Downbreezing at dusk with stinging Jellyfish

[Area 10]

Thanks guys, that's very helpful. But maybe you just have to paddle in the conditions I paddle in to appreciate fully what I mean, or I'm not explaining myself very well. It's not about flat water performance at all - I have flatwater boards.  What it is about is this: Although I do DW in conditions that are a decent size (big enough for people to disappear in the troughs), I also DW in small stuff quite often. In these conditions it is possible to get glides on a DW board, but you often need to get a long way forward in order to get on the bump. You have to get the nose down so you can stuff it in the trough, and then get back quickly. I think it's an art all of it's own DWing in marginal conditions - and it is absolutely exhausting because you are paddling like hell every few seconds, at pretty much 100%. But it's great fun in it's own way, and good training. Generally it isn't possible to catch these bumps on a flat water board: the noses of them just suck the water too much and while you can get some "surges" from the bumps, and keep a respectable pace, you can't really get them planing in those conditions - you need much more of a push.

Now, the simple problem is that rudder mechs are placed in the correct position for the average of the conditions that the designer has in mind. This means that they are too far back to be used in marginal conditions, and get in the way of the footwork that is essential in them. So much so that it is easy to cut your feet on the tiller mechs when dancing around.

So the answer would be to do like I did with my Naish 17, and strip away the rudder gubbins and fit a fin box. This allowed me this week to catch bumps that can't have been more than about 1ft high in about 12 knots. So what I'm bellyaching about is the fact that if I buy a F16 I'll end up paying for a load of rudder stuff that won't work in a lot of the conditions I paddle in, and I'll have to spend money savaging a brand new board by fitting a fin box (other issues here like weed etc come into play here also).

So all I want is for SIC etc to start offering the UL boards in no-rudder options like they do for their 14s, basically. Or maybe even better, to come as standard with rudder plus finbox. I'm not the only one around here who thinks like this: in fact nearly everyone round here who has tried a rudder thanks it's more trouble than they are worth. Maybe I should try a 17-4 Starboard Ace GT, but I'm not sure there are any in this country.

And on the washing thing, well I guess I'm lucky that it rains a lot here, so your board soon gets the sea water washed off it. And our sea water is clean and free of the kinds of bacteria etc that you get in tropical locations. If you cut yourself in the sea here you generally don't have to worry about infections, or fancy antibiotic creams etc. Just wash it well with tap water, stick some liquid skin on it and you are good to go. I've got 15 boards, some are 8 years old, and I've never washed any of them. None of them have come to any harm and most look pretty much like the day I got them, minus a bit of wear and tear. I guess there are some advantages to our climate after all!

[Off-Shore]

Area. I understand now. I paddle my F16 in all sorts of conditions, and mostly in marginal downwinding and downbreezing situations, and you are right, moving around the mid section with the tiller mechanism is not as easy as a board without. I do wear booties so this helps not cut or scrape my feet on it, and I have found that now after 3 years of using it probably 4-6 times a month, I literally don't notice the tiller. I must have programmed its position into my subconscious. However what I do notice when downwinding the Bullet 14v1 or even my SB All-Star 12-6 in light conditions I move around a lot more than on the F16. Maybe this is because I am somehow subconciously limiting myself on the F16 because of the tiller mechanism, or when you stand in the middle you don't need to move around so much on the F16 as it is perfectly balanced. I don't know, but as you say, the F16 is designed for downwinding and being up front and steering or walking around behind the tiller.

Put another way, if I had a tiller on my Bullet 14, I am sure I would think it would get in the way. Certainly as someone who'd never had a board with a rudder on it, it took a lot of getting used to how and when to use it. Anticipating how you need to lean into the turn when using it downwinding, took me 100s of falls; so many, in fact, that it spoiled my downwind runs in the beginning, and I thought the whole thing was a waste of time. I persevered and now I know how to use it, I would not want a 16' without one. It is just an awesome feeling changing directions going flat out with a touch of the toe..

The other reason my friend got the F16 with the rudder, is about her being able to control this long board in cross winds, when we have to paddle across the wind to get to the start of the downwind section, which is often if we are not doing a boat launch. This totally relieves the strain to the back and hips.

If money no object, then I am sure SIC will build you a custom F16 board in Maui with whatever fin box combo you want...

[Eagle]

The F16 is a very stable comfortable board but does push water in flat conditions.  Comparing the F16 vs a Bullet 12'6 in a short sprint both were the same speed in flat water.

The steering mechanism does get in the way up forward but when the wind picks up and bumps get bigger it is money.  If you need a board for smaller stuff just use another better suited board like a 14V1 or 14V2.

No board does everything well - but the F-16 is a really good when used in its power zone.  We would definitely have F-16 and 17-4 boards if we lived in Hawaii.

If we do not wash down our gear - we get sea slime and seaweed stuck to it.  If racing - a clean fast coated hull is much quicker to ride.

Just order a custom fixed fin.

http://www.sicmaui.com/f-16-w-a-s-s/