Author Topic: Fitness/touring board recs  (Read 12359 times)

AVLSUPer

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Fitness/touring board recs
« on: March 01, 2014, 09:44:52 AM »
I'm looking to pickup a flatwater fitness/touring board this spring. I currently have an iSup that I use on rivers but would like something to use on one of the nearby lakes. More fitness than touring around looking at the sites but being able to do that w/o swimming too much would be ok too.

I paddled a Raven a few years ago and liked it - stable and it felt fast. Trying to demo an Ace-Tec Wing sometime soon. Any other recommendations? Stats are, 50yo make, 5'11", 195#.
Jimmy Lewis Searcher 12'6
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robon

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2014, 11:15:35 AM »
Naish Glide, Starboard Touring, and Amundson offer a lot of bang for the buck in their 12'6" touring boards.

blackeye

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2014, 12:02:51 PM »
For fitness the board type, quality or performance doesn't really matter. A slow heavy tippy cheap and ugly one would be best. Fast is fun so that is important to me. Touring requires durability, efficiency and load carrying ability.

I am about your specs and bought a new 2012 Starboard Touring 14 in Carbon last fall. It was deeply discounted and I couldn't resist.

The board is more stable and more volume than you or I need for fitness, but it is very comfortable to fast-cruise on. Its designed to carry a load of overnight gear or a very heavy paddler. Warren Currie - EasyRider - told me that model placed high in a race he hosted, so in the hands of someone fit it is fast. Its bottom is a bit flat for chop, but the idea is to go through small waves rather than over them. To state the obvious, fore/aft weight placement makes a big difference and most of the videos on the net have the rider too far back. Warren has photos of the 2014 Touring with a simple rudder system. That might come in handy on a long fetch with sidewinds, but it has never occurred to me to wish I had a rudder. I have considered adding a ventral fin as the nose has a distinct ridge to shed water but it also catches the wind. I have been warned against cross-checking the foredeck if I fall on it. Either the ridge or the paddle shaft will lose out. Same warning for tying the board down on racks. At first I couldn't shake the notion that all that volume kept my weight too high above the water but now I just get on it and paddle.  

I also like other boards but the Starboard's sale price won me over. For a top end and full price board I would have pursued the Think XOR. It has hollow hi-tech construction and incredible value. Oddly very little about them on the net. Deep Cove Outdoors in North Vancouver carries them. Realistically, a lower price board like the Amundsen would work just fine too.

In hindsight I didn't NEED the SB touring as I have an adequate Kahuna 12-6. I was actually looking for an lightweight and inexpensive touring board for the family. But the deal, the acres of carbon and the name-brand coolness got to me. No regrets, the board works great.

Easy Rider had a SB 14 Carbon Pierce Touring at a hugely discounted price. pm him here or contact through his store - theeasyrider.com - he is very helpful. His sale prices may make the shipping worthwhile.

lee

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2014, 01:22:00 PM »
The starboard touring 12'6" is a standout for value and performance.

Livin the dream @LEE's SUP

mrbig

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2014, 01:27:07 PM »
Exocet marlin, fanatic ray, bote low rider. 30 inches wide fun for cruising!
Let it come to you..
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SUP Sports ®

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2014, 01:55:41 PM »
Our One World Series (11'1" & 11'11") would be an excellent choice...we offer it in 3 widths (30",31", & 32") and volumes (200 L, 215L, & 225L)...we can also build a custom version locally...

The 11'11" One World Surfari or even our 11'1" One World would work great...our 11'1"  has been GPS tested against several canoe nose 12'6" boards and is faster, more stable, and tracks better...see testimonial from a client that lives in Miami below...

http://blog.surfingsports.com/2012/12/one-world-series-sups.html

It was paddled across the 26 mile wide Santa Barbara Channel a couple of months ago...open ocean 25mph wind and chop...and, it can be surfed in as big as most anyone would paddle into...

If you are not gonna race the board, you don't NEED a 12'6" or 14" displacement hull board...in fact, you get a better workout in a shorter period of time on a board like our One World Series...and, for touring you need to look for stability and speed...

You don't have to take our word...our Stoked For Life ® clients can say it better than we ever can...

6/16/12
Subject: One World

Hi you guys :
My One World Wide arrived yesterday afternoon….you guys did a great job of packing it up….thanks…..after about an hour of careful unpacking, it was worth it. It didn’t have a scratch on it……my first reaction was WOW…..what a beautiful board !!!!….then it was …..OK where are we going to go to baptize her…..
This morning conditions were…shall we say sketchy ????? I think sketchy is a good way to describe what I found…..the wind was all over the place, it was bumpy, white caps everywhere, heavy clouds over head, thunder and lightning in the distance ect……but after about an hour the wind eased up to about 4-6 mph and I decided to head up the lake to look for one of my favorite coves. Conditions couldn’t have been better…..glassy, light wind and for the most part nobody but little old me out to enjoy a very balmy East Texas morning…..and to say the least, my new board blew me away.
The fact that an 11 foot board paddles so fast and smooth like the One World does surprised me. At first I was paddling into the wind, and the nose didn’t catch the wind….side chop didn’t seem to affect progress much at all either. I know after 4-5 years of paddling I’m getting better but the One World handled everything that was thrown at it this morning and it and I came out on top. I paddled for about 3 to 3 and a half hours….starting out at about 7:30 and got out at about 11:00.
But……call it Mojo, Magic, great engineering or hydrodynamics….but you guys have something more than special with the One World…and I suspect the other boards are just as special too…..but thanks guys……you more than rocked my world with the One World Wide……

Robert Townsend, East Texas


3/16/13
Subject: One World 11’1″

Hi Paige and Warren,
My One World got to Miami in perfect shape. Great packing job.
It took a week for the wind to finally come down (actually its been months ) so this morning it was time to launch the board for the first time.
By the way did I say how beautiful the double sided Australian Pine is , well it is!
The board is a pleasure to carry , I weighed it when I got it and its 27 lbs , 4 pounds lighter than my old 12′ Naish Glide . The One World paddles as fast as my Starboard 12’6″ x 31″ and the Glide. I am not a fast paddler . This morning I averaged 3.5 mph on my 3.38 mile paddle per my Garmin GPS.
The board does have incredible glide for an 11’1″ board . Better than all of my other boards .
It is also very stable which makes it easy to take pictures from . I only used the WD 9.25 Free Weed instead of the thruster setup and the board paddles quite straight .
I am very happy with then board and thanks for all the extras . Thanks to the Stand Up Paddle Sports crew , this is my fourth board that I have bought from you and it has always been a pleasure .

Rod Perry (Miami, FL)

We are building a custom 11'11" carbon Surfari for a client in Colorado who just visited California and paddled almost every demo available in the touring/fitness class...until settling on our One World...BTW, his wife ended up with our 10'3" Mahalo...

More info on construction and options in this link:

http://blog.surfingsports.com/2011/09/supsports-new-sup-models.html
« Last Edit: March 01, 2014, 01:59:28 PM by SUPsports »
Mahalos...{:~)

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Easy Rider

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2014, 02:58:01 PM »
I too would suggest the Starboard Touring board. (I guess I kind of have to . . . my name is on the bottom of them). 

As other have said - it is a great board. 
The 12'6" comes in 3 widths (29" / 30" and 32") 
The 14' will also becoming in 29" and 30" for 2014. 

I do have a very few of last years models on sale. 

Hope this helps.

Thanks
Warren
Easy Rider is the name of my store in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
My name is Warren Currie . . . and we SUP Surf indoors . . . in a shopping mall!

robon

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2014, 08:26:57 PM »
"The 11'11" One World Surfari or even our 11'1" One World would work great...our 11'1"  has been GPS tested against several canoe nose 12'6" boards and is faster, more stable, and tracks better...see testimonial from a client that lives in Miami below..."

Wow! Looks like you are onto something with these One World boards. An 11'1" long planing style surfboard is faster than "several" 12'6" displacement style SUPS? An 11'1" that even tracks better than 12'6" displacement boards? You are going to turn the industry on it's head.

SUP Sports ®

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2014, 11:38:32 PM »
"The 11'11" One World Surfari or even our 11'1" One World would work great...our 11'1"  has been GPS tested against several canoe nose 12'6" boards and is faster, more stable, and tracks better...see testimonial from a client that lives in Miami below..."

Wow! Looks like you are onto something with these One World boards. An 11'1" long planing style surfboard is faster than "several" 12'6" displacement style SUPS? An 11'1" that even tracks better than 12'6" displacement boards? You are going to turn the industry on it's head.

The thing is with a "fitness/touring" board, paddlers need to have confidence that they are not going to constantly be getting bucked off if there is chop, swells, and wind when their recreational time beckons...nobody is very fast when they are swimming...;-)

I remember a race where my wife was the only female to finish because she was on a surfboard style SUP with a pulled nose...and, a very good fin...;-)

I also remember when we put a novice standup paddler on the surfboard style 12'2" Raaphorst designed Starboard at the 1st BOP...2nd time he had ever standup paddled...strong kid...and, he came in 25th overall out of over 200 paddlers...including unlimited and 14'ers...

We also had a team racer that came in 5th at that race who did all of his training on a 12' surfboard style SUP...

It ain't always the arrow...in fact, most times it's the indian...;-)

The big picture is that standup paddling is not a very fast sport to begin with...especially, for the vast majority of recreational paddlers...there are much faster watersports...in fact, a novice windsurfer who is not even planing at 8-10mph will blow the doors off of the fastest standup paddler in the world...perspective...;-)

"You are going to turn the industry on it's head."

Been doing that before there was an industry...;-)
I think that there are a lot of people in the industry who are forgetting that paddleboards are toys and that they are supposed to be fun...;-)

Our Canadian distributor rides our 11'11" Surfari because he loves the glide, speed, tracking, and stability...he gets a kick out of seeing people's reaction after they demo it...of course, we also have demos/rentals of these boards at our shop in Santa Barbara, if you ever visit, so you can verify it yourself...
Mahalos...{:~)

WARDOG ®
Owner/CEO  StandUp Paddle Sports®  &   SurfingSports®.com, Inc.

(805)962-SUPS (7877) store
(888)805-9978 toll free

Retail Store:
Standup Paddle Sports, LLC
121 Santa Barbara St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

lucabrasi

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2014, 04:11:14 AM »
Our One World Series (11'1" & 11'11") would be an excellent choice...we offer it in 3 widths (30",31", & 32") and volumes (200 L, 215L, & 225L)...we can also build a custom version locally...

The 11'11" One World Surfari or even our 11'1" One World would work great...our 11'1"  has been GPS tested against several canoe nose 12'6" boards and is faster, more stable, and tracks better
Watching this thread you caught my attention. I have been trying to figure out something of her own for my youngest daughter who just doesn't seem to have any interest in something with a displacement shape even tho we are landlocked. Gee, that's what I need, get her a 30" 11'1", try it on for size myself and end up with a 11'11" 31" or 32" for me. Something like that wouldn't happen, I just know it. 

hbsteve

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #10 on: March 02, 2014, 04:57:40 AM »
Five months ago, I changed from a surfboard style board to a displacement style.  Yes, it is faster when flat.  Going into chop or boat wakes is smoother.  But, cross stuff is more difficult.
If, your water conditions are going to be mixed, get the board that allows you to get on the water most often.

AVLSUPer

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #11 on: March 02, 2014, 05:12:33 AM »
I am looking for more of a displacement hull. That said, which of the above fit that bill? I'm tempted to paddle an Ace Tec Wing. Some chop where I paddle, some wakes now and then but nothing too bad.
Jimmy Lewis Searcher 12'6
C4 BKPro 10'11
NRS paddle (for the river)
QB Kanaha Elite Race (oval)

mrbig

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #12 on: March 02, 2014, 05:21:39 AM »
Marlin, ray, and lo-rider all displacement types.Your search similar to my own!
Let it come to you..
SMIK 9'2" Hipster Mini Mal
SMIK 8'8" Short Mac Freo Rainbow Bridge
SMIK 8'4" Hipster Twin
King's 8'2" Accelerator SharkBoy

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #13 on: March 02, 2014, 06:34:15 AM »
Our One World Series (11'1" & 11'11") would be an excellent choice...we offer it in 3 widths (30",31", & 32") and volumes (200 L, 215L, & 225L)...we can also build a custom version locally...

The 11'11" One World Surfari or even our 11'1" One World would work great...our 11'1"  has been GPS tested against several canoe nose 12'6" boards and is faster, more stable, and tracks better
Watching this thread you caught my attention. I have been trying to figure out something of her own for my youngest daughter who just doesn't seem to have any interest in something with a displacement shape even tho we are landlocked. Gee, that's what I need, get her a 30" 11'1", try it on for size myself and end up with a 11'11" 31" or 32" for me. Something like that wouldn't happen, I just know it.  

Your daughter is not alone...we have shipped boat loads of One Worlds to our landlocked clients...;-)
A couple of pics from a race board convert in Canada (11'11")...and, a couple of paddlers from Colorado (11'1" x 30") and Idaho 11'1" (11'1" x 30" & 10'3" x 29.5")...

Here is an interesting note that I received from our East Coast distributors further illustrating my point:

10/7/2013
Subject: Speed test

Hi WD,

How are you? Sorry we missed heading back to SB after BoP. It was a crazy weekend and heading back up 3 hours then back to LAX just wasn't in the cards :(

Thought you might find this interesting ~ we had a guy doing a demo this weekend and he was looking for a race board. He was doing a Garmin speed test on each of the boards he tried. After trying several 12'6" race boards, Rick suggested he try the 11'11" One World Surfari for grins and giggles, then he tried 14' race boards. He sent me an email after comparing all the data he collected and found that even though a 14' was .2 mph faster, his heart rate was actually lower while on the 11'11". So he found it to be more efficient. If we were comparing apples to apples a 14' One World would have been the fastest!

Hope all else if good with you. Regards to Deb.

Aloha ~ Deb & Rick

Deb Wertheim
Red Dog Distributors"

A fast rocker line and very efficient bottom hydrodynamics...along with a well designed fin helps to make this possible...
When developing the One World Series, we did a lot of GPS testing and bench marking...so, we were not surprised at all when the 11'11" turned out to be faster than the Bark 14' Expedition...plus, it surfed a heck of a lot better...;-)

I have designed and optimized the Hammer's rocker line and bottom concaves for top efficiency as well...we have a 10'3" and 10'6" out...the 11'er is next...hmmm...a 14' Hammer could be a giant slayer......;-)
« Last Edit: March 02, 2014, 06:50:20 AM by SUPsports »
Mahalos...{:~)

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(805)962-SUPS (7877) store
(888)805-9978 toll free

Retail Store:
Standup Paddle Sports, LLC
121 Santa Barbara St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Just Cruising

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Re: Fitness/touring board recs
« Reply #14 on: March 02, 2014, 02:32:44 PM »
I am looking for more of a displacement hull. That said, which of the above fit that bill? I'm tempted to paddle an Ace Tec Wing. Some chop where I paddle, some wakes now and then but nothing too bad.

I also do 1-2 hour fitness touring sessions and have both a displacement and planing nose board.  If I had to chose just one I would go definitely go with my planing board (Jimmy Lewis M14).  Piercing noses are real nice and super fast on glassy calm days but quickly become a chore if a cross wind picks up halfway through your session. 

If I was you I would go for a planing style board as they more versatile and good fun no matter what the weather is doing.  I am no expert but they feel like they work with water rather than against it. 

I picked a 14' downwind board for the extra waterline giving better speed and glide.  You can also do the poor mans downwinder of fighting upwind for half an hour for ten minutes of pure joy ;)

I am not against a displacement hull though.  I am not about to sell my one either as they are fast, efficient and watching them slice through the water has a hypnotic quality.  If you are dead set on a displacement hull just make sure you demo it in glassy water and chop then you will know exactly what your getting.

Note: I have only had my DW board for a couple of months so I am still in the honeymoon phase.

 


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