Condition: She's been around folks! This boat has more big water time then some aircraft carriers. As a result she's been dragged across countless windswept beaches, bounced around in the surf zone and whacked by a paddle shaft or two. But! she is completely water tight and structurally sound. I ground down the gel coat and sprayed her with automotive poly. So she is easy to fix and rubs out to a nice silky 800 grit wet sand finish. This boat will appeal to a specific taste but someone with that aesthetic WILL LOVE IT!!

SOLD

As the reader can probably tell I am an Epic guy. Epic's hull shapes and simple rigging just appeal to me. More importantly, their cockpits fit me! Of the eight Epic surf skis I own, or have owned, none of them have ever exhibited a structural failure in extremely harsh conditions.

This V10L (low Volume) has been the pinnacle of my Epic experience. I own this hull shape in both the pre-preg carbon "GT" layup and this one in the "Ultra" Kevlar Nomex honeycomb construction. It is designed for the smaller lighter paddler. I moved into this boat after I had been in a 2006 Huki S1-X Special for a few seasons. The S1-X Special is a 17”x 21' long high volume boat and though I loved its handling it was very twitchy for me. I eventually cut a hatch into the cockpit hump and laid up to 5 lbs of shot along her stem just under my knees. Low and behold I could now drive that Huki anywhere. This made me start to think that maybe not all paddlers need all the volume of a 21 foot boat. I tried the acclaimed V14, same story as the un weighted Huki. I felt like I was sitting up to high in the water. Sure, I could paddle it on the Alawai canal but the boat was just to tippy for me to ever be effective offshore. Then, Epic introduced the V10L.

I fall right inside the higher end of its capacity (see: driver bio) which means a pilot my size pushes it down a good bit on to its Length At the Water Line (LAWL) and also that it will be a wet ride. But the connection I feel to the boat and the concrete confidence it gives me in HUGE conditions is almost mystical. I have paddled this boat on 17 mile crossings in HORRENDOUSLY big, complex conditions. It drives down runs like a champ.  I loved the V10L in Ultra and immediately got one of the first GT layups Epic brought into the US. The GT layup of this boat is six pounds lighter! But I found I did not stop paddling the Ultra layup. The GT is noticeably more twitchy and did not inspire in me the same confidence when out of site of land that the Ultra does. The GT accelerates quick, and it takes less effort to move but when it gets good and messy I will always want the Ultra under me. Additionally, I often make pretty long crossings that at their mid point have me 6 miles from shore. The thought that often haunts me is the prospect of hitting some partially submerged piece of flotsam or a denizen of the sea taking a swing Light carbon boats are awesome but if breeched badly enough they tend to just disintegrate, I have seen the Ultra layup take some pretty good hits. For me it is my primary offshore layup.

The V10L has a flat rocker profile with an extremely narrow catch (the cut outs at the paddle catch areas of Epics are another hull feature that I always found sexy) it is also shallow in volume top to bottom. All this serves to make a 6” male driver feel like he is driving the ocean going version of a rally car and I venture to guess that a standard size athletic female would feel like she was handeling a GTP car.

This boat has been modified for deep North Atlantic “turn and burn” down winds and "Free Solo", unsupported, crossings as follows:

• About .5 pound of gelcoat, paint and decals have been ground off and shot with a automotive urethane then given an 800grit wetsand “distressed” finish.

• Valkyrie Downwind graphics package including tactical American flag.

• Mark 2 “fly by wire” steering upgrade: using products from the Kite surfing industry I have tried to duplicate a light, adjustable steering system with the feel of a Huki (see S1-Z write up.)

• Epic nonslip foot board/pedal pad and Ocean Paddlesports neoprene footstrap pad.

• Repositionable Mocke seat Pad (new)

• Velocitec Speed Puck GPS display: Shows either heading over ground or speed in a large easy to read display. Pops into a secure permanent mount.

• Mocke wave cutter/spray guard: attached with heavy duty Velcro  augmented by aircraft wash tape.

• Gopro mount just forword of the rudder compartment and conveniently adjacent to a leash plug.

If you are looking for a pretty, shiny craft this wont be the boat for you. But, if you are an average size intermediate female paddler or a slightly built advanced male athlete looking for a boat that will be your loyal companion when way offshore or duking it out in an ocean race, this is it. I LOVE THIS BOAT. The only reason I am offering it up is because I am itching to build the SEAX 2.0 and there is another boat in the Epic line that has caught my eye and my penchant for dragging boats into the breakers. The SEAX 1.0 boat surfs gently breaking waves pretty well as long as you get out when the get'n is good.