Best Downwinding Board

[bing]

A friend of mine went DW yesterday and I tried out his new Naish 14 ft Glide Wood.  For DW, I am using a C4 Vortice, but after trying out the Naish 14 ft Glide, I was sold on it.  It picked up the bumps very easily and glided like crazy.  Before I run out to buy one, I would like to hear from folks what they think is the best DW board available.  I am looking for a strict DW since my Bark Dominator fits the bill for flat/choppy conditions.

[DavidJohn]

IMHO the best DW board out there is the 14' Glide..  .. Look no further.. 

DJ

[Dwight (DW)]

Because you already have the Bark, I'd agree with DJ on the Glide.

I was just looking over the new Fanatic 14 footer yesterday in a local shop. It had a rolled bottom. I've seen a lot of rolled bottoms on new shapes this season. C4's latest board has one too. These new bread of shapes might win the races, but without a dead flat planing bottom like the Glide, you're just not going to get the thrill of a high speed plane. That rat-tat-tat sound from the hull when it gets up and flys. And that is the thrill that downwinding is all about for me.

[hdearing]

Perfect description DJ. Nothing like the feeling of the board when it releases and starts to plane. I am going to throw the Starboard SurfRace out as recommendation as well. I have the 2010 Elite Race and love it for downwinding. I live in Sarasota, so the swells in the gulf tend to have a shorter frequency than places like California and Hawaii and the SurfRace excels in these conditions.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bing]

That is what I am found with the Naish too when I tried it out.  It planes so quickly and find it to be a pretty stable board. The Glide seems to work very well with the frequency of the waves in Puget Sound.  It also isn't bad in non-downwinding conditions. 

[rcfa]

Bing, DJ, and DW .... since you are on this subject... and you all touched on boards that I am considering buying for this season... Let me ask a small question:

I can only buy one board right now ($$ and space limitations !    ).
My current local conditions are: open ocean water, a bit choppy, upwind, side wind, and on a few occasions a downwind condition (maybe 12 to 18 knots).

So most of the time, I will be paddling on NON-Downwind ... But if/when it happens, I would really want to try it !!   
And having a board that can handle "well" downwind conditions would help for sure.

I know I cannot get a board that can do it ALL great !
 
But coincidently you all touch on the 3 boards I have been considering: The 14 Fanatic Early Release; the Bark Dominator, and the Naish Glide 14.

Any advice/comments/considerations if you could only get ONE of the three  ?

Thx

Ren

[DavidJohn]

You should add the 14' Starboard SurfRace or new the 14' OpenOcean to your list.

DJ

[rcfa]

Thanks DJ ... I will go to check it out.

On the Starboard website I was able to see the 14 OpenOcean ... but not the 14 SurfRace  .
Is that an older (last year's) model ?

I also saw on another thread that you have  (or use to have ?) a Naish 14 Glide ... What model/year was that one ?

The Naish Glides are great boards .. but I have heard comments that they are not so good when you need to go Upwind or chops !
Any comments on that ?

Thanks

Ren

[JonathanC]

hi rcfa,

The 2011 Race 14 is the replacement for the 2010 Surf Race 14, both years came in two models, the Open Ocean and the Coast Runner, all four boards are 28" wide.

I've had the Surf Race 14 and now have the Race 14 - both Open Ocean - which is the downwind focussed model.

I've spoken about the new Open Ocean here:

http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=11065.0

Here is a video I made on a gentle downwinder soon after I got the board



The new 2011 model is way better than the old! 2010 model IMO, it is stable, fast, super easy to catch swells on and surfs better than it has any right to. Please add this one into the mix, this board is really super refined and just a pleasure. The low nose me doesn't get pushed around by side wind or swell and the rounded rails for the front half of the board stop it being caught by side swell slap or tripping on a wave. DJ and I basically paddle every down-wind board we can get our grubby mitts onto....this 2011 Race 14 is an amazing board and a step forward IMO.

I'm sponsored by Starboard so may be biased but I certainly try to be totally objective.  

The 14 Glide is a couple of years older design and still a great board, terrific resale and you can usually get them for a good price - you can't go wrong with it. I've done runs in everything from super light downwind to 30+ knot Maliko downwinders and I always enjoy it.

Fanatic is a very modern shape and fast and light - but the pre-production boards are super super fragile, I would wait for the production boards if you are set on the Fanatic.

Never even seen a Bark Dominator in the flesh...

[DavidJohn]

Thanks Jonathan.. 

Here's my vid from the same day.. First I'm on Dave's 12'6" Coreban.. and then my 14' Glide.. and finishing off with Jonathan's 14' Open Ocean Starboard.. There wasn't much wind this day (only about 15 knots) and we swapped boards every now and then so we could compare them.

Notice we never, ever, look back.. What's happening with the waves is happening in front of us (see when I point forward when I see a good wave ahead) and it's not about waves coming up from behind like in the surf.. It's hard to get your head around that.

DJ

[bing]

DJ

Great video - of the three boards which would you pick
Glide
Coreban
Open Ocean

The open ocean seemed to glide the best - how is the stability

Jonathan - glide or race 14 ? Stability and glide distance ?

[bing]

RCFA - If I had to make a choice for one board and most paddling was flat or chop I would go with
the Dominator. I love the speed of the board and stability is still good.
It also handles chop well. For downwinding it is ok but other boards
are better.  IMHO - it is the best flat and chop board available.
The only downfall is that it is not as durable as I would like.

[rcfa]

Thanks DJ, Jonathan, Bing, DW ...
YOu gave me great information and opinions ... and Videos !! 

I have lots of new things to think about it ... AGAIN ! 

I will try to see if I can get a Demo on the Starboard ...

Currently I was leaning towards the Dominator. I have not Demo it yet ... but I have also heard good recommendations from others. 

I did Demo the Fanatic ... and I really liked it !

Both the Dominator and Fanatic 14 seem to have comments about being a bit "fragile" ... so got to watch out on the handling !

Not  being an expert and not having many "hours logged" paddling many different boards on long open water distance and downwind conditions, I am reaching out to the StandUpZone community for some information. 
I appreciate it !

I know I will not find a board that will be like the "Jack of all Trades" ...
But If I can get something that can work well here in the SoCal, around the Palos Verdes Peninsula conditions ... that will be great !

Thank you all ... I will keep on hearing on your shared experiences on the Forum ! 

Ren

[rcfa]

Hi DJ... just one more follow up question...

On the post you had the Video, you did say you paddle 3 boards: The Coreban, your Naish (what model/year is that ?), and the Starboard last.

But you did not post your conclusion comments or thoughts about the boards and how well they handled on that condition afterwards.   

If you find it is too much detail for this post, you can PM later if you prefer.
I would be really interested in hearing about it.

Thanks,

Ren

[JonathanC]

DJ

Great video - of the three boards which would you pick
Glide
Coreban
Open Ocean

The open ocean seemed to glide the best - how is the stability

Jonathan - glide or race 14 ? Stability and glide distance ?

Hi Bing,

The Open Ocean is 28" wide, so wider than the Glide 14 but the big factor is the sunken deck, you are standing millimeters above the water level. IMO there is simply no comparison stability wise - it is a very stable board. At my weight of 145 it is ridiculous, haven't fallen off the thing yet!

The Coreban 12'6 is a fantastic board, super fun for down winders but with a very 'surfing' focus, I found it slower and less stable than the Starboard but so much fun.
But don't confuse speed with fun in very strong downwind conditions, I would love to have a Coreban 12'6 board in the quiver, the carbon version is light and just so surfy. Great all round board for surfing as well as downwinding, like the original 12'6 Starboard Cruiser, still miss mine and over summer borrowed a friends and just had a blast surfing it in waist high waves and it was my first downwind board too.

Had a discussion with Mark Raaphorst recently about fast v fun regarding downwind boards. I had an F16 V2 on Maui that I've just sold, the dilemma for replacing it was whether to go for a Bullit (the latest 'must have' board on Maui) or go for the new F16 V3 which is an inch narrower than the V2 and with a bottom shape that is inherently not as stable as the V3 but a little quicker to get onto the bumps. It's also lighter and stiffer being full carbon with thicker foam in the sandwich construction. And, for me, an absolutely key factor in down winding, great fun to surf.

The Bullit is fast, no doubt faster than the F16 but more technical to ride and not as much fun to surf, so for me, that was not the way to go. I've only paddled the Bullit for half a Maliko run and the thing links runners like there is no tomorrow but I'd rather be hootin and hollerin doing big drawn out bottom turns than beating my buddies to the harbour. At the end of the Maui Molokai race one of the top guys had bleeding shins, asked him why, "the Bullit" was his answer, he explained it as being very fast if you are prepared to put the effort and concentration in - but not forgiving. He said that on a section near the end that was really messy with short side swell he kept falling off, now he would have been tired and pushing as hard as he could after already paddling for three hours, but that gives a little insight into what these really high performance 'as fast as they can possibly be' downwind boards are like.

Long drawn out way of saying that it's easy to get caught up in getting the 'fastest' downwind board when really you may be better off on something that is stable and fun. In the last example, I guess I've gone for surfing fun but for slightly less stability with the F16 V3 knowing I can get away with stability issue because I'm so light.