum
This construction is thought for river descent, marathon training and sea kayaking. Its main characteristics are stiffness and impact resistance.
Price: 26 500 SEK

E – Carbon/Kevlar Honeycomb Vacuum Heat Cured
This construction is specific for marathon racing, and its main characteristics are lightness and stiffness. The balance between weight and stiffness gives this construction an outstanding performance in marathon racing.
Price: 33 500 SEK

For more information, contact:

BOOTSHAUS (Sweden)
Phone: +46 73 030 2992
Email: info@bootshaus.se
Contact: Christian Dietz

Not from Sweden? Complete list of Nelo agents World wide found here

More information about the surfskis found here

Nelos Surfski hos Bootshaus

Swedish Surfski No Responses »

Jan 082010

I Bootshaus senaste nyhetsbrev skriver Christian Dietz följande;

Nu blev Nelos senaste projekt verklighet. Sedan våren 2009 experimenterade man med ett antal prototyper som i sin resultat skulle leda till en av världens snabbaste racingsurfskis. Nu i december deltog Nelo med fyra stycken prototyper i surfskitävlingen Dubai Shamaal som kallar sig själv i all ödmjukhet ‚The worlds richest surfski race’. Nelos deltagande bevakades med stort interesse av hela surfskivärlden. Inte mycket oväntad lyckades Nelo rekrytera två av världens snabbaste sprintkanotister, Eirik Verås Larsen (NOR) och Tim Brabants (GBR) samt maratonpaddlaren Manuel Busto (ESP). Tävlingen gav enorm positiv feedback och nu befinner sig formgivningen i slutstadiet med några ändringar att göra i bl a däcksdesignen.

Från och med mars kommer surfskin ochså presenteras i Sverige.

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Spännande! Jag undrar om den kommer med olika materialval och vad den kommer att kosta… Min gissning är att den kommer att landa på…. ca 35 000 kr…. Hoppas jag har fel.

Bootshaus har just nu en demokörd Think Uno Elite till ett kanonpris. Skynda och fynda en av världens snabbaste och snyggaste skis, den blir din för bara 23 500 kr! Christian har även en splitter ny Think Evo Performance till salu för 18 500 kr, vilket bevisar att det inte behöver kosta skjortan att paddla surfski…

Mer information om kajakerna finns på www.bootshaus.se, eller så ringer du direkt till Christian Dietz, tel: 073-030 2992

Nelo’s Long Distance Surfski

News, Surfskis & Gear No Responses »

Dec 282009

Eirik Veraas Larsen in his green Nelo surfski

The long distance surfski (prototype) from Nelo was introduced a few weeks ago at the Dubai Shamaal Race. Nelo’s very colorful skis was raced by several world class paddlers like Manuel Busto, Tim Brabants and Eirik Veraas Larsen. After the race Nelo went back to Portugal to make several refinements to the design of the ski and now they will begin producing the ski in January/February 2010.

Rumours say that there will be 2 different models to choose from, 1 super-fast and 1 that is more stable.

Test paddling the new Nelo Surfski

Surfskis & Gear, Swedish Surfski No Responses »

Dec 082009

Dubai, Mina Seyahi Beach
3rd December 2009

Well, race day was over… and the conditions were even better today. Wind increased overnight, and the swell built up to considerable size. Glicker I think called it ”standard Hawaii conditions”…

The evening before the race I went for a final short paddle just to see the conditions out there, and to give the body a bit of a wakeup. As I steered out of the harbour mouth I noticed Tim Jacobs speeding in on one of the Nelo skis.

How is it? I scream over to him as he swishes by… Aaah..Its aaaaalroiiight he chews out.

I guess he just wanted to make sure the ski wouldn’t be ‘out of this world’ good and he needed to know what his enemies weapons are like.

Glickman, Ola and I decide to go for a nice easy paddle and head out for 7km straight into wind/swell. I see the colourful array of pointy Nelo skis laying in the racks and decided that I needed to check one out.

I moved the pedals all the way forward, and jumped aboard. WOW… first thing you notice is how different the seat is. The entire cockpit is different… The bucket it not as much a bucket, but more a seat, which in the beginning felt weird, but after an hour felt pretty ok actually.

The bump under the knees is pulled down really low resulting in two things, one that due to the ski’s extreme narrowness it feels like your legs are getting jammed in, and two that you can really stretch your leg during the legdrive.

The pedal plate is very different, and you feel directly how the only pressure point you get on it is under the ball of your foot. Very K1’ish. The pedals are controlled by your big toe if it sticks up enough.

Initial stability felt pretty ok. Perhaps slightly less than the V12. Secondary stability felt less then the V12. After the 90 minute paddle I jumped into a V12 again, and noticed how it felt like a sea kayak in stability, and how really roomy and spacious the cockpit felt. You can get used to both, but I definitely felt more secure in the V12, as I like to have my knees a bit further apart. The compact (narrow) seating/leg position did influence me a bit and I felt more wobbly paddling upwind.

Having gotten used to the weird bumpnose of the V12 and the oil tanker fore deck of the V10 the Nelo feels like a rocket. I was expecting it to nosedive on the big runs and to end up with half of the Persian gulf in my lap. So wrong I was. It did however take me a lot of swearing, some swimming to re-adjust the flimsy pedals, and a lot of getting used how to steer this thing before I found out how nicely the razor sharp bow popped up, and the ski planed nicely. These skis are still prototypes and I think they are still learning how and where to put the rudder etc.

The rudder on this boat, was way to far back, and/or it was way to small. Each big swell resulted in the ski broaching, and me swearing about another lost-for-ever beautiful run…I could see the runs disappear in front of my eyes and I knew it could be as much as 6 month until I could catch the next one!..I felt like crying in the beginning, having wobbled 7km into the wind way out passed the Palm Island and expecting the run back to be ‘Epic’. It was only after the swell got slightly smaller, and I learned how to steer this ski (you have to be way ahead of it…and attack the rudder pedals with more power..) Then I felt how smoothly this ski moves.

I believe this is a very nice hull, and the cockpit makes sense. I guess it will appeal to K1 paddlers and not scare them away as much as the normal ski’s do with their typical seating position. Still some small things to sort out for the Nelo boys, but I’m sure they will get a grip on it.

The ski I paddled was 9 kg’s according to the rumours, and I must say, that I would ask for a slightly heavier ski, with a bit more carbon put into it. Not the stiffest layup I felt. However, even here I am positive that Nelo will be able to deliver a very solid, and constant quality.

Happy paddling…

/Paul for Global Surfski

Nelo – New to the Surfski market

News, Surfskis & Gear No Responses »

Nov 082009

Today I found this very interesting article about Nelos new Surfski. I found it on Ultimate kayaks web site, a new company in UK providing wholesale and retail of both Nelo and Epic. The company is owned by Ivan Lawler, a multiple World Champion and three times Olympian.

Nelo are new to the surfski market but are certainly not new to testing their professionalism in a market that is not their traditional stronghold. Following their recent foray into the world of canoe slalom they are now taking on Epic and Fenn, the two big manufacturers in the surfski world.

So do the current big players have anything to worry about? Certainly Nelo can match anybody on build quality, they also have the geographical bonus of being European based giving them access to the fast growing European Surfski movement. It also means they can supply the fashion conscious buyer with bespoke designs and colours on their ski as can be seen from the ski they have given to Tim Brabants.

In reality though, the only way into a market is to produce a ski that does the job, the rest is just icing on the cake. Doubtless the Nelo ski will go through a rapid evolution as feedback comes in from the early customers, and that is one of Nelos main strengths, they do listen to the athletes.

nelo

Access to the bigger markets of SA and AUS will be tough, firstly through customer inertia and loyalty. In the flatwater scene Nelo have attracted virtually all of the big name athletes but in Ski racing most are already associated with either Epic or Fenn.

To collect the firt big name will be key to Nelos progress. There is rumour that Manuel Busto is going to concentrate on ski racing now and though he has not shown well yet in ski racing I can only imagine he will significantly improve over the next year, he may be their best bet.

Nelo will be sending a few skis to the Dubai Shamaal in a months time and it will be interesting to see how many of their current sponsored athletes turn up to race for them.

Tim Brabants is going but last years result was not exactly inspirational, perhaps Kenny Wallace will be their number one chance if he goes. Dont write off “Mr Nelo” himself Andre Santos, I know he is racing and is no slouch!

We hope to get the opportunity to test the new ski in the near future and will try to give the best feedback we can with the caveat that I am not exactly an expert in skis or ski testing, though if I can find a run on a ski then that ski has to be pretty good to counter my own lack of talent!

As with any new venture I think it will be a couple of years before Nelo really make inroads but I for one would not bet against them.

Their skis will come in two constructions WWR and their top spec E, the WWR will weigh about 10.5kg and the E 9kg. Prices will be set in line with the Nelo sea kayaks.

Eirik Verås Larsens review of the Nelo Surfski

Surfskis & Gear No Responses »

Nov 082009

Eirik Verås Larsen wrote this on his web site on November 1st;

”I’ve been paddling the Nelo surfski for one month now, haven’t used my Vanquish since I got the surfski. I’ve changed paddle to Gpower Maverick, it’s a super paddle. It’s cold in the water and the air and because of that I’ve only used it on flat water.

In order to go fast at the Dubai Shamaal race in the beginning of December I should practice in rough sea. I’m in a good training group at the moment, the masters +45y…and sometimes some juniors. With my surfski I keep the same speed as these guys and we all get a super session!”

neloski

A week ago I sent Eirik an e-mail. I asked him if he could write a few words about his ”Nelo surfski experience”… Here it is, Eirik Verås Larsens review of the Nelo Surfski;

”I’ve been using the Nelo Surfski for over a month now and I think it’s fantastic.

The sitting position is great, this has been one of the biggest problems with other surfskis I’ve tried. Since I’m sitting comfortable it’s easy to focus on propulsion. In the Nelo I can use my legs in the same way as in the racing or touring boat.

The rudder is slightly bend backwards and seaweed or leaves haven’t been any problem at all.

On flat water I can easily do 12-13kph and it doesn’t feel harder than going 12-13kph with my Vanquish III K1. The Vanquish III K1 is definitely faster when speed reaches 14-15kph, but up to 13kph there is not much difference.

For those of you planning on using the Surfski in touring races, I can definitely say that the Nelo Surfski is very fast. On surf the boat is fast, stabil and easy to steer.”

Eirik Verås Larsen

Go to Eirik´s web site