A brief history of the Surfski:

The evolution of the surfski doesn’t share the utilitarian heritage of the sea-kayak. While the modern sea-kayak’s ancestors were hunting boats build to aid survival, the surfskis lineage involves having fun in or on waves. That said; Peruvian fishermen have been working from their ‘caballito’ for 2 millennia (see top right)– a boat made of bundled reeds with similar properties to a surfski in order to handle surf. However, it’s unlikely that the caballito was the first stem on the surfski’s family tree.

As always, the history is complicated by competing claims to designs and the name ‘surfski’ being used to describe very different craft. The first ancestor of the modern ski perhaps appeared in Australia around 1900 resembling a flat ironing board with foot-straps and was probably about as sea-worthy. By the 1930’s the first “surfski” was designed by Harry Crankanthorp in Australia but it was patented by his brother (Dr. G.A. Crankanthorp of Manly, Australia). Harry’s boat shared little with the modern surfski other than the name; it was paddled while kneeling (not sitting) using hand held bats (not a paddle) and looked more like today’s waveski than a surfski. Harry made no money from his design, but his brother apparently put it in to production and did rather well.

By the 1950’s the Australian ski looked more boat-like with a distinct hull with a sealed top and paddles were being used to get it through surf. Footwells were subsequently set in to the deck to lower the feet and aid the paddle stroke by allowing better rotation. The skis became narrow to speed them up, so the ‘bucket’ was added to lower the paddler’s center of gravity. By the sixties, the boats were equipped with rudders to gain more speed by allowing the stroke to be dedicated entirely to moving forward leaving the feet to steer. In 1971, George Jeffery and Steve West designed a round-hulled ski to be made in fiberglass by Hayden surfboards – previously most surfskis had been made in plywood. The volume of the bow was increased to add buoyancy and help launching through surf as well as prevent the bow digging in to the proceeding wave when surfing. The modern surfski was here, well actually, Australia.

Throughout this evolution the surfski had also gathered attention and popularity. Despite its design for fun, it was put to work. Life-guards were using them break through surfzones to rescue struggling swimmers. The lifeguard’s ski was wide enough to stand up on in surf and was used in place of the 5-crew surfboat. The Australians’ competitive spirit inevitably led to surfski racing and the surfski’s importance was acknowledged by the Surf Life-saving Club by granting ski races championship status in 1946. The sport was boosted when two Australian surfskiers got to the finals of the kayak event at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 - upsetting the usually dominant Europeans but inspiring more Aussies to take to the water. Today, surfski events appear on Australian and South African national TV. Imagine kayak racing appearing on ESPN?

From races through big surf, the surfski evolved to tackle long distances on big open water with hulls no longer limited to the lifeguard specs. So, the hulls became narrower and longer. Long distance designs came out of South Africa during the 70’s and 80’s with Tony Scott and Oscar Chalupsky of Durban SLSC implementing the most effective changes. The boats are still designed to surf, but now on the large ocean swells found off the coasts of South Africa, Australian and Pacific USA. The most famous long distance race, the Molokai (32nm) was first held in 1976; but, the Scottburgh to Brighton (46km) has been running since 1958.


	A brief history of the Surfski: The evolution of the surfski doesn’t share the utilitarian heritage of the sea-kayak. While the modern sea-kayak’s ancestors were hunting boats build to aid survival, the surfskis lineage involves having fun in or on waves. That said; Peruvian fishermen have been working from their ‘caballito’ for 2 millennia (see top right)– a boat made of bundled reeds with similar properties to a surfski in order to handle surf. However, it’s unlikely that the caballito was the first stem on the surfski’s family tree. As always, the history is complicated by competing claims to designs and the name ‘surfski’ being used to describe very different craft. The first ancestor of the modern ski perhaps appeared in Australia around 1900 resembling a flat ironing board with foot-straps and was probably about as sea-worthy. By the 1930’s the first “surfski” was designed by Harry Crankanthorp in Australia but it was patented by his brother (Dr. G.A. Crankanthorp of Manly, Australia). Harry’s boat shared little with the modern surfski other than the name; it was paddled while kneeling (not sitting) using hand held bats (not a paddle) and looked more like today’s waveski than a surfski. Harry made no money from his design, but his brother apparently put it in to production and did rather well. By the 1950’s the Australian ski looked more boat-like with a distinct hull with a sealed top and paddles were being used to get it through surf. Footwells were subsequently set in to the deck to lower the feet and aid the paddle stroke by allowing better rotation. The skis became narrow to speed them up, so the ‘bucket’ was added to lower the paddler’s center of gravity. By the sixties, the boats were equipped with rudders to gain more speed by allowing the stroke to be dedicated entirely to moving forward leaving the feet to steer. In 1971, George Jeffery and Steve West designed a round-hulled ski to be made in fiberglass by Hayden surfboards – previously most surfskis had been made in plywood. The volume of the bow was increased to add buoyancy and help launching through surf as well as prevent the bow digging in to the proceeding wave when surfing. The modern surfski was here, well actually, Australia. Throughout this evolution the surfski had also gathered attention and popularity. Despite its design for fun, it was put to work. Life-guards were using them break through surfzones to rescue struggling swimmers. The lifeguard’s ski was wide enough to stand up on in surf and was used in place of the 5-crew surfboat. The Australians’ competitive spirit inevitably led to surfski racing and the surfski’s importance was acknowledged by the Surf Life-saving Club by granting ski races championship status in 1946. The sport was boosted when two Australian surfskiers got to the finals of the kayak event at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 - upsetting the usually dominant Europeans but inspiring more Aussies to take to the water. Today, surfski events appear on Australian and South African national TV. Imagine kayak racing appearing on ESPN? From races through big surf, the surfski evolved to tackle long distances on big open water with hulls no longer limited to the lifeguard specs. So, the hulls became narrower and longer. Long distance designs came out of South Africa during the 70’s and 80’s with Tony Scott and Oscar Chalupsky of Durban SLSC implementing the most effective changes. The boats are still designed to surf, but now on the large ocean swells found off the coasts of South Africa, Australian and Pacific USA. The most famous long distance race, the Molokai (32nm) was first held in 1976; but, the Scottburgh to Brighton (46km) has been running since 1958.