Reading another popular thread here on board length you would be excused, for being totally confused if you're an average paddler like me.
I am no race expert, I paddle a bit (once to twice a week) and whenever I do, I do it for fun and fitness. I almost always paddle in the ocean and if I race the only thing I hope to beat is my mate and maybe my PB.
With this in mind, I would just like to put my experiences out there for the hundreds of crew who I know will read these threads, get confused, not comment and probably come to the conclusion that choosing a longer board is just waaay to confusing.
Here are some observations after many years of paddling around on just about anything that floats and discovering that longer boards are HEAPS FUN!
WIDER can be faster!
Why? Staying on your board and keeping your stroke technique up right till the end is key.
Most paddling and racing for that matter is done in less than average conditions and the ability to stay on your board, relaxed and not weary is the key to speed and enjoyment.
What ever gains there are in shaving inches of the width of a board are completely lost if you end up swimming or get jelly legs.
Jelly legs? This hits most of us about 30 mins into a paddle when its windy and choppy and even a 30" wide board suddenly feels like a tooth pick to stand on.
LONGER is faster, especially if you are in the 100k club.
Unless you are training in the gym, forget strength to weight ratio's. Most of us are not optimal body weight with strength to match.
My experience is that if you want to go faster go longer. Longer boards tend to stay on runners longer with less effort.
Sure, a longer board takes more effort to get going but once its up and running it has more momentum.
There are plenty of fast 12'6's out there but if you go up against a 14' and you dont train, you are likely to get smoked.
By all means go narrow (on paper, narrower is faster) but just make sure you can stay on the dam thing rather than swim. Swimming is def slower.
Dont forget the FUN factor.
Even if you do race, you will be spending most of your time just paddling and around (aka: training) for fitness and fun.
So make sure you choose the board that you can have the most fun on. That way you will train more often and have more fun doing it!
Your weight and ability are key factors in choosing the right board and 'Nine times out of ten' the best board for you will not be what the Race enthusiasts are recommending.
At 92kg I can go either way and I do have the luxury of choice.
When I do choose, it is for these reasons-
12'6 - playfullness and convenience. If I want to catch waves and ride them its 12'6 all the way!
14' - speed and glide. If its down winders and glide I am after (staying on runners). I go the 14'. Nothing beats the glide of a longer board IMO
BTW I have some bad news for those who want to go all the way. Apprantly there are very few crew over 75kg winning elite races!
Well there you go, that wipes out half the SUP population right there, so for most of us it really is about participation, fun and staying fit.
Just my thoughts and open to many more
AA
As Ponobill says on Stand Up Zone - 100 years of hull speed theory can't be wrong... Longer IS faster. 14' IS faster than 12'6". That's not in dispute. It's just whether there is enough difference to overcome the inconvenience of transporting the longer board. For me personally, 14' is as long as I want to go even though 17'+ is faster again. I can manage a 14' board in terms of storage and transport. The 18" of extra length is not too much of a burden, and provides just enough speed increase to make it worthwhile.
All agreed AA...
edit: thought I'd move my post from that other thread (where I'm kind of irrelevant) to here:
This goes more to Jacko's question about big guys and balance than the issue of "what length race board" but I'll chuck my $0.02 in
Power-to-weight is what it's really all about but without a balanced, stable platform it doesn't count for much. Stability matters & a few things contribute to it, especially at the margins...including board width & hull/rail shape, paddler weight and height, even paddle length. The game changes a lot when you're VERY heavy, as I've pointed out on this forum a few times. I'll volunteer as a case study here - I'm 6'2, 50 yrs old, fat, never surfed before SUP, had problems with balance since childhood and was nudging 130kegs when I started SUP about 16 months ago. My propensity for falling in is kind of a running joke among the paddling buddies (I like to think I'm better at self-rescue than just about anyone else, by virtue of practice). Now I'm closer to 120 but still at or past the margin of what race SUPs are meant to carry.
A bit of weight loss has helped some but time on the water, especially in poor conditions, in surf and downwinders (thanks for your infinite patience DJ), supplemental balance exercises (I use a home-made goof-board knockoff a couple of times a week), some core work and over this winter LOTS of bike riding up hills for leg strength (picking up PT's point, I think this has made the most difference) has improved things. I still fall in but somewhat less.
Stability is everything at the margins, without a stable platform you can't get your power down, no matter how strong you are. Despite being old and fat I'm reasonably strong, on a stable board I can get my power down and match it with some lighter, 'faster' paddlers, at least for a time. What is tippy for a tall, very heavy bloke at 120 could be as stable as a table for a 75kg guy or even a 105kg guy. As an aside, a couple of months ago a paddling buddy of about 70kg dragged out his old 14' jav after not paddling it for a while and said "crikey! now I know how Stu feels all the time!".
I've done some crude point-to-point self-testing with the garmin and I'm faster on a stable 12'6 like a 30" Naish Glide than I am on a 14 x 27" Fanatic or 28" starboard, but I reckon over 30" wide performance starts to diminish. I'm fastest in flat water on my 14x30 DC but in rough water I'm faster on my 14 x 29 WoW because of its very stable (concave) hull shape. I've posted my quickest flat water run on a 14x 30 SB tourer. Over distance, like 15-20k, I'm fastest on my 17' Glide, despite it's relative narrowness.
Not sure what that contributes to the topic of this thread, if anything. The debate about 12'6 vs 14 for the elites is sort of irrelevant to me. The big brands that sponsor teams aren't making race boards with me in mind (that's fair enough, I'm not complaining, I'm an outlier) but maybe I can contribute some insight into what happens at the extremes.
Good work AA, for my bit 14ft, for marathons and D/W ers if you want to use a 12'6 fine but the class is 14 and 12'6 for bop and surf, that's it, simple, all the elite paddlers holidaying in Peru can use what they friggin like but when your back in Australia, well you know the rules, if you don't then, you will be told to go straight to bed without dinner....
good one AA. well timed post. as i mentioned a lot of this elite board size and super narrow boards debate doesn't concern 90% of us
Thanks guy's. The sport really does need the Elite crew to do their thing and keep it progressing. But it is easy to get lost in the complexities of it all when really for most of us it is quite simple.
For the sport to thrive we need to never lose sight of the key ingredient.
I would hate to see it all go the way of Windsurfing (another addiction of mine) that is still dying a long slow death, having lost touch with the main market and what they always wanted - FUN!
++AA very well said.
As a confirmed member of the 100+ club and paddle for fun only (with the wind firmly behind me or surf) I believe you have hit the nail squarely on the head
When is that 12 6 board heading across the Nullabor?
Finally something on these forums i feel like replying to!!!! First time in months..
As a person well under the 100kegs ... 75 on a really bad week.. I still strongly believe that If you want to have the most fun downwinding stick with 14ft or more.. I've tryed so many boards over the last 3 or so years of downwinding and unless your the fittest man or women in the world these new style cutter nose 12.6s just don't work in good downwinders.. If you wanna have fun out there downwinding go 14ft and in surfing style boards.. If you want to flat water paddle its a different story but personally I don't see why you would want to....get out there and catch a wave or 2..
Anyways people will hate on me for these comments but it's just how I feel on the matter.. Well said AA..
Good read gents,
Just another few 0.02c worth. Length of boards for DW depends on wave pitch. If you DW in the rivers or shallow waterways (short pitch and steep chop), a 12'6" actually does a bit better than a 14fter, but on the ocean (Long pitch), a 14ft is the only way to go IMHO.
I love my old Fanatic 12'6" x 30.5" for BOP racing and having fun, but I love my Fanatic 14ft x 27.5" FW for distance racing and training.
DM
i'm 105kgs and only have a 14' board. I use it for fitness and just getting out on the water. I like to keep a track of how many ks I do and try and get out 3 times a week.
I don't think I ever considered a 12'6 due to my weight and what most sites say re the max paddler weight.
Re the 14' I have no issue with storage or transporting it , and at the end of the day its only another 1'6" ;-)
The 12'6, it seems, was born out of a desire to allow stock entry level surf-sup a category of their own to separate them from longer race specific shapes. Hence the name stock class.
The longest surf-sup at the time was the Starboard 12'6 Cruiser and so it was set at 12'6 - at least thats the rendition I've been told - keen to hear if this was really the case.
The reason why we are discussing 12'6 and 14' today is because someone obviously realised that if they tweaked the 12'6 shape a little they be quicker than the surf-sup shapes......
So, as you can see, the 12'6 wasn't really meant to be.......
Now, does anyone know how the 14' class came about?
Super well put AA - thank you
As one of the OFB (or supercubs) and not dissimilar to Sir Cartoon its all about fun, and hence my decision for a 14 x 30 not something smaller, I love racing, and dont particularly like coming last , but someone has too, and love the encouragement that comes form the elite Sydney paddlers (havent paddled anywhere else) but the Aloha that comes everywhere is fantastic!
Given I get lots of opportunity to catch the runners in the Baysurf, I think catching waves on the 14 is awesome and am always keen to take it out and love taking it to the beach even on the 0.5' days like today (but didnt) but I'm still learning maybe a 12'6 would be even better.
However I have one request can the race organisers pls pls dont cook the sausages until I'm in sight otherwise MrMyagi will eat them all before I get in
Great thread AA.
Personally, I don't look for comfort or stability as I am looking for speed,speed and more speed as I believe every second counts. This can be the difference between coming stone motherless last or one in front. Speed is everything.
why so much discussion about 12'6" Vs 14'?
Simple answer = Buy what YOU want and what suits your needs. Simple huh!
Thats what I did. I recently purchased a brand new Naish 12'6" Glide and I love it! Yes, a 14' is quicker, do i want to hassle of actually trying to get a 14' board on the roof of my car when Its windy. . . . HELL NO!
People are forgetting the fun factor it seems I would be quite happy to go on a D/W with my 12'6 even if its not as fast as someone on a 14' or bigger.
at the end of the day, I guess the consumer will dictate the classes in the long run, more 14' sales equal more focus on the class.
12'6 are very suited to elight racing and have there place.
In WA the main prize pool for the "doctor" race moved to 14' last year, a lot of the racers over here run 14's for the versatility on our summer Downwinders, so 14's are probably gaining more popularity over here at least ,the SUPWA races cater for everyone, which is great. if racing here changed to 12'6 only it would kill the scene.
heres is an ambassador of the sports 2c
Dave Kalama, take it away
www.davidkalama.com/2010/09/do-we-really-need-a-126/