Trying a Nelo 520 XXL surfski at Rhosneigr in Anglesey, UK. The main point about this blog is to say just what a great venue Rhosneigr bay is for surfski training and fun. The bay offers a sheltered launching area from the town but once you head out to the mouth of the bay there is usually a swell that travels well into the bay before turning into surf nearer the beach. The bay faces south west so there is plenty of fetch for waves to build in the prevailing winds. On the day the swell was small, about half a metre and the wind was gusting up to force 4 from the south, so perfect conditions for getting the ski into moving water after a few sessions on flat water.

I'd paddled the previous generation ski in Portugal , mainly in surf but it was a few years ago and I can't remember enough detail to compare the performance of the two models. The latest generation of Nelo surfskis is different to other makes in that it has a deep 'bump out' in the rocker line where the feet are. Nelo describe various advantages in the design but I can say it provides a comfortable seating position in that the feet are lower than the seat and there is only the slightest bump beneath the knees. The ski is aimed at beginner level but is undoubtedly a step up from a sea kayak. It's actually a size too large for me but it's just a demo ski.

The following speed graph shows ins and outs, resting on the slog back upwind and focussing on technique then working hard to catch runners on the downwind leg. The speeds aren't quite up to what I could see on the GPS (saw some 14s) and that's a feature of the GPS device recording versus the real time display.

By selecting the Esri aerial map layer on the icon in the top right hand corner of the map below, you can see the swell pattern in the bay and surf breaking on the beach.