New toy is on its way

Outside of a very few places in the world that have a very vibrant racing scene, race boards are going to be a very infrequent sale at the prices they currently are. And Starboard has the distribution network in most places pretty much sewn up. IMO their domination is not doing us a favour. JL is a case in point. They are a far better made product at a cheaper price IMO. But JL advertising/sponsorship on the race scene is hardly visible, and in most places you can't get to demo a JL.

I can imagine a time where the brands don't bother making raceboards at all. The innovation focus is now on foiling, and the numbers of people entering racing is levelling off (maybe in some places actually going backwards). As race boards get narrower and narrower, fewer and fewer people will be able to compete on them, until it really is a very niche activity. So, I think the brands have pretty much given up on raceboards. Hence why eg. Naish have only changed the colour of the Maliko for 2029 (and it looks like they only spent 5 mins thinking about that, anyway!). They are probably almost loss-leaders now, just an advertising gimmick.

Interestingly then, the buyers of boards like the Sidewinder will increasingly become more concerned with issues of quality of construction and value for money, because they will be bought by people (eg. "ex-racers") who intend to keep them for a while, rather than being part of the "I just have the latest race model" crowd. So, if JL can somehow solve the distribution and demo issue, maybe the future is brighter for JL than it is for some other brands. I certainly hope Jimmy keeps (mildly) tweaking the Sidewinder design for a couple more years because it's headed in a good direction IMO, and Naish did a pretty good job of tinkering with the Maliko for a couple of years to produce a very polished design.

Yeah.

I recently bought a board from the French company, Gong. They sell direct rather than through distributors/retailers. Consequently the price of some of them is literally HALF what you'd pay for a big brand equivalent. The construction seems good too. It's full wood sandwich with a carbon patch in the standing area, and Kevlar reinforcement round the rails. It's got a fancy SIC-esque handle too. A local shaper told me that he if he was making one, the materials alone would cost more than I paid for this brand new board.

So, there's a big part of the problem too. Typically, SUP boards pass through so many different hands, each taking their 30%, that by the time it gets to the customer, they cost a fortune.

This Gong board (a 12-6 surf/tour hybrid that's basically just a big surfboard, and so surfs really well...) cost me the equivalent of 1108 Australian dollars. At that sort of price I'd certainly considering updating a board each year. But a carbon Starboard All Star currently costs in the UK the equivalent of 5649 Australian dollars! How can it possibly cost five and a half times as much as the Gong? Even real SUP enthusiasts with large disposable incomes are reluctant to buy big brand raceboards new now.

No wonder everyone in the UK seems to be making do with inflatables. They are everywhere. The depreciation is probably about a tenth (or less) of a carbon raceboard. By contrast my Gong 12-6 cost less than eg. a Red Paddle inflatable will cost here. So it can be done.

Good test paddle day today with a stiff SW on shore about 15kn paddling between Elwood and Brighton Marina with a lot of crosschop and runners hitting me side on. The sea walls provided some back wash as well to make it very unstable on the water and I eventually had to paddle on my knees to stop falling in and it was about 8 degrees so it was not pleasant swimming weather. The loss of 2.95 inches from my Glide to the Sidewinder is very noticeable in these conditions however it was easier to re balance on the Sidewinder than it use to be on the Glide for some reason which was a surprise. Tracking in these conditions was no different to the previous board and I did not have much trouble keeping it straight and actually was easier to bring back to the position I wanted. Speed was very similar between boards, it really was a crap day to paddle BUT the amount of effort required to get the distance was considerably less than before, I was not even hot when I got half way and the strain of my arms etc was non existent. This is a huge win in my opinion and means I will be able to paddle farther than ever before and not wear out the body parts that are already creaking when I over do an activity.
At the end I paddled straight into the wind to see how the Sidewinder cuts through the chop and it did it with ease and once I turned and ran with the wind it was so easy to catch bumps into shore. The rocker on the Sidewinder is very different to the Glide as you would expect and there was no dig in on the nose or Pearling which will make a DWer much easier to do with less foot work needed, maybe, I will need to test that out asap.

Lots more paddling today to do some touring and the Sidewinder is great for that and it will stop on a 2 cent piece when a rock suddenly appears and can easily be re directed. Very calm conditions on on the Bay and I am finding the sweet spot for faster paddling which seems to be right at the carry handle.
next stop was Westernport Bay and I found a bit of wind to head into with a small swell hitting me at a 45 degree angle, it was very hard to keep steady BUT I did not get wet at least. I have a while to go before I get my sea legs on this board and I have a DW run planned for next week end so I am guessing I will spend a bit of time in the water. I have to keep reminding myself that this board is totally different to my last board and not be to hard on myself.
toward the end of my run I found some 1- 2 ft monsters and tried to catch them well before they broke as the reef was rather close to the surface. Catching the wave was really easy but I cou.d not stay with them due to the rocks but it was a lot easier to turn than my last board and felt really stable, looking forward to a higher tide next time.

That's awesome Dave & glad you are getting a feel for your Sidewinder....jealous of the weather & conditions down there as it's cold & crap up here :(