Author Topic: 2017 JP Flatwater 14x23  (Read 4195 times)

FloridaWindSUP

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2017 JP Flatwater 14x23
« on: July 23, 2016, 02:37:11 PM »
After a local race today I got to try another competitor's new board. It's a 14x23 JP Flatwater. I didn't realize until I looked it up just now that it must be the 2017 model, because the dimensions and the colors are different than the current year's boards, but match the board that Vinnicius Martins was riding at Lost Mills this year.

It's striking how needle-nosed the board is, even compared to other pointy-nosed raceboards. It's the polar opposite of my current spoon-nosed 14x22 Riviera. You can see both boards side by side in this picture in my blog post about the race. http://jimbodouglass.blogspot.com/2016/07/sup-race-report-mark-athanacios-no-name.html

When I rode the board it felt quite fast, and quite tippy. As in, at least as tippy as any board I've ever tried. There's a lot of volume, and minimal recess in the deck, so you're high up off the water. The board's owner and I were speculating that deep footwells might make it more stable. It was hard to tell without doing a quantitative test if the board was as fast as it was tippy, but it definitely had an extremely clean, no-wake entry, like a knife through the water. And it would maintain an exceptionally fast glide for a long time after you stopped paddling.

Anyway, the board seemed to work well for it's owner, who got 2nd place in the race, not far behind a really good younger rider.
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Luc Benac

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Re: 2017 JP Flatwater 14x23
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2016, 05:28:51 PM »
I dig your Riviera. I have come to really like using spoon nosed board - not that I ever could or would even try riding a 22" "-)
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Argosi

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Re: 2017 JP Flatwater 14x23
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2016, 09:08:35 AM »
Jim, do you take your 14x22 Riviera in choppy water as well? If so, in what kind of wind speeds?

Impressive that you race a board that narrow. Mind if I ask your weight?

Personally, I prefer spoon shaped noses as they're more versatile - better upwind, downwind and cross chop. The slicing pointy noses are better in flat water though. Depends on what kind of conditions you race in.


Argosi

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Re: 2017 JP Flatwater 14x23
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2016, 09:14:20 AM »
By the way, I've learned that before coming to any conclusions on nose design and flat water board speed, don't rely solely on how nicely the nose cuts the water. I've had boards where the nose slices through the water like a knife through butter and others where the nose seems like a sprinkler out front, yet both boards were the same speed in flat water. Before the benefit of several GPS timed runs, I was sure the sharp nosed board was faster. The spoon nosed board had a better tail release and that probably made the difference.

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Re: 2017 JP Flatwater 14x23
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2016, 09:49:18 AM »
By the way, I've learned that before coming to any conclusions on nose design and flat water board speed, don't rely solely on how nicely the nose cuts the water. I've had boards where the nose slices through the water like a knife through butter and others where the nose seems like a sprinkler out front, yet both boards were the same speed in flat water. Before the benefit of several GPS timed runs, I was sure the sharp nosed board was faster. The spoon nosed board had a better tail release and that probably made the difference.

Yep, in fluid dynamics, its sometimes better to have a messy front and a tidy rear to clean things up than having a clean front but a messy rear end. However, since you are facing the front, you might not always see this.

FloridaWindSUP

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Re: 2017 JP Flatwater 14x23
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2016, 01:20:52 PM »
Jim, do you take your 14x22 Riviera in choppy water as well? If so, in what kind of wind speeds?

Impressive that you race a board that narrow. Mind if I ask your weight?

Personally, I prefer spoon shaped noses as they're more versatile - better upwind, downwind and cross chop. The slicing pointy noses are better in flat water though. Depends on what kind of conditions you race in.

Argosi- I'm 75 kg x 178 cm. I do most of my racing and training in flat water, but I have had the 14x22 out on the ocean a few times in choppy 10-15 kts. It's raceable in those conditions, but not optimal. I have to concentrate more on balance so my stroke technique and power suffer, and when I'm really fatigued towards the end of a race I'll start falling. I hope to be able to overcome that with more practice. Although the board is tippy side to side, it's directionally stable, at least. I.e., the nose is resistant to being knocked off course or catching and veering off course.

Unlike some other spoon noses, which have more rocker than a piercing nose to help them bob automatically over the chop, my spoon nose is very low to the water. It requires technique adjustments to get over & through chops without losing a lot of speed. For me, so far, it's not very good upwind- certainly nothing like the Fanatic Falcons I've owned. Ryan Helm says it can work well in rough water but you have to stand significantly further back on it in those conditions. I'm hoping I can get it sorted out after some more time on in rough water. Everything is flat city here in SW Florida in the summer, though.
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mrbig

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Re: 2017 JP Flatwater 14x23
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2016, 01:47:38 PM »
FWS,
Am curious on the bottom contours. I own an earlier vintage JP and it is tippy. There is a subtle spine on the bottom which, so I have been told, helps it to be very fast in absolutely flat conditions and challenging in chop!

Does your 2017 have a flat bottom?

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FloridaWindSUP

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Re: 2017 JP Flatwater 14x23
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2016, 06:39:39 AM »
Does your 2017 have a flat bottom?

The 2017 JP is not my board and I only rode it once, so I can't 100% confirm this, but it did seem to have some vee in the forward section. Not sure how far back the vee went, but at the tail it was the opposite- slight concave hull.
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mrbig

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Re: 2017 JP Flatwater 14x23
« Reply #8 on: August 04, 2016, 08:44:51 AM »
Thanks so much..Confirmed a rumor!
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