Water Sports
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国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Chaco Z1 Pro water shoes.
国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Hobie Elite Race standup paddleboard.
国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Keen Gorge Boot.
国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Delta Catfish kayak.
国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Teva Gnarkosi water shoes.
国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Necky Vector 13 kayak.
国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Columbia Sportswear Drainmaker water shoes.
国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Wave Sport Project X kayak.
国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Stewart LSW surfboard.
国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Freedom Hawk 12 UL kayak.
国产吃瓜黑料 reviews the best gear in the 2011 Summer Buyers Guide, including the Rusty Dwart surfboard.
聽 Who can say no to free gear? Not too many here at 国产吃瓜黑料, that's for sure. If the same is the case with you, then you'll want to check out Transworld Surf's 30 Days of Giveaways before the month-long…
A portable kayak that's (finally!) both inexpensive and a cinch to put together.
What's the best stand-up paddleboard for a beginner? The Editors Santa Fe, New Mexico
Nothing new on race day. That is the cardinal rule of triathlon. Don't scarf down a breakfast burrito race morning when you've been training on oatmeal. Don't wear compression socks if you've never put them on before. And don't swim in a wetsuit you haven't taken for a considerable test…
LOTS OF FINS, LOTS OF FUN Thanks to their speed and maneuverability, four-fin boards are hot—and the Round Pin is the most evolved of this sweet breed. While most shapers are just now hopping on the quad wagon, San Diego shaping genius Joe Blair has been building them since the…
Why It’s CoolThe Juice is 2004’s “if I can only have one” boat. Primarily a river runner, it still provides ample play on any wave you wish to ride or hole you choose to brave. 禄 If you’ve been stalling on trading in that vintage nine-footer for fear of losing…
OVERACHIEVERThis boat’s predecessor, the EZ, proved stable and easy to paddle yet was up for the latest tricks. And with a new, narrower cut and a hull tweaked for freestyle moves, the ’05 EZG improves on the formula. During tests on the McKenzie River in Eugene, Oregon, this kayak’s forgiving…
GOOD WOOD We’ve heard all the chatter about eco-friendly foam boards, but we’ve yet to test one that’s proven truly durable. For now, the only sustainability-minded board we love is veteran shaper Gary Linden’s custom-built 6’4″ wooden singlefin. It’s crafted from dead agave foraged from the SoCal desert, which Linden…
It’s not a gimmick. You really can toss WRSI’s football-themed throw bag farther and more accurately. When your buddy’s trapped in a recirculating eddy, drill him in the head. Trust us, he’ll thank you. whitewaterhelmet.com…
Stable Single-Fin This hand-shaped 9’2″ 颅single-fin is based on a 1960s noserider template, with smooth rails and a slight V-bottom for agility. Its 22-inch width and three-inch thickness get you into even the weakest peelers, while the concave hull makes noseriding simple. We also found it was quick enough to…
Why It’s CoolYou can paddle it, sail it, and fold it up to take with you wherever you go, making this the definitive kayak for adventure travelers. 禄 A beefy hull and keel strip protect against tears on coral or ice. 禄 You can change the hull shape from a…
Why It’s Coolt looks like a fiberglass-composite boat—but the price says plastic. It’s cut-sheet plastic, thermoformed into a material Perception calls “Airalite.” Deployed here in the Carolina 14.5, the company’s quintessential day-touring boat, the material makes a formerly rotomolded craft stiffer, lighter, and sleeker. 禄 While the gloss factor makes…
ROOMY PLAYBOAT With a roomy cockpit and extra-large foot bumps—which can accommodate up to size 13 feet—the Agent is the best big-dude boat with agile performance. It’s not as speedy as Dagger’s previous freestyle boats, but thanks to an ultra-loose, yet edgy, double-release chine and a heavily flared stern…
CLASSIC LONGBOARD Bob McTavish shaped the original Fireball in 1994. Since then, his 9’1″ performance longboard has become a hard-to-find classic—until late 2007, when Global Surf Industries started mass-producing it. Our GSI model rode well in a variety of conditions, from crisp East Coast beach rollers to a point break…
The Golden has the solid flex and feel of wood—it’s available in either ash or padauk—and because its blades are coated with a polymer similar to what’s used for spray-in truck-bed liners, it’s practically indestructible. wavedogpaddles.com…
Versatile SUP Stand-up paddleboarding continues growing, with more and more SUPers taking to lakes and whitewater. On a five-day, 65-mile trip down the Yellowstone River, the well-rounded ATB (29.5 inches wide and 4.9 inches thick) was stable yet fast, while extra rocker in the nose and tail reduced purling in…
BEGINNER’S BOARD The INT’s top may be made of closed-cell foam, but that doesn’t mean it’s a poorly performing slug like most soft-tops. Because the business side of the board is all resin (like conventional glassed surfboards), with a set of two Future Fins and a Bahn Fin in the…
Headquartered five minutes from Canada’s St. Lawrence River and the mighty surf waves at Lachine Rapids, Riot helped launch big-wave riding as its own kayaking subgenre. The Astro carries on that tradition with a fast-planing hull and delayed rocker to aid aerial moves but maintains a bow profile narrow…
PERFECT FOR PLAYING, SUITABLE FOR DOWNRIVER If your town has a play park, put this boat in it. Here’s why: On a steep breaking wave, a slow, bouncy boat will get you airborne. But on down-tempo man-made waves, the boat has to make up the difference. The Ronin does: It’s…
GIGGLES FOR ALL Funboards are often overlooked because they don’t have the sexy lines of a shortboard. But for most casual surfers, this WRV Fun Fish is just right—and the 7’6″ model we tested is the most user-friendly board here. Its flat bottom made for easy paddling and acceleration, allowing…
The gold standard of expedition paddling gets a makeover with a more versatile neck closure to fit everyone from a linebacker to an Olsen twin and—thankfully, with all that water rushing by—a “relief” zipper. kokatat.com…
Amphibian A webbed sneaker-sandal mash-up? About time! My new favorite summer shoe, the Paradox resembles a light hiker but is brilliant in the wet stuff, secure while crossing rocky rapids and perfect for watersports where you need more pro颅tection than you’ll get in a sandal. chacousa.com…
USER-FRIENDLY RIPPER Top pros like Bruce Irons, Joel Parkinson, and Luke Egan all ride Aussie shaper Jason Stevenson’s designs; the 6’5″ 300KW thruster we tested is identical to the one Egan surfs on in competitions. The bottom features a speedy, single-concave shape that transitions into a double-concave section near the…
Though it’s more than a year old, the Jefe, like its Tsangpo-stomping predecessor the Gus, has no equal as a creek and expedition boat. The long waterline, medium chines, displacement hull, and heavily rockered bow allow the boat to accelerate, track through turns, climb out of holes, and get…
TWICE AS FUN, TWICE AS HARD How much do you really trust your paddling partner? How solid is your marriage? The Topo Duo may have the answers. It’s the only two-person whitewater boat in production. A strong paddler can right both the boat and an accompanying novice, but beware: There…
GET UP, STAND UP Last year saw stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) move from the wacky fringe to the pages of Us Weekly, as seemingly every celebrity picked it up. With the fad still on full burn, shapers are racing into the SUP market, which is what makes the C4 special. It…
Like the cushy longboards that initially bore the Bing name, the single-fin Lovebird is gorgeous, with a gloss coat, fabric-inlaid deck, and pigment-colored bottom and rail wrap. But this isn’t some artsy old-school replica. (The brand was relicensed in 2000.) We tested our 9’2″ model in a variety of…
Top Touring Boat Paddle the nearly 18-foot-long Infinity as a day boat and it's fun if a bit cumbersome. Load it and head out for a week or more and it really shines. Serious paddlers looking for a comfy boat will love the Infinity's large cockpit and raised foredeck, which…
High-Performance Softboard Not long ago, the words “soft surfboard” would’ve drawn jeers from core surfers. Now comes the ultralight Y-Quad, a truly high-performance softboard designed by Tom Morey, inventor of the boogie board. The semihard slick-skin deck and bottom suggest a glassed board, but the soft rails and boxy tail…
Designing a one-boat quiver is always a compromise, but the Rx (a.k.a the Prescription) is no horse by committee. It can both play and run downriver, because it combines a flat freestyle hull—for spinning on a wave—with a progressive rocker and relaxed chines behind the hips, where eddy lines…
CREEK SPECIALIST The Habitat incorporates the trademark roominess of Wave Sport’s previous creekboats, but its new hull design is carvier, more forgiving, and not as flat-bottomed (read: you won’t crush your spine boofing). At just over eight feet, it was fast enough to cut across eddy lines on the Colorado,…
MOST VERSATILE The Avocet LV slices through ocean whitecaps as well as it holds a fast, true line on a glassy lake. This British-hulled boat—low-profile, high foredeck—has great secondary stability, which will build confidence in beginners learning to tour. But you won’t outgrow it, either. With fore, aft, and day…
Designed by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s son, Fletcher, the quad-fin Quark is one of the lightest, greenest, most durable boards we’ve seen yet. Its fishlike characteristics include a nearly 20-inch width, high flotation, and mild swallowtail that make even the mushiest surf entertaining. Meanwhile, the Quark has mucho acceleration…
Fitness King Paddling to get a workout? This lightweight performance touring kayak absolutely flies when you put your head down and hammer. “It sprang from stop to go like a racehorse,” reported one tester after zipping across Lake Champlain and back. The Cat 5's deck is arced high to accommodate…
Fish-style surfboards—’70s-era shapes with a pair of keel fins and a deep swallowtail—have been enjoying a comeback, and San Diego shaper Chris Christenson makes the ultimate catch. This five-foot-eleven-incher is a highly evolved shortboard, equally at home skating knee-high waves or threading overhead tubes. The straight rails held the…
This classic touring boat got an overhaul for 2006, with improved seat, hatches, and primary stability. Cross-Lock quick-release closures on the hatches are user-friendly, and increased cargo space easily stows gear for multiday trips. While it takes paddle power to get the weighty Looksha going, it tracks true once…
FAST STICK FOR BIG GUYS If you’re a shortboarder stuck in a longboarder’s body, the Moby Fish may be the choice for you. Because this seven-foot-plus funboard is 22 inches wide, nearly three inches thick, and made with floaty EPS foam, it paddles like a longboard. But thanks to the…
PORTABLE AND RUGGED Packing down to carry-on size and weighing just 24 pounds, the Helios is light and compact enough for hikes to remote lakes and rivers—or to check on your flight to Belize, without weight or size penalties. The tough, 1,200-denier hull pumps up as stiff as a…
Normally, a paddleboard will set you back close to two grand. That’s what makes the NSP so noteworthy: You get the whole package—traction pad, leash, and fins—for about half that. At 31 inches wide and nearly five inches thick, this board has plenty of confidence-building stability and is well…
Best for Beginners One of the hardest things to learn in a kayak is how to go in a straight line. That's why kayaking newbies especially loved this ten-and-a-half-foot plastic boat. It stays on course and maintains speed almost in spite of what its paddler is doing. In rough seas…
On this wave glutton, I had to stop myself from gobbling up more than my fair share of rides. Designed by legendary shaper Al Merrick, this seven-foot-six-incher is basically a scaled-down longboard. The payoff: It’s versatile enough to handle ankle biters as well as pitching six-foot faces. The 21-inch…
With exceptional primary and secondary stability and surprisingly speedy acceleration, the Tsunami blends beginner-friendly handling with performance that won’t leave you wanting once you’ve mastered the basics. Everyone who paddled it—from testers to their mothers—had fun. A high-backed seat provides superb support, and with seven sizes available, it fits…
A DO-IT-ALL BARGAIN This is the shortboard for surfers with champagne taste and a box-wine budget. The six-foot-plus Glider was designed by Al Merrick, the revered shaper at Channel Islands Surfboards, and then mass-produced in Thailand by Global Surf Industries. It’s a classic all-around shape, and in both medium-size beach…
EXPEDITION BOAT The Delta Sport 17’s full-volume hull, from bow to stern, means dry decks and more than 55 gallons of covered storage—not counting what you can cram around you in the cockpit. Translation:It’s possible to haul up to 350 pounds of gear in this expedition-ready boat. It’s tough:…
It’s five bucks cheaper and every bit as comfortable and secure as any leash we’ve tried. Plus, it’s the first leash made from recycled rubber. Comes in six-to-nine-foot lengths. wavetribe.com…
Packable Sailboat “I can hardly believe it,” remarked one tester, “but it really does sail like a legit boat.” That pretty much sums up our take on the inflatable Smartkat. It took testers about an hour to assemble, but once on the water this 15'7″ masted catamaran, which is capable…
This stick is so light (six pounds for the seven-footer), a stiff offshore breeze nearly ripped it from my hands. Made from Salomon’s S-Core epoxy blank, it has a hollow core with a layer of carbon fiber and three triple stringers for a corky, lively feel. In junky, blown-out…
There’s no debate: This is one of the best touring boats on the water. We took the Brittany out in the stormy Atlantic and on glassy Lake Champlain, loaded down and completely empty, and in all conditions she turned like she knew what we were thinking. With the skeg…
A LIGHTWEIGHT, AGILE LONGBOARD You may recognize the Bear logo from the 1978 classic surf film Big Wednesday, but rest assured this longboard oozes modern performance. At nine feet one inch long and three inches thick, it felt like it could glide into anything. With a width of 22.5 inches,…
A PERFORMANCE SIT-ON-TOP In addition to being the fastest undecked boat on the market, it’s also remarkably stable—one tester had to try several times to capsize it. The open cockpit lets air circulate on hot summer days but is protected enough to keep you dry when it’s cold. And who…
The PsychoFreak introduces a new three-layer neoprene sandwich—two thin, solid layers around a perforated middle layer that traps air like a double-pane window—to keep you warmer with less fabric. It works: This super-stretchy, 3.5-milli-meter suit kept us as warm as a five-mil suit while affording tons more flexibility.
Expert Fisherman Using the underwater pedal-powered flippers and knob-controlled rudder, you can propel the Mirage across the lake hands-free so you can fish, shoot pics, sip a drink. Prefer to paddle? The flippers remove in a snap (OK, the press of a button) and you're free to paddle it like…
A black carbon-fiber shell makes the Pro-Formance look like a stealth bomber, but you won’t be flying under the radar with this baby: It’s a guaranteed head turner. The six-foot-six-inch hollow carbon-fiber thruster is speedy down the line and fast enough to make easy work of shoulder-high thumpers at…
This suit’s halter top and low-rider bottoms favor slim shoulders and long legs. $74; www.billabonggirls.com…
SURFING’S NEXT FRONTIER Instead of stroking with their arms, stand-up surfers use a long-shafted paddle and a huge board to catch waves—from the tiniest Cardiff shin-slappers to beefy Makaha bombs. It’s not easy, so learning on a superstable board like the 4.5-inch-thick, 12-foot-long Walden is best. You’ll also want a…
A PLAYBOAT FOR THE WHOLE RIVER We love the kayak industry’s renewed focus on floating down rivers, but that doesn’t mean play-boating is out. The Fuse brings a river runner’s sensibility to freestyle: “Its edges were aggressive enough that moves didn’t feel mushy but soft enough that boiling eddies were…
Slippery hands make for slippery surfboards. Avoid SPF-related wipeouts by using this nongreasy, water-resistant SPF 50 sunscreen stick. It ain’t cheap, but your skin is worth it. vertra.com…
Take It Anywhere The greatest thing about canoes like the Explorer LT is their versatility. There's enough room (1,100 pounds of capacity) to tool around with dogs, lunch, and kids鈥攐r pack up camping supplies and head out for a week. And because it has a moderate amount of rocker and…
This basic mini-longboard lets you ride for a fraction of the cost of most others. At seven feet six inches, the Funboard is long enough to catch waves easily, and its near-23-inch width makes for a stable platform that helps novices find their balance. It fends off dings well,…
This spare bikini is perfect for petite women—or French beaches. The top is narrow, with removable pads, and the bottom’s cut is slim in the back. $76; www.raisins.com…
HIGH PERFORMANCE FOR SMALLER PADDLERS With its classic British design (swept-up bow and stern) and soft chine, the Willow’s stability—both primary and secondary—is best in test. But due to its trim profile, the Willow is as responsive to subtle steering as twitchier (read: tippier) boats. Its front, back, and day…
A RIVER RUNNER WITH ATTITUDE Backing off from expert-only playboats this year, Riot released a mellow river runner. The Thunder is responsive and relatively fast, and it tracks well across currents. “It will go about anywhere you want to take it,” one tester said, “and it’s great for catching hard-to-reach…
Magma’s new soy surf wax is made with color-coded embers that remind you whether you’re rubbing cold-water wax (purple flakes) or tropic-rated stuff (red flakes) on your stick. It also has a tasty banana-and-coconut scent that makes you want to eat it. Please don’t. magmalabs.com…
The Big Easy More than 30 inches wide, with a pontoon-style hull, the open-decked Commander is the perfect stable platform for gear-intensive outings鈥攅ven if that gear is a good book and a well-stocked cooler in the gaping stern tank well. As a canoe/kayak hybrid, it's not quite stable enough to…
This nine-footer is a high-performance board with plenty of float, so it’s Cadillac-smooth in peeling surf. Up front it’s wide, round, and inviting for toes-on-the-nose time. And the double concave hulls spill to the tail in a slight V, which gives the board a shot of high-octane get-up-and-go. Pair…
A wide chest band and ample cups suit a range of sizes and hold everything securely in place for pickup volleyball. $72; www.watergirlusa.com…