I got the SF-S. I bought it without paddling but immediately took it out and immediately I said something that blew my mind – something that opened up a new consciousness in me what was impossible for me to comprehend previously.
That was “Man, this thing is STABLE!”. I never thought I would find a sub-elite boat stable. I would roll my eyes when people would describe boats like the Elite S, V12, Vega, SEA, etc as ‘stable’. I spent a few months falling out of an elite boat thinking “who the *^&% can handle these!?!?”. I know there is still a large step down in stability when you go from a 45cm to a 43cm elite boat, but I now understand how its possible to call them ‘stable’. After paddling enough, you don’t even think about it. It is something that just happenes. I mean, I intentionally pushed myself into sloppy water and seek out the roughest water I could handle, so my improvement was quite volitional, but the change in perception is so small each paddle that I never had a “Eureka” moment where I was like, “I’ve mastered this boat”. I just knew it was time for the next step and my perception of the SF-S confirms that.
Ok, so its one thing to think the SF is stable on flat water. I think the SF is 90% as stable on the flats as the XT. It feels nicely planted but has linear, deep, predictable secondary stability. I started paddling on the flat water deep in Newport Beach harbor heading towards the ocean mouth 5km away. After a short stint on flat water I got to the busy area of the harbor with hundreds of small and medium size boats going every which way. In the small but messy chop I still found it quite manageable for a first paddle. I drafted boats out to the ocean and went out 2km before turning around. The ocean was small, less than 50cm swell and light wind, but all the boat traffic plus the break walls meant there were up to 1m waves going in every direction including a couple waves from large island ferries throwing a nasty, steep 1m wave. I had no problems even in the 1m ferry wake. I actually thought the rounder hull of the SF was more predictable than the more V hull of the XT. The transition from primary to secondary is so smooth, and the boat wants to roll less. Also, I think the tight fitting and deeper bucket of the SF-S helps significantly. On the shallow/wide bucket of the XT, I noticed I could slip in the bucket to the low side which would result in an epic brace to save me. None of that in the SF.
It picks up a wave SO nice. The XT would struggle to catch some waves. I could get on faster waves, but would need to max effort sprint to catch it, which left less energy for staying on it, and I would commonly lose the set by missing a hole in front of me or just not having enough power/speed to stay on the set. In the SF-S, it picks up a wave even nicer than the XT. Once on the set, I could actually slingshot to the front of the set. On the XT, I would consistently run into the wave in front of me, stall, swamp the bucket, miss the next wave, repeat. The SF allows me to jump waves in the set until it runs out with pretty good consistency. I stall probably 80% less and the higher sides of the bucket means not much water makes it in when i do stall. After jumping all the waves of a set for the first time, a random sound popped into my mind from many years ago
This boat is a Level Up. (not quite power up, but in my mind it felt the same
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Another big upgrade of the SF is the maneuverability. Its good with the large elliptical stock rudder. I could actually see a hole developing in front of me and quickly change direction to fall into it. On the XT, I’d move towards it but usually by the time I made it to the hole it was no longer a hole, so - stall, swamp, curse, repeat. I only broached a couple times with the stock rudder on the very steep ferry waves, which is pretty darn good considering how steep they were. I will probably pick up a DK 9” high chord rudder to hold me on my desired line, but the stock rudder did ok as-is.
I went out again in my home waters last night in small but clean ocean conditions with a 10kt wind and 1m swell. Again… Stable stable stable. Maneuverable. Surfs an entire set back to front. I love this boat. In my heavy XT, I would sprint for a set and often just barely miss it as it went under me. The acceleration of the (still ‘heavy’) 14kg SF-S is so much better than now I can get to full speed in 3-5 strokes and get on the wave much earlier and easier. For once I actually heard a voice say “stay high on the wave” – I didn’t have to hammer to stay on it. When the lead wave of the set picked me up, on multiple occasions I was able to find holes, link waves, and skip ahead 3-6 waves at a time until the set ran out. This was rarely possible in the XT.
I almost fell out once when I was turning around, had low speed and was broadside to the waves near a sea wall, but a good brace saved me. Overall I wasn't bracing very much. I had a lot of "Stroke Braces" (using the stroke to stabilize yourself), but I don't really count those as bad because I still get 90% of the power down vs a "Slap Brace" which almost stops you. Another 50-100 hrs of bucket time and I'm sure I'll feel comfortable in the SF-S in some pretty gnarly conditions.
So those are all the great things I have to say about the boat. The things I'm not crazy about…
1. Im 84kg, 185cm (6’1” 185lb with 34/32 pants). Apparently I have a very bony hip bone, because I am squeezed pretty well by the seat at the outside bottom of my hips. Its not uncomfortable, but its very close. Luckily after 2.5hrs and 15km in the boat, my butt still felt ok, so its not a deal breaker. I still felt good with 1 day rest and another 2hr paddle too, so im not worried about chaffing I guess. Its just not the most comfortable for my butt. no dead leg or cramping either. Nice.
2. The foot well is very narrow. This is good in that it reduces the volume of water you can take on (the bathtub sized bucket on most Stellar’s was one of my most hated design features of the SRg1) but my feet overlap in the middle with 3mm neoprene shoes on. I have wide feet (I order EEE width US size 12 shoes) but my feet do not fit side by side on the foot plate with thin, flexible, 3mm neoprene shoes. During the warmer months I wont need shoes and it will be fine, but 50% of the year will be shoe-temperature so I’d love 1cm more footplate width. It makes turning quickly a little more difficult as I have to re-arrange which foot is on top. This is kinda annoying, but not a deal breaker.
3. The bow does not shed water very well and when the nose buries itself, a sheet of water comes right to your face. I will certainly be adding a wave deflector. I think this will solve 95% of the issue. Overall not a big deal, but the wave deflector is 100% necessary for steeper conditions IMO.
4. I miss behind-the-seat bungees. The ones in front do not carry very much stuff effectively and I often carry a small dry bag behind me. Ill order some eyelets and glue them on. A minor annoyance, but easily fixed.
5. I need a rear attachment point like a handle or eyelet for an emergency rudder bungee. Again, easy fix.
6. I hate the hex key adjustment of the rudder lines. Anything that requires a tool on the water to fix is not great. A guy gave me a great idea to screw very small cleats into the back of the pedals, then you can just figure 8 tie-off the lines. (though I like stainless steel rudder line much more than spectra/rope. The steel stretches less and has a more responsive feel to me)
7. Wish list - A molded handle in the bucket would be great. (But NOT the screw-on handles – those are awful IMO. Recessed/molded handles only!). Already going from 18kg to 14kg, the boat is soooo much more manageable off the water, a handle would just be nice for 1 handed maneuvering. I wanted to get the Carbon Vac version, but the guy wouldn't go low enough for me to afford. I guess that will be the next upgrade - same boat, just lighter.
Anyways, I was all smiles ear to ear with the first couple paddles on the SF-S. Even in the small but messy conditions I’ve had so far, I feel the boat is extremely manageable. I was apprehensive about mastering the boat before the Gorge downwind champs in July, but now have no worries at all. If its this easy on my 2nd paddle, number 100 will be epic. Especially with the nice linear, clean wave sets people report at the Gorge.
So that’s my initial thoughts on the SF. I'm looking forward to taking her out later this week when some 2m swell and 20kt wind kick up. Ill update in a couple weeks when I have several more paddles under my belt and some big conditions to test my true perception of “stable”
Summary - I see why a lot of people love the SF-S. It has a lot of really good features and very few issues.
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