At Epic Kayaks, we’re always looking for ways to improve your paddling experience by increasing efficiency. One of these is ensuring that the cockpit of your surf ski remains dry. When going through large waves, a surfski cockpit fills with up to 25 kg (55 lbs.) of water – making your boat slow and sluggish. The new Epic bailer (patent pending) is light years ahead of other methods for draining your cockpit.
When a wave dumps into your cockpit, you want to drain it as quickly as possible to remove the extra weight of the water. This is where the Epic bailer really shines – draining a full cockpit up to 6 times faster than conventional bailers, venturies or bullet systems.
The Epic bailer is roughly equivalent to a good venturie or bullet system in removing the last few ounces (100g) of water to maintain a completely dry foot well. However, the last few ounces of water are insignificant compared to the multiple kg of water that enter when a wave dumps into your cockpit. It’s most important to drain the large amounts of water to quickly lighten your boat. The Epic bailer will get you back up to speed significantly faster than any other bailer device on the market.
All cockpit drains add drag to your kayak by deflecting the flow of water. This slows you down. The Epic bailer can be opened and closed. Open it when there is water in your cockpit, and close it when the cockpit is dry. In the closed position, your kayak will have less resistance which allows you to paddle faster.
The Epic bailer is easy to open and close and can be operated either by hand or foot. Simply pull the handle back to open, or push it forward to close. If desired, you can add cushioning for your foot by cutting a 16mm (5/8”) hole into a squash ball and stretching it over the top of the handle.
Adjust to Suit Water Conditions
The Epic bailer can be fine tuned to match precisely the amount of draining you need. It is indexed for positions of ¼, ½, ¾, and fully open. This gives maximum flexibility and minimizes induced drag.
When paddling in relatively calm water, keep the bailer closed and only open it for a short period of time if water comes into your footwell.
If you are consistently taking on small amounts of water from waves, open it ¼ of the way – this gives adequate draining while imparting minimal drag to your kayak.
In large surf conditions, open the Epic bailer half way. This will rapidly drain large amounts of water with a modest drag increase. If even faster draining is needed, then it can be opened ¾ of the way.
The fully open position can be used when you want to drain your cockpit as quickly as possible. It is not recommended to paddle continuously with the bailer fully open, as this will create a noticeable amount of drag and slow you down. However, the fully open position can very quickly drain a full cockpit, where you can then either close the bailer, or adjust to one of the less open positions once the cockpit has emptied.
Most venturie drains will backflow into the cockpit when your kayak is not moving forward, or even when moving at a slower speed – filling your footwell to the level of the outside water. Those who paddle with venturie drains in cold water have probably experienced the shock of a lapful of cold water when they first start to paddle after launching. This is a thing of the past with the Epic bailer! It can be closed to prevent the backflow of water into the footwell.
The Epic bailer is crafted from high strength plastic and stainless steel components which will not corrode in salt water. The plastic flap which opens up has rounded edges and corners on the exterior surfaces. This is far less likely to cut or injure if impacted in the surf zone compared to the sharp edges of other mechanical bailers or the exterior shields on some venturi drains.
When your cockpit fills with water, the kayak is less stable due to the oscillation of water shifting from side to side in your swamped cockpit. The world’s most efficient bailer will get you back up to speed quicker and more safely after a wave dumps into your cockpit.
You’ve got to experience it to believe it! Test paddle a new Epic model surf ski (New V10, New V10 Sport, V14 or latest versions of the V6, V8 or V12). Even better – get a friend to paddle next to you with another brand of surf ski. Then fill the footwells one half to all the way full and see how long they take to drain. The Epic bailer at even the half open position will empty exponentially faster than any other ski on the market!
The Epic bailer is another design breakthrough by Epic Kayaks. Epic Kayaks continues to lead the way in high performance paddling!
*** When closed, the Epic bailer is not always 100% watertight. There may be a few drops of water per minute entering the footwell through a closed Epic bailer – typically this amount is less than the water droplets falling from your paddle blade into the cockpit in flat water.
Disclaimer: We do our best to make sure all quantities of products on our website are accurate but there may be some inaccuracies, we apologize. We will contact you if what was ordered is not available
