A top of the range Penetrator 572 is on its way to Hawaii. PonoBill has organised a series of tests scheduled to take place in late February early March primarily on the Maliko run, Mauis' top downwind venue. Several of Hawaiis best paddlers will put boards from 8 or so of Hawaii and Californias' leading designers as well as the Penetrator through 3 prime days of time trials, comparisons and evaluation with their findings to later be featured in an article on Bills Sup site www.kenalu.com I'm really happy to have my board as part of this and to see how it stacks up against the worlds best in such testing conditions. Fingers crossed she does what I designed her for and comes out on top.........
In other news the Penetrators 12'6" answer to the Naish Glide will be released soon as well as a limited edition series of my surfing Sups.
All the best for the season to all you Breezers out there and here are a few pics of Bills Hawaiian test board.........
She's a beauty.. 
Well done Stuey and good luck with how it performs against the other worlds best SUP race boards.
I can't wait to hear what the Hawaiians think... I hope it knocks their socks off.. 
DJ
That's great news Stuey. I'm sure it will do well.
I was thinking that it would be pretty expensive to freight it over there. Is it going by air or sea?
Maybe to save on costs/time you should get Woogie to paddle it there instead.
That's fantastic Stuey and with Pono Bill running the show you know that it will be a fair test. I'm guessing that most of the people on the forum quietly wish they had a Penetrator in their quiver, but they really have got to be one of the hardest things to hide in the shed. Are you going over for the test to accept orders? Blow em away!
Thanks for your best wishes guys. It's headed over by airfreight Oliver and yeah costs a fortune, $1,700 and it basically took me all day, 5 rolls of tape, bubble wrap, foam offcuts, cardboard and bubble wrap again to pack it and I bet they still manage to damage it. Woogie would have paddled it over but he has relatives visiting at the moment. It would have been nice to have accompanied it over there as I haven't been to Hawaii since 2001 but unfortunately I cant make it. Tux I'll update with news on the 12'6" and some photos when it's finished.....Cheers, Stuey
I thought I heard at one stage it was going to stay over there for Woogie to compete on, is this still the case?
Hey good luck Stuey .... I tryed the Penetrator at the Mambo and was very impressed .... ill be interesting to see how it goes against the C4 Vortice .....
Look forward to your photo's and reports.
Would really like one of theses boards
Gee they didn't miss you with freight costs
Boylos
If you would like to see the difference between a Downwind SUP Board and a STD SUP, Cammar did a video some time ago with a 17' 6" local made Maui SUP vs a STD SUP.
Watch how quick the long board disappears into the distance, leaves the STD board behind in a very windy Maliko Run. All he does is hold his paddle in the air and the wind does the rest ....awesome. I did this run in 2006 actually from Keanae, which is 10 mile further upwind.
You can watch it here.http://blip.tv/file/300583/
Cheers Rambo
Oh Stuey...I'm going to Hawaii tomorrow for 3 weeks. Should of told me I could have seen if I could get it on as "Oversize" ??? 
1 more sleep !! I'm as excited as DJ getting a new Naish or Kialoa !!
You're right Oliver, they ARE two completely different boards. Believe it or not some SUP riders aren't even aware what downwind SUP or racing is, so in that light it's an interesting introduction, don't you think? Others don't care for downwind paddling at all and happy to do what the majority of SUP paddlers do ... ride coastal breaks. It's great to be able to choose or do both.
Sorry if you didn't get, i wasn't trying to make a point of it, just thought it was an interesting video people may not have seen before.
Maybe Pono Bills test may interest you more Oliver.
Time for a paddle.
Cheers Rambo
Isn't that the Glide? All that's missing is the deck inserts for a cargo net and the paddle carry loops.
The paddle loops should be standard on all boards and cargo net inserts on any flat water board. The handle hole is useless for any more than picking the board up and walking out of the water.
I'm hearing you Gorgo. I reckon the glide is the closest. But where is the netting/storage? All you want is somewhere to store some sunscreen a couple of drinks, your phone, ipod, keys, towel etc. Thinking about it a small waterproof compartment in the deck would be a great thing to have in a board.
[rant]If they make glass bottom subs why can't they build a little waterproof space into the board where I can put my freakin keys to my car and my phone when I'm out on a paddle, instead of looking for hidey holes when no one's looking all the time?[/rant]
Hey Rambo,
I was about to reply to Olivers post but you beat me to it. Loved your vid showing what can be done on a purpose built downwinder as opposed to a standard surfing Sup. Yes apples to oranges and that's exactly what it is!!! Unfortunately it's a little slow catching on here in Oz as many people are still unaware of what goes on out on the horizon, there's still the misconception that a surfing Sup will suffice for downwind runs but that vid clearly showed chalk and cheese. When Woogie first spoke of downwinding on Sups about 2 years ago I was quick to catch on and visualised the first of the Penetrators. I'm at best a novice paddler and don't have an outrigging background but my earliest experiences of riding ocean swells came as a tiny kid on racing yachts with my Dad. This continued over the years and one of my most special experiences in 37 years of surfing was a couple years back at the helm of my brothers 11 metre cat!!! For hours on end, while he caught some zzzzs below I was alone with the ocean, a following breeze and 8 feet of swell. With the stereo blaring and a beer in my hand I caught run after run, sometimes for minutes at a time all the while hooting and screaming like a crazy man. Maybe it's a "guy thing" but piloting a large fast craft across the ocean is damn hard to beat and it will stay with me forever. I hope it does catch on and become real big because the more the merrier and crowding is never an issue The thrill of downwinding on Sups is similar and you're getting fit at the same time, it's a win/win.
Anyway Rambo, you don't live far away so maybe I can get a couple Penetrators together and we can go for a run one day soon. By the way, absolutely love your work "another day in paradise" was pure gold, keep em' coming and all the best for the New Year!!!
Stuey
Yeah thanks Stuey, you know i think it's the racing or competition element of downwind SUP that puts people off. As most SUPers have a surfing culture background (i do as well) there is a certain amount of rejection for organized competitions ( i felt the same way years ago as i was what was known as a soul surfer). Hell, we should just embrace what interests us and try and understand and accept that SUP will have similar divisions under that banner. There is potential x over from a lot of other ocean sports, I'm seeing it up here in QLD as i know you are too at Noosa.
You are right, when you experience the thrill of riding ocean wind waves and swell, it's a real hoot, i felt every bit of your description of riding those ocean waves alone, it stays with you forever. I've been paddling Outrigger canoe competitively since 1989 and even now the majority of outrigger paddlers today in Australia do not relate the sport to be deep ocean based and are happy just to paddle round in triangles and finish where they started. It is changing but slowly. As you know that's (downwind OC) also Woogies background.
Todd Bradley of C4 fame, is also predominantly from an OC background, i paddled Hammo Cup with him in 1995, he steered, i paddled ...hahaha. Todd is a big mover and shaker in SUP and i think you will see more downwind, long board type stuff from them in the future, for now they are looking after the bulk of the market, short surfing type SUP boards. His knowledge of paddles and what works is enormous as is his knowledge of the ocean.
Downwind will never be as big as surfing SUP, but it is a diversion one may wish to take for a completely different buzz, whether you race, or not.
I'll take you up on the Penetrator run, as soon as i can spend more time on it than off it. hahaha. I would love to get some top Hi Def footage of the Penetrator from the back of a Jet Ski one day, i'm trying to line Woogie up for an ocean shoot, now i have a purpose built can rig (see below) so maybe you can drag a few more along.
Thanks again Stuey,good luck with the Penetator in Hawai'i and HNY all.
Cheers Rambo
Lets hope this years Honolua Snapper-Currumbin has the same conditons as last year! A true downwinder! The DC16's came 1st & 2nd I think?
Stuey, Is this board any different to the one for sale and is it true Woogie's selling it to retire to OC1's???
What a gorgeus beast Stuey. I know Bill is very excited for it to get there. He turns 62 on Jan 5th and would like to do a 62 mile run, or so he says...[:D. He's in pretty good shape for an old geezer but thats a long one.
I wish I could be there for this one. It's going to be a fun time I'm sure.
Hey folks, howzit. I'm really looking forward to getting this board, neat to see the pictures.
As any of you that visit Ke Nalu (kenalu.com/ ) know, we do board reviews in a showcase format--that is since we don't have the means to fully test performance, we give specs and the subjective opinions of the testers. For the Downwinder/distance/race board showcase this will be enhanced a bit with GPS data. I plan to do three categories: 12'6", 14' and open--consistent with the racing classes that seem to be emerging.
We're not going to do a huge number of boards, I'm going to try to keep it to no more than ten or twelve total. Anyone can add any board to the showcase after the test with a similar form as the current board showcase that focuses mostly on general purpose boards: www.kenalu.com/report/board-showcase-form/ which reminds me, if any of you have boards that don't appear in the current board showcase: www.kenalu.com/forums/showcase-index/ please consider adding them. Paddles too, the paddle showcase is getting outdated, though all the paddles I have are on them. Maybe that means it's time for me to get a new paddle.
The plan for the test is three courses--flatwater, north shore downwinder, and closed course four directions (like the BOP course). There will be elite paddlers, intermediates, and relative newbies, though I'm not about to consider inviting total newbies on a Maliko run. As it is I expect the liability waiver will run to several pages of lurid danger descriptions.
The plan is for the end of February, but I suspect March is more like it. I'm headed back to the mainland at the end of April, so that's a pretty hard stop.
Any suggestions, comments, ideas of how to do this to make it more useful are welcome, either here, on the Zone, or on the topic forum in Ke Nalu.
