There are lots of conversations about what you cant do on 12'6 race boards and how they don't perform well on downwinders in the last few weeks.
Size and weight of the rider is obviously a factor but Kristi Page, Simondo Baum and Justin Ormonde have done several runs in extreme condition and had nothing but fun and the 12'6s do work in 35-45-50kn
This is a vid I posted a while back, vision is not great due to wind squalls and in a homer moment i forgot the tripod but you'll get the idea.
12'6 boards are unreal in DW conditions!! even in light winds!
I have just as much fun riding my 12'6 as i have ever had on any unlimited board and my speeds are only slightly different as well so if someone says 12'6 boards can't down wind then maybe they need to book in for some lessons!!!
I love my 12'6er. At training it gives me an extra incentive to keep up and beat 14's and they are really fun to DW and after seeing how well some of the Goldie boys and girls surf them I'm looking forward to getting it in the waves.
just on this topic, jacko you smashed it at state titles on your 12'6, and as this thread suggests they are prety good downwinding too, do you think races will ever become just a single size class for the opens??
im all for it, jacko proved its not a major problem, it would just make the sport more affordable for competitors board wise and travel wise.
if we wanted to go fast we would paddle skis or oc1's so i cant see any real reason as to why you would have more than one board class
The Fanatic Carbon 12'6 x 30 odd race board goes unreal downwind too. For 85-95kg, the "30 wide" version has a nice ratio of length, and width for planning area.
I had that thing planning heaps in 15 knots. You have to paddle hard. The harder you paddle, the more planning you do... and it sucks you in to paddle hard. That day we were edging right, so I was surfing little right handers when in the trough (froffin' in the troff!
).
Love my DC 12'6", we did an awesome DW a few weeks ago in 30-35 knts and I was able to keep up with Stuart Murray on his 17' SIC. They were very short period harbour type runners (in Pittwater) but you could surf em for up to 50 mts so maybe it suited the 12'6".
The guys here like Kissa and Sam and Pete love their 17' SICs though, they freaken fly on em. And the Starby Aces 14s fly in the lighter winds.
I'm not racing so happy to use my 12'6", fun surfing on the way in as well.
To double up the value of 12 sixing, great in the surf, cranking big bottom turn up wave to set the line, paddle caressing the wave and off you go down the line at speed to make you hair curl, just hope no one paddles in front of you as stopping quickly is not an option.....
Well Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to all of you. I bought a Fanatic 12'6" x 30" some months ago for the purpose of ocean paddling (downwind and cruising) as well as touring.
Since then (until today) I have read lots of negatives about 12'6" boards as downwinders.
Thanks for your positive input, now I feel better.
Cheers ET.
How fragile are 12'6 and 14' raceboards in the surf?
Have there been any topics about breakages?
Its a lot of money to snap in a shorey.
But I'm looking at getting a 12'6 Bark later this year, mainly for the lake.
Nothing wrong with 12'6's on downwinds or distance racing - they are just slower....
I suggest making away with classes, then everyone is free to ride what they want and if that happens to be a 12'6 - all good!
I used to favor a 14' class as a one-size board class allowing everyone to race on even terms - but it seems many want longer or shorter for all sorts of reasons - so lets drop the classifications - bring what you want, then the strongest paddler on the right board for the conditions wins and the rest will be happy they are on their favorite board anyway.....
I can't find anywhere in here where someone says a 12'6 can't do something
,
I've mentioned recently a 14ft board is easier to paddle open ocean or downwind than a 12'6, and just to clear that up easier by one and a half feet, 18 inches or 450mm
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Or the person with the most money to have a board for all conditions!!
That will be the case anyway - look at JM pitching with 3 different 12'6 boards at ISA Worlds...or your own champs last year where the winner also used 3 different Starbies if I remember correctly.
I had some the longest runners I have experienced in Port Phillip (not a) Bay today ... glad I was on my 14'er. [}:)]
Select to expand quotePeterP said...
Or the person with the most money to have a board for all conditions!!
That will be the case anyway - look at JM pitching with 3 different 12'6 boards at ISA Worlds...or your own champs last year where the winner also used 3 different Starbies if I remember correctly.
Sorry you have lost me!! JM only had 1 board at ISA and this was the first year for the Aussie champs from what I know!!!?
I'm also not saying that a 12'6 is faster than a 17 as well but for the difference there is then most of the time I'm happy on my 12'6 but doing away with all classes would never work that's for sure!
The SA team came back wide-eyed telling us JM had 3 boards to choose from...pure hearsay so may be incorrect. The other event I referred to may have been a state champs - not sure, but he posted something where he described how he'd used this board for that discipline and that board for the downwind etc....
Point is no matter how we try and level the playing field it will never happen unless we introduce one-design which I think everyone will agree is not the way.
The 12'6 really is a bastard race class which came about by accident and although you can downwind and do whatever you want on it - will always be slower and favour small guys or ladies. But why sustain a class that does that when a 14' does pretty much everything better? Seems like the various camps of opinion are firmly entrenched but I just don't get why you'd want to be on a 12'6 if you are into racing - unless you are very light and want that advantage over the heavier guys....
Obviously this guy didn't get the "cant do" memo.
In fact i think this board is actually a lot bigger.
