What is New at Stellar for 2013?

Mike Herbert(former US Olympian), Reid Hyle and Borys Markin will represent Stellar Surf skis in the upcoming race season. Borys and Reid will be paddling the SES Ultra that is specifically designed for the small to mid weight paddler.Mike will be paddling a SEL Ultra upgrading from his SE from previous years.

Mike Herbert

This will be Reid's second year representing the Stellar brand. Both Reid and Borys are highly regarded K1 and surf ski paddlers. Mike needs no introduction competing in the 88,92, 96 Olympics. Reid and Borys will be doing the major surf ski races including the Surf ski Championships in San Francisco including the doubles race on Sunday in the newest Stellar Double. They also will be competing in the Blackburn Challenge and the East Coast Championships(Lighthouse to Lighthouse Race). Borys who lives in New Jersey will be racing in most of the local races in the Northeast.

Dave Thomas(Stellar designer,standing) Reid Hyle(kneeling), Rob Mirlenbrink(forground)

Borys Markin

Stellars is sponsoring the SurfskiRacing.com Race Series for the third year now. Stellars is also sponsoring the US Surfski Championships and the East Coast Surfski Championships. Last year Stellar was a major sponsor of the Molokai World Championship.

The new Apex K1 designed by Dave Thomas and Ed Hoffmeister of Stellar Surfskis and Kayaks will be out this spring. It is already in the hands of a few top paddlers in the US and Australia including Australian Matt O'Garey of Wet Fitness. http://www.wetfitness.com.au/ Matt who placed 16th in the 2012 Molokai in his SES Ultra will be headed back this year along with top local paddler Francisco Urena and Richard Germain of Canada. Both Francisco and Richard will be in Stellars.

Richard Germain 2012 Molokai

Matt O'Garey of Wet Fitness

Matt O'Garey of Wet Fitness in New Apex

Francisco Urena headed to Molokai 2013

For this years Blackburn I will be paddling a new SE2 that has more volume, and two venturi drains, that are an improvement over the first generation SE2.Tim Dwyer, my training partner, are looking forward to racing the SE2. For the last two years Tim has raced a double ski at the Blackburn, one of those years, 2011, Tim and North Shore paddler Mike Tracy paddled a Stellar tandem to break the record at that time.

This winter I have been using the 9 inch rudder on my SES Ultra for increased stability. It makes a big difference without sacrificing too much speed in true ocean conditions. I clocked an average speed of 8.3mph several weeks ago for just over a mile while racing Tim during an interval session on Narragansett Bay. It was a jobbly day but no fear with the 9 inch! I will use the 4,8,9 inch this season depending on conditions.The 2013 skis will have new improved rudder lines. I switched out the lines on my personal 2011 SEL ultra, and both my 2012 SES Ultra and 2010 SES Excel.

Wesley Newport Bridge Interval by wesley14 at Garmin Connect (1) - Details

The spring containers arrive in a few weeks and then will be shipped to nation wide to all the Stellar dealers and kayak shops across the country. I have a number of boats on this container. My stock of boats can be found on the link on the Classified section of SurfskiRacing.com. Thanks to living in Rhode Island, there is no sales tax on boat sales so that is a savings of a few hundred dollars if you purchase you boat from me. With the Stellar distribution center located in Northfield, Massachusetts, I can pick up special orders of skis if I don't have what you need in my current inventory.

Visit Wesley’s Garage Sale for the latest Stellar Inventory and Boats on Order

1st Attempt with my New Camera!!

I got a new video camera for paddling. This is my first foray into on water videos. My camera angle is off on both front and back lens however the quality of video and audio is fine I think. More importantly is that it was is so user friendly and easy. I need to settle in on a video editing software in the next week but after that I should have some nice video's especially of the races and the rough water training paddles so stay tuned!!!

Mike Herbert, US Olympian joins Stellar Team

Mike Herbert, former US Olympian has been paddling a SE Excel for the past 3 years but now is paddling the SEL Ultra as seen here on the Arkansas River.

Double the Fun in a Stellar Double

Stellar Double S2E

Doubles offer an excellent choice for another alternative to surf ski paddling. What do you need to have an enjoyable experience with a double?

1. Adequate Storage. At 24 feet long most garages will not hold a double so plan accordingly.
2. Training Partner. Remember the paddler in the back needs to match the front paddler's stroke for the boat to run more efficiently. If both of you have good strokes and are skilled enough to modify your stroke slightly to match your training partner and vice versa than all the better. Also helps greatly if your partner has similar skills(stability) as you do but you can manage otherwise provided you have one of the more stable doubles like the Stellar. 
3. I have found the tempo is often higher in a double. So from a workout perspective a double is awesome. So you don't feel like you are taking away anything from your single workout.
4. The Fun Factor. Nice to chat and share the experience of the paddle, training, and race with a training partner. 

S2E, Stable, Fast, Light, Quality Built

Wesley w/new S2E Excel(39lbs)

Wesley/Chris 3rd Place in Stellar S2E at Great Stone Dam Race