Surfing and ocean play in a fun vintage surfski!

Presenting the

Gulfstream Elan Crosstrainer surfski.

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The Elan Crosstrainer surfski profile. Note the generous rocker and sea kayak – like shape!

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“LOOSE CHANGE”

is not a conspiracy theory, but a really fun ocean paddling vintage surfski.

I like to name my boats, and this one reflects the “loose” handling nature of this ski and the very modest spare change spent to get it back on the water!

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Attitude is Everything when you have a second drain plug! 😉
All boats leak, some more, some less. Helps to dry out the insides.

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This surfski is from the early 1990’s and thus predates the internet era, so there is almost no information to be found about it.

But I got lucky and found the original specs:

Gulfstream Elan Crosstrainer

Weight: 38lbs / 17.3kg

Dimensions:

20’9.5″ long

17.4″ wide

10.25″ deep

(634cm x W 44.3cm x H26cm)

Manufacturer: Gulfstream Kayaks in Orlando, Florida.

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In South Florida, the Elan Crosstrainer ski was distributed by Bruce Gipson at Venturesport in Boca Raton and was a contemporary of the Findeisen Shearwater surfski of the same era. I remember test paddling both skis back in 1991!

Back then I couldn’t justify a specialty boat like this though and bought a Seda Glider (aka Banana Boat) instead to serve as my all around sea kayak, which I still use today.

For comparison, the Elan Crosstrainer slots in between two of my other skis:

Findeisen Shearwater: 20′ 5.5″ long by 18.5″ wide.

Stellar SES: 20’4″ long by 16.4″ wide!

Also, the Elan is symmetric in design, again fitting in between the fishform Shearwater and swede form Stellar SES.

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The Elan Crosstrainer surfski is a ball of fun to paddle in the ocean.

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So the Elan Crosstrainer is a little on the heavy side, basically feels like a spec ski when you pick it up. This boat is over 25 years old, yet feels solid. The center stringer appears to be styrofoam sandwiched in between fiberglass layers, making for a very stiff feeling boat. In this regard, this ski is superior to either of my other skis that have foam only stringers. The solid feel inspires confidence when punching out through waves and rough ocean paddling.

It’s in surf where the Elan really comes into it’s own!

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Surf’s UP in Dania Beach with LOOSE CHANGE! 🙂

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Boats that are fun to paddle in the chop tend to have lots of rocker, and the Elan certainly has plenty. Also notice the bow is shaped more like a sea kayak, and this is very different from the typical “knife edge” bow found on contemporary surskis. These two factors are primarily responsible for the “loose” feel of this boat. In concert with the quick response inset rudder, it’s easy for me to forget that I’m paddling a 20+ ft kayak!

The Elan Crosstrainer has really good handling in rough water and is remarkably stable for a 17.5 inch ski. In addition to solid surfski paddling technique, it helps to have good sea kayak paddling experience to be able to edge it and get the most out of it. Despite the heavier weight, in the soup this boat feels very lively, and reminds me of my very fun RTM Disco SOT kayak.

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Unusual for a surfski, the Elan Crosstrainer has for all intents and purposes a sea kayak style bow.

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It was a pleasant surprise to find out what a fun ocean paddling ski the Elan is. I was expecting a more ho-hum ‘old’ ski when I first put it in the water, but thought .. after all, why not? why not paddle an old ski? Out on the ocean, it’s easy to pick up rides and the ski handles very predictably. It also tends to round up into the weather which is great! Probably because of the very low CG and high rocker, this boat responds well even to side surfing (broaching) on a wave as long as one remembers to lean into the wave. It does not “dump” you out and feels more like a sea kayak in this respect.

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A “crosswalk” on the beach for launching into the ocean during beach re-nourishment in Dania Beach.
The shifting sands of time – Beach erosion and re-nourishments in Dania Beach.

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The bow of the Elan is essentially a sea kayak bow. As such it’s great in the chop but will also readily pearl when surfing. The boat requires leaning way back to avoid this on steep runs. The bow will pearl but not buck, and it is entirely workable, and again very much like a sea kayak. The separate foot wells do not drain, but only hold a bit of water. It’s easy to kick out most of it as conditions allow.

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With a good NE blow, we get some wind, waves and surf in South Florida. Time for a down wind run, or two ..

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This is my standard seat setup on all my fitness boats:
Foam pad with cutouts and a removable vinyl liner to prevent sticking and enable slippery hip rotation. I’m using self stick velcro, hooks on the bottom, loops on top! 😉

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Because of the same features that make for a fun surf boat, the high rocker and sea kayak bow, the Elan isn’t the best choice for flat water paddling. The waterline is reduced to probably only 18 feet or so and you feel that it’s just really looking for the next swell to ride and push it on! It’s not a slow boat, but is outclassed by most any modern ski in calm water paddling. To help with proper fitness paddling technique, I fixed up the foot pegs nice and solid to push off from for leg drive and have a drop in vinyl seat liner for slippery hip rotation. This really helps, though leg drive is still limited because of the center hump, as compared to a modern ski like the Stellar SES for instance.

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Nobody needs this much stability in flat water, so I’m using a 3 inch booster pad!

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I should preface this by saying that I’m used to paddling a 16.4 inch wide ski (the Stellar SES), but I was surprised at how remarkably stable this boat feels! It feels so stable, that I thought to myself “Nobody needs this much stability in flat water!”. I’m using a 3 inch booster pad which also helps with a better fitness paddling posture and rotation for calm water paddling.

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My drop in 3 inch booster pad in the Elan Crosstrainer surfski.
This is still a work in progress using free shipping ethafoam as a blank to carve out the optimal shape and height.

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For my fitness and workout paddling I like to combine a mix of conditions. In Dania Beach, this is easy to achieve with a very short portage from ocean to flat creek, or vice versa, or even figure eight depending on conditions. I’ve been paddling this approximate six mile loop for over 20 years, my best time being about 42 minutes if I recall in my old Shearwater ski. Note that I am including the industrial Port Everglades and inlet, which may not be for everyone. But it’s easy to adjust this loop to two segments of four miles and avoid most power boaters.

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The giant new Post-Panamax gantry cranes at Port Everglades.
Flatwater segment, upwind for another downwind ocean run! 🙂

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“MJ Park” – formerly John U Lloyd State Park is the jewel of Broward county and provides several places to easily launch directly into the ocean. I’m surprised that I see so few paddlers out on the ocean even on calm days; all the while the creek is packed on weekends.

All in all, the Elan Crosstrainer surfski makes for an excellent surfing and rough water play boat for South Florida.

A worthy addition to my fleet! 🙂

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Yes again, but in a new “old” kayak ..

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LOOSE CHANGE is my Gulfstream Elan Crosstrainer vintage surfski.
Surf’s UP!!

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Keep on paddling those beautiful boats people!

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Bless UP!

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© 2022 Flex Maslan / kayakfari.com / awakenthegrass.com /. All original photographs, artworks and music in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by the artist, Flex Maslan, unless otherwise noted. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission from the artist is strictly prohibited.

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With that said..
Blessings friends!

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