Looking to get into downwinders and ocean racing more and just picked up the SIC Bullet-14 fixed fin on Monday and had a couple of flatwater paddles and wanted to tap into the wise heads on seabreeze about boat trim.
Noticed from a FB pic just how far my nose is raised up on the new board, which has a lot of rocker. I'm used to a Javelin which is the complete opposite. Admittedly, I was probably a half step behind the handle at the time the pic was taken. The handle seems to be the balance point on the bullet.
I have moved forward and aft to experiment but I haven't had it long enough to work out where to stand to get the best speed on flat water as yet. I'm about 82-83kg and it is a big volume board (296L).
Would be keen to get some advice on how much to get the bow down. Also, does it matter if there is lift in the tail and should I move the fin forward as far as it can go so it is fully in the water when I move forward?
Thanks for any advice.
i have the same "problem" with my 17foot glide, i find it has a substancial amount more rocker than flatwater boards, as i also paddle flatwater on it i find that it doesn't matter to much where you stand but i do like to stand a little further foward than i would regularly just to get the nose down a little bit, this also helps if your paddling into chop, as i find with a great amout of rocket and the boards being so long they tend to bounce more of the chop and thud on the next on and it slows you down, you can try moving the fin foward and seeing if that would help you i spose, you will love the board when you start downwinding on it though
hope this helps
Jarryd
I'm no expert, but you can try 2 things;
1) Stand at the handles, paddle hard (on perfect flat water) and quickly look behind to check there is no wake caused by a "bogging tail". The tail should be just flush with the water. Maybe have a spotter (another paddler) to help you find that flush spot...
2) Borrow a Garmin Watch, or use Nike+ for running on the iPhone... To help gauge your speed... standing in a few different spots.
Also, the board naturally has rocker, and where you are standing in the photo actually looks about right. Bad/small photo though...
All good advice. Thanks for letting me tap into your collective experience. I guess the only reason I'm using it on flatwater is to get a feel for it before I d/w. Sounds like LL almost has a full cartridge of bullets there.
Only one question now - what is the lh? I thought I'd seen 'em all.
G'day Snowie he BULLET is not a flatwater board OK Snowie just wait for some 20-25 Knot Winds and take it for a test run I guarantee you'll get so excited you'll wanna pull ya pants down and fire a rocket. Have a listen to good friend Mark Raaphorst
hey downwinder, what you rekon about the 2 versions of the 17'4" bullet? Seems to be some agrument about which one is the better board? V1 or V2?
This post has gone fully sic bros.
You guys are killing me though. Getting all this info before I can do the deed is like taking viagra just before your girlfriend calls to say she has to work and can't come over. Yeah, I trawled the net on these and the videos had me keen to try one out. As fate would have it a board came up for sale the next day.
Any of you guys keep using the stock fixed fin? Seems okay to me. I like how you can step back and lean on the rail to deepen the turn.
Cheers!
I bought a new 14' SIC Bullet just before Chrissy & loving it. Did a fun downwinder from Manly Wharf to Spit last week. I'm keen to do more stuff like this, perhaps a Pittwater run if anyone else is keen?