Think 'Evo' (Bill Kuklinski, posted 2007)

It was with great anticipation that Jim Gilligan, Kirk Olsen, and I waited for Mark Jacobson to arrive at Lynch Park in Beverly for our first look at and paddle on a Think Evo. The Charles River Canoe and Kayak Center had received three Evos two days earlier, and had already sold one (another would sell on the day after our trial!). Mark brought along a V10 Sport as well, so combined with Jim's and my Mako XTs, we all had the option to try each of the boats in similar conditions.

Our course was from Beverly to Salem Willows, then out to and around Marblehead Neck and back to Beverly - 7-ish miles total in relatively calm conditions on a clear warm Indian Summer day.

The obvious first impression of the Evo (grey and orange in the vacuumed fiberglass layup) is that it is a stunningly attractive ski. There is no visible seam between the hull and deck, overall workmanship appears exceptional. Taking it off the roof was equally pleasant - the fiberglass ski is advertised at 33 lbs, but this boat seemed noticeably lighter. (The yellow kevlar layup is listed at 26 lbs).

I had the Evo for the first leg, so first order of business was to adjust the foot peddle system. In most ways it is similar to the Epic design, in that the Evo uses 600 lb test string, and is almost continuously adjustable (unlike the XT, which has fixed settings every inch or so). So no problem finding exactly the right length you prefer. Some people might prefer one aspect of the Epic design - the single foot strap in the Sport is velcro adjustable (with my winter wetsuit boots on and size 11 feet, I might be tempted to permanently remove the separate foot straps from the Evo). As the widest-body of the four of us (and apparently the widest-body of anyone in NE who owns a ski), I was hoping the seat would be a little wider than it actually is, especially given the 19" width; but I fit snug & OK in the ski with my wetsuit on. The seat felt comparable in size to the standard V10 seat, probably just a little wider, while the single footwell seemed noticeably wider than the V10 or the V10 Sport. Overall a very comfortable cockpit.

As soon as we started, the Evo single footwell drained completely, and kept the boat amazingly dry all day long - one of the most effective systems any of us have encountered.

The high seat and footwell width combine to put the paddler in an efficient position. My initial reaction was that the boat was slightly less stable than my XT, but handled the transition from primary to secondary more continuously and smoothly, and therefore was less jumpy in downwind or in beam seas. When I switched over to the Sport for the second leg, it seemed in contrast to the Evo noticeably less stable in beam conditions - though we were all paddling the Sport without sufficient padding. Overall minor differences - we guess that the stability feel between an Evo, Sport, XT or S1-R might just come down to a matter of personal preference, with minimal learning curve going from any one of these boats to another.

As to speed - whoever was in the Evo seemed to always to be slightly ahead of everyone else, in all conditions. Though we didn't have a 17" boat to compare it to, everyone had the impression it would be slower than an S1-X or standard V10. So, to summarize our impressions on the speed vs. stablility curve, the Evo seems faster than the other leading 19" boats, and may possibly sit right in the middle of the gap (speedwise) between the 17" and the 19" boats; the Evo seems relatively as stable as the other leading 19" boats. (Of course, when it comes to race day results, the paddler makes the boat!). We didn't have much surf to work with except one short downwind stretch and the usual Salem Sound power boat wakes, and the Evo picked up the swells in these conditions well; we expect that it would be a fun boat to surf in bigger conditions.

At 20'6" the Evo appears to have more rocker than a V10, and I would have expected it to therefore not track particularly well - but on my final leg it seemed curiously impervious to small beam conditions; it didn't seem to require much extra effort / energy from the paddler to keep it on the intended line.

And on a bright clear day, the orange and grey finish stood out perfectly on the water - you could probably see this boat from the Space Shuttle! The Think Evo is an excellent addition to the available shopping list of boats to choose from.

Surfski Reviews

Think 'Evo' (Bill Kuklinski, posted 2007)

Epic V10 (Ed Duggan, posted 2005).


	Surfski Reviews Epic V10 (Ed Duggan for NESurfski) Think 'Evo' (Bill Kuklinski for NESurfski) 2006 Surfski Survey
	Think 'Evo' (Bill Kuklinski, posted 2007) It was with great anticipation that Jim Gilligan, Kirk Olsen, and I waited for Mark Jacobson to arrive at Lynch Park in Beverly for our first look at and paddle on a Think Evo. The Charles River Canoe and Kayak Center had received three Evos two days earlier, and had already sold one (another would sell on the day after our trial!). Mark brought along a V10 Sport as well, so combined with Jim's and my Mako XTs, we all had the option to try each of the boats in similar conditions. Our course was from Beverly to Salem Willows, then out to and around Marblehead Neck and back to Beverly - 7-ish miles total in relatively calm conditions on a clear warm Indian Summer day. The obvious first impression of the Evo (grey and orange in the vacuumed fiberglass layup) is that it is a stunningly attractive ski. There is no visible seam between the hull and deck, overall workmanship appears exceptional. Taking it off the roof was equally pleasant - the fiberglass ski is advertised at 33 lbs, but this boat seemed noticeably lighter. (The yellow kevlar layup is listed at 26 lbs). I had the Evo for the first leg, so first order of business was to adjust the foot peddle system. In most ways it is similar to the Epic design, in that the Evo uses 600 lb test string, and is almost continuously adjustable (unlike the XT, which has fixed settings every inch or so). So no problem finding exactly the right length you prefer. Some people might prefer one aspect of the Epic design - the single foot strap in the Sport is velcro adjustable (with my winter wetsuit boots on and size 11 feet, I might be tempted to permanently remove the separate foot straps from the Evo). As the widest-body of the four of us (and apparently the widest-body of anyone in NE who owns a ski), I was hoping the seat would be a little wider than it actually is, especially given the 19" width; but I fit snug & OK in the ski with my wetsuit on. The seat felt comparable in size to the standard V10 seat, probably just a little wider, while the single footwell seemed noticeably wider than the V10 or the V10 Sport. Overall a very comfortable cockpit. As soon as we started, the Evo single footwell drained completely, and kept the boat amazingly dry all day long - one of the most effective systems any of us have encountered. The high seat and footwell width combine to put the paddler in an efficient position. My initial reaction was that the boat was slightly less stable than my XT, but handled the transition from primary to secondary more continuously and smoothly, and therefore was less jumpy in downwind or in beam seas. When I switched over to the Sport for the second leg, it seemed in contrast to the Evo noticeably less stable in beam conditions - though we were all paddling the Sport without sufficient padding. Overall minor differences - we guess that the stability feel between an Evo, Sport, XT or S1-R might just come down to a matter of personal preference, with minimal learning curve going from any one of these boats to another. As to speed - whoever was in the Evo seemed to always to be slightly ahead of everyone else, in all conditions. Though we didn't have a 17" boat to compare it to, everyone had the impression it would be slower than an S1-X or standard V10. So, to summarize our impressions on the speed vs. stablility curve, the Evo seems faster than the other leading 19" boats, and may possibly sit right in the middle of the gap (speedwise) between the 17" and the 19" boats; the Evo seems relatively as stable as the other leading 19" boats. (Of course, when it comes to race day results, the paddler makes the boat!). We didn't have much surf to work with except one short downwind stretch and the usual Salem Sound power boat wakes, and the Evo picked up the swells in these conditions well; we expect that it would be a fun boat to surf in bigger conditions. At 20'6" the Evo appears to have more rocker than a V10, and I would have expected it to therefore not track particularly well - but on my final leg it seemed curiously impervious to small beam conditions; it didn't seem to require much extra effort / energy from the paddler to keep it on the intended line. And on a bright clear day, the orange and grey finish stood out perfectly on the water - you could probably see this boat from the Space Shuttle! The Think Evo is an excellent addition to the available shopping list of boats to choose from.
	Epic V10 (Ed Duggan, posted 2005). For the past few Sunday's, I have been paddling long sessions with Mike Handa as he is training for a 50-mile team outrigger race early June. Just this past Sunday he showed up with his new carbon V-10 and said I could use it...it was like Xmas... There was a fairly strong East wind which made Salem Sound pretty choppy with plenty of waves. It only made the paddle more interesting. I would have to say that the V-10 is the best surf ski I have ever paddled and I have paddled numerous surf skis for the past 21 years. only boat I truly fit in leg-wise very comfortable expanded bucket more stable than the Fenn Mill a different world next to the Toogood Mako single footwell is beautiful reacted extremely well in the chop tracked nicely into the wind primary and secondary stability is A+ beam waves smoothly pass beneath you cut-away deck sections are a nice added feature...they serve as a good visual of where you should plant paddle blade Venturi plug a little high...you carry a little water I paddled Sunday for three and one half hours and since then have had additional two + hour sessions and have noticed I am not as tired as if I paddled the Fenn or Toogood. I think Joe Glickman summed it up nicely when he said "you are probably less fatigued because you are spending far less energy with balance and being uncomfortable. Being comfortable is so huge and made more obvious when you switch from a marginally comfortable boat to one you can really sit in." That pretty much says it...I am 6 foot 4+ inches tall, weigh 203 lbs and have long legs. I have been "marginally comfortable" for many years and it feels good that finally I have found a boat that I fit in. All in all, I am most impressed by the boat.