Author Topic: new Focus race board  (Read 14723 times)

capobeachboy

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #15 on: November 21, 2014, 09:24:18 PM »
Thanks for sharing the photos Mitch - those rails look nearly parallel at some angles but I'm sure it's fast.

cnski: the nose design comes from Craig Lockwood's Waterman paddleboard design from the early eighties.  Brian Szymanski's NCP paddleboards used a similar design and he adapted it to SUP.  Steve Boehne shaped some of those early boards for Lockwood so it's in the Blackfish DNA, but I agree a lot of designs are carrying the width longer so they can go narrower (didn't some association try to ban that?).
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yugi

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #16 on: July 08, 2015, 11:21:05 AM »
so... anyone ridden one of these yet?

supdiscobay

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #17 on: July 08, 2015, 12:03:51 PM »
The 14' x 23" looks like the board that Mo raced on at the Lake of the Sky Race last weekend.  Same traction pads and the Body glove sticker is a give away.  It was very narrow.  I paddled out to the start line with him and the board really goes through the water nice.
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Chilly

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #18 on: July 08, 2015, 12:19:03 PM »
I’m 155 lb. The board is super stable, very easy to buoy turn, rolls over side chop with ease, very forgiving in downwind, a little slow in upwind but not as bad as a planning board. I have the 12’6” x  27, but I wish I would have gotten the 24.75. My board weight in at 26.5 lb without the fin, much more than advertised, but it wasn’t a deal breaker for me. It comes with a very large and heavy fin that I didn’t even bother to put on. It has a lot of volume so a larger paddler won’t have a problem riding it.
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yugi

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #19 on: July 09, 2015, 02:30:34 AM »
^thanks. I see you have a bullet 12. How does the Bluefin compare on downwinders?

The Bluefin looks like a lot of the newer less rockered DW shapes. I figure the boxy outline makes it more stable than it's width would suggest. I'm 165lbs riding 14 Rogue Rage and Bullets but ready to step down to a narrower more racier board even for DWs.

I'm familiar with Bullets and spending more time on a 14' Javelin x26 2014. From the looks the Bluefin could be somewhat in between - which would be perfect.

Chilly

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #20 on: July 09, 2015, 06:20:04 AM »
Yugi,
I’ve paddled all the boards you mentioned. Going from a Javelin to the Bluefin would be a step down IMO. Downwind the SIC Bullet 12 is faster and feels like it catches bumps easier than the Bluefin, but upwind and flatwater the Bluefin is faster. I demoed a Rage Rogue and was disappoints in how heavy it was, but I heard Rogue is going to fix that. Where the Bluefin excels is in side chop.
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raf

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #21 on: July 09, 2015, 06:31:38 AM »
I got on the 14' x 26" last week with a client for a demo.  They were looking for an open ocean paddler that was fast AND comfortable.  I was really impressed with the board.  The boxy rails are not the sexiest things around, but they get the job done; great stability in a 26" board.  I'm not a monkey, but I could go to 24" without too much trouble at 170lbs.  So you get a very clean stroke on such a stable board.  I was on the carbon model, and it was light enough.  As Chilly noted, very stable in side chop.  It also tracks unbelievably well.  My client noted that she could paddle 3x as many strokes per side before switching than she was used to.  Parallel rails with a hard edged bottom will do that. 

In the end she went with the Bullet V2 which is a little more stable when it gets hairy at 27.25" wide.  The biggest downside to the Bluefin is the deck is higher than we are used to seeing, but I think thats really just something you would get used to pretty quickly.  All in all, I think its a viable option to the V2, especially when you consider that it is about $600 less expensive.

stoneaxe

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #22 on: July 09, 2015, 08:07:48 AM »
I was always amazed at how stable Admins original Foote 14 DW board was at 27".
http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,2141.0.html
It had boxy rails also but not that boxy and not as long, mostly just in the standing area. My Vec was made to almost the same dimensions but it's 28" and doesn't have boxed rails...an inch wider but slightly less stable.

I can only imagine how stable that Focus is going to be carrying the box so long, add in the boof nose and the wider tail and it should be silly stable. I'm going to have to try one.

Do flatter rockers help or hinder stability? I guess it depends on the rest of the design.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2015, 08:13:57 AM by stoneaxe »
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TallDude

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #23 on: July 09, 2015, 09:21:39 AM »
I saw these on CL San Diego.  Not sure of the connection?  http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/spo/5111512694.html
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stvandev

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #24 on: July 09, 2015, 09:36:39 AM »
I'll jump in on this discussion, full disclosure I'm a Focus ambassador.  My current raceboards are a 2015 Bluefin custom 14x24.5 and a 2015 Cali custom 14x25, both US made.  I'm 6'3" and 200 lbs for reference.  The first thing I noticed with the Bluefin is that it is oddly stable for the width.  I've had no issues with stability in any conditions on this board.  The targeted use is open water paddling and downwinding, and I think it does really well for both; in messy conditions it the raceboard of choice.  Downwinding it gets into bumps well and is really easy to surf on a bump; it's probably one of the better surfing boards I've downwinded on.  I haven't had it in the surf yet but think it will handle really well, I know that the guys in CA like these in the surf.  It isn't a bad board in flatwater either but does give up some speed, but it also wasn't built for flatwater.  This board also has done really well paddling in reverberating boat wake chop on busy times on the lakes; it seems to stay above the mess and doesn't get pushed around with cross-chop.  Cross-chop/crosswind conditions are way nicer on this board compared to standard race shapes. 
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Chilly

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #25 on: July 09, 2015, 09:43:34 AM »
I was always amazed at how stable Admins original Foote 14 DW board was at 27".
http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,2141.0.html
It had boxy rails also but not that boxy and not as long, mostly just in the standing area. My Vec was made to almost the same dimensions but it's 28" and doesn't have boxed rails...an inch wider but slightly less stable.

I can only imagine how stable that Focus is going to be carrying the box so long, add in the boof nose and the wider tail and it should be silly stable. I'm going to have to try one.

Do flatter rockers help or hinder stability? I guess it depends on the rest of the design.

That’s a nice board Admins has. Wow, from 2008. It’s funny how sometimes board designs makes a full circle. That’s a good question if rocker affects stability. I don’t know.  Aside from width, my experience has been, a wide tail, plenty of volume, and square rails helps. I haven’t found it noticeable increase a sunken deck has on stability. Maybe because boards I’ve tried with sunken decks are tippy to begin with.
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TallDude

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #26 on: July 09, 2015, 10:58:33 AM »
Rocker adds stability. The rocker resists rotation along the axis and usually helps the board steer the direction you lean.
It's not overhead to me!
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stoneaxe

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #27 on: July 09, 2015, 05:03:08 PM »
Yeah....that's a special board he had. If I had known he was selling it I might have actually bought it and left it on Maui to use when I visit....I don't have that kind of $$'s to throw around but that's how much I liked it. There have been a few boards that just felt magical the 1st time on it...that was one. Strange since I would have to chop off an arm and leg to weigh the same as admin.... :P

That's what I was getting at concerning rocker. Seems like every board I've tried with minimal rocker wants to throw me off. But most of those also have had a somewhat displacement or at least rounded bottom. I simply can't use them, by the time secondary stability kicks in I'm already headed for the water.  I have a hard time getting everything out of the Speedboard because it's such a thoroughbred. Get forward enough to get the tail to release and it becomes unstable for me with my crappy balance. I spend too much time bracing or on the edge to be able to put the pedal down. When I actually can it screams but it has to be glass for that to happen.

I always have to remember to tell people to take what I say with that in mind. Me saying a board is unstable doesn't really mean much to most folks. Bill says he has bad balance. When he got the Penetrator he was able to take it out DW....I couldn't paddle it 100' in flat water.... >:(
« Last Edit: July 09, 2015, 05:11:10 PM by stoneaxe »
Bob

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yugi

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #28 on: July 10, 2015, 05:44:25 AM »
...
Get forward enough to get the tail to release and it becomes unstable for me with my crappy balance.
...
What do you guys mean by "get the tail to release"?

...
 Aside from width, my experience has been, a wide tail, plenty of volume, and square rails helps.
...
"plenty of volume" is popular. Personally I'm not a fan. I like low riders in the water. "Enough volume" to float you, sure, but I find more than enough and i feel a bit corky. Not sure where this high volume thing comes from or what it brings you? Warmer feet in cold water for sure is one plus I appreciate.

I tried a 2016 prototype very low volume DW board, about <200L I'd guess on a DW recently in pretty good planing conditions. Interesting. Fun to be standing water level. Kind of surfy. Plenty fast. Keep the low rocker pointy nose from poking and it was pretty cool. Have a vid of a friend on it BTW if interested.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2015, 05:46:51 AM by yugi »

Chilly

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Re: new Focus race board
« Reply #29 on: July 10, 2015, 07:08:47 AM »
If I’m in messy ocean chop that extra volume allows you to change positions on the board to adjust to the conditions without changing the trim too much. Also the board slows down and becomes unstable if the water is coming over the side or if the tail and nose are going under. Once you’re on plane that volume does nothing. I don't think that low volume prototype you mentioned would not work well were I downwind.
 
When the water coming off the tail looks like a rooster tail or sometimes you can actually hear it is what I think Stoneaxe was experiencing. He had to position himself way forward to prevent that, but the downside is that he had to stand over the rounded part of the rails where it gets really tippy.
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