which board? (>30kts ocean dw)

[komsup]

no - not the usual question... I'm not looking to buy or acquire another one!
this question pertains to dw'ing on the sea (exposed coast)
I have the coreban dart, naish glide 14 v2, and most recently the sic 17'4 bullet...
traditionally I used the dart when winds 30+kts or big messy/confused seas.
the glide was my preferred weapon when the winds were <25kts, or clean & small sea.
However, with the recent addition of the bullet to my "fleet" I find myself paddling it almost exclusively - which brings us here...
windguru is calling it 20-25kts, building to 25+kts later. it is currently blowing 30-35kts on the beach at the end of our local run (Millers-FH). I expect it to build by 25% (at least) during the day. The (onshore) seas are confused/broken/wild.

I've had the bullet out in 25kts & it felt effortless, and fast! my times prove it.
Do I take the bullet & face certain obliteration as it smashes nose & tail on the concrete, & then spend the next hour clinging to a bucking horse too big (long) for the sea, and me?
and risk setting a new sup course record? (we all dream)

the dart is a safe, fast, fun bet... and puts me, where I belong, right in the middel of the pack.

happpy learn from anyone else mistakes/experiences
I don't NEED to make them all!

[Off-Shore]

There are a bunch of us who paddle the Lamma Channel here together and between us we have the SIC Bullet 17.4, SIC F16, Naish Glide V1, SB All-Star 14' and SB All-Star 12-6 which we swap around to use; often mid run. My experience is the Bullet 17.4 comes into its own in the higher winds. It just charges through and keeps on going. The only thing that would be an issue is the beach landing. I paddled with Jeremy Riggs in Maui on one and there was no wind so we took it out in the waves. He taught me if I fell off in the white water / impact zone to get back on and straddle the beast at the tail and point the nose at the beach. Did not look pretty but worked well.

[Off-Shore]

Hey ComSup. One of my Surfski paddle buddies forwarded me this story from the Millers run which involved a rescue on Oct 24th and a person from Hong Kong. Wonder if this was in the 30kt+ winds you were talking about? Glad to hear they were rescued and no-one hurt. Their phone was in a waterproof bag but had filled up with water.

http://www.nsri.org.za/2014/10/paddler-hospitalised/

[komsup]

Hi - yes we heard of that incident... but 24th makes it friday when the winds were less extreme & the seas much smaller (actually much better=faster dw conditions on friday!).
saturday was hairy with stronger winds (friday= 20-25kts, sat=30+) & large confused cross-seas!

for what it's worth, my fedback on saturday's (2, back to back) miller's runs:
I took the dart on both runs altho the bullet was loaded... reason, although I could load & offload dart solo (with that LOVELY bucket handle giving a nice, secure grip) the bullet was way too much to handle on & off cars & around parking lots/boat launches solo.
the dart was the right call for the day - those who elected to paddle faster/narrower boards (eg javelin@26" wide) spent more time swimming & came in later, soaking wet on jelly-legs!
disclaimer: i paddle the "pure"= heavy/cheap/strong version with an 11" dolphin fin in for these conditions.
it gives the board great hold in the wave or bump & improves stability for me... meaning I go faster!
the std, stock fin is best replaced asap if you intend to take the dart out in ocean dw condtions.

Now I wait for a suitable day to test the bullet in similar conditions... for what it's worth i believe the bullet will be faster - just not sure if i will be able to ride that horse!