Equipment Reviews Creating beautiful things - Nelo Surfski Design

My new Nelo 560M arrived a few months ago, and I have spent the past weeks testing it out on all sorts of conditions.

(This is not a 560M review, I will get on that soon!)

What I'd like to chat about is the awesome design work the guys and girls at the Nelo factory are capable of.  

Nelo started letting athlete's design their own custom paint jobs on their racing kayaks and canoes, and since that happened, the amazing boats that have been appearing on the international circuit has been mind blowing!

The customizable feature that Nelo offers adds a lot of fun to the ordering process.

The story behind my design:

For my new ski, I wanted to incorporate something from my home country of South Africa. I chose the Shweshwe design, which (thanks Wikipedia) is a "printed dyed cotton fabric widely used for traditional South African clothing. Due to its timeless popularity, Shweshwe has been described as the denim, of South Africa."

 I found a few pictures of Shweshwe designs:

 

I also love blue, and I know that it is not the most visible colour in the world, so I added some orange as well.

This is the picture I sent the designers at the Nelo factory along with the photo's of the fabric prints.

 

And this is the reworked picture courtesy of Nelo (more specifically Daniela):

I got it in a matte finish, which gives it a great non-shiny look.

And here it is in real life: (along with some other great designs plus Maggie's Olympic K1 from Rio)

 

Besides the visual beauty of the ski, the actual construction is incredible. It is light enough to carry with one hand, and insanely rigid, making it really responsive (aka FAST) in the water.

 Thanks Daniela and the incredible team at Nelo!

 

Here it is in action - small downwind in Newport Beach, California: