Dequivering

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

In the last few months I've come to a different place with my SUP hobby. Go go down to a minimum quiver, with owning the fewest boards that will do what i want. At this point it means two boards, my NSP 14' Race and an all-around. I think I was fooling myself that I was going to be a surfer, and the truth is I just don't live close enough to the waves for that to happen. For my skill level, and all-around is enough.

I'm going to get one of those 11' Pau Hana Ricochet boards — the really tough model — and that will be my second ride. My old NSP 11' will go to my son or my nephew. And I think that's all I need.

I think I'd rather just work on my skills and my SUP writing than just getting boards. I mean, there's nothing more fun than unpacking a new board, but… I don't know. Skills matter more than quiver. Not that I'll ever be one of those awesome paddlers, but I'm content to just keep doing my best. Funny thing is, I'm loving this older NSP. It's definitely making me a better paddler, and that's a great place to be.

[Night Wing]

I want to keep my stable of sup boards at two since I do mostly flat water paddling with the occasional trip to surf the small waves we have down on the upper Texas coast which is about 90 miles to Galveston and about 100 miles to Surfside for me from my home in southeast Texas.

I'm still contemplating on selling my Hobie and if I do, I'll replace it with a second surf type sup (which I can flat water paddle on) in the 9' length.

[Wetstuff]

NW,  ..before you double up on surf, given that you mainly flatwater, I'd suggest to borrow, rent or somehow put a couple of hours on a 12-6 to 14' racer-style board.  There is a very pleseant glide sensation where it seems you are get a clear multiplier of your paddle stroke.  I have paddled every board I have in flatwater, all seemed sluggish compared the the J-M.  To me, the difference is similar to that of a rowing dory versus a shell.   Here's a vid that shows what I seem to feel..



Jim

[Eagle]

If I were to cut down my quiver to one I would probably keep my SB Touring Carbon pintail.  Does everything adequately enough and is a great distance board.

Now if I were to keep 2 it would be the - Dom and Bullet.  And if 3 - it would be the All Star - Touring - and M-14.  If 4 would drop the all purpose Touring.

But keeping all 5 is just right.  Since about 98% of my paddling conditions is covered off.  Was thinking about adding a Bullet 17.4 to top the other 2% - but would simply not use it enough.  Now this is with 2 people using the boards at any one time - as my wife paddles with me about 80% of the time.

The Dom and Bullet option is quite varied for 2 paddlers - as flat water to medium DW is covered really well.  Can experience the silent cut of the deep vee - plus play with surfy wind blown waves with the Bullet DW.

[JimK]

I can see your point but I'd skip the Pau Hana Richcet leaky vents and seam issues I'd go for the BOUNCE 11Ft
They are as indistructable as you can get (even on the upper hudson) and still have good performance ... they even surf too

Plus You can get'm at a killer deal from us if you are interested ... This isn't carbon sandwich performance but far better performance from other molded boards

JimK
Extreme Windsurfing

[Badger]

NW,  ..before you double up on surf, given that you mainly flatwater, I'd suggest to borrow, rent or somehow put a couple of hours on a 12-6 to 14' racer-style board.  There is a very pleseant glide sensation where it seems you are get a clear multiplier of your paddle stroke.  I have paddled every board I have in flatwater, all seemed sluggish compared the the J-M.  To me, the difference is similar to that of a rowing dory versus a shell.   Here's a vid that shows what I seem to feel..

I agree with Wetstuffs reply to Night Wing. A longer board would work so much better, but it doesn't have to be a racer-style board. A sleek touring or downwind board can be just as fun.

I went one step further. Not only can my M-12'6 do flatwater and downwinders but it can also surf really well too. Why not have a board that can do it all?

Going from 8'11 to 9'0 will not give you any advantage on flatwater. You want at least an 11 footer and if you are going that long, you might as well go 12'6' which is the standard length where the faster boards begin.

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

Jim, could you go into a little more detail about the Pau Hana problems?

[surfcowboy]

Ichabod, I sat with the owner of Pau Hana yesterday at PPG and tossed a baseball sized rock at his boards. I think as with a lot of things, there are issues with early models. He's now moving to add a version of all his boards in the Ricochet construction. I'd reach out to them directly and see what they say. Good guys.

To be clear, there are no seams in the ricochet as they are fiberglass, not the thermoplastic or root molds that have seams. This is glass lapped, just like an epoxy board. Crazy stuff to see in person.

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

I interviewed Todd Caranto a couple of months ago about the Ricochet boards. They seemed really cool, but Jim's comment is the second I've heard through the grapevine that it has some issues. I'm going to wait a bit I think before I decide. I interviewed the Bounce people too. I like the Pau Hana designs better, but I'm flexible.

[addapost]

Totally different experience here. The shop I teach for has about 6 or 7 Pau Hana Ricochets in our rental fleet this year. Since last May, each has been taken out several times a day most days by inexperienced paddlers (renters and students) most of whom have never paddled before. Our environment is quite rocky. People regularly bounce these things off of the river's granite embankment walls. These boards are basically treated as poorly as anything you can imagine. They have held up extremely well. These are BY FAR the most rugged rental boards we've ever had, compared to about 8 different big-name brands. No issues with leaky vents, "seams" or whatever. They are also light (enough) and are a very fun playful shape good for any kind of general paddling. Two thumbs up for the Pau Hana's.

[Night Wing]

@Wetstuff

That is a nice video with some nice long and narrow Sunova touring sups. Beautiul place to sup too. Thanks for posting it.

@Badger

My problem is, I like the shorter surf style sups since I don't have any problems leisurely paddling a short surf sup on flat water (lakes, small rivers, creeks). If I take my surf Hammer down to the coast at Galveston, I've got friends down there where I can stay with them from Thursday night to late Sunday afternoon. Down there, one can sup paddle in the bays, salt marshes, salt flats and surf the waves. If I took two boards with me, a short surf sup and a long touring sup, I know I'd never use the touring sup. Our waves are not big waves. A head high wave is a big wave down here and we just don't see them that much.

My Hammer is 8'11'x31"x4" @ 140 liters. If I decide to sell my 12'2" Hobie, I'd most likely replace it with a quad + 1 sup in the neighborhood of 9'x30"x4.1" @ 142 liters (if my math for determining liters is correct). Since I've been back on the water, I'm getting very comfortable with my Hammer's 31" width since I'm still a newbie. But, there have been days where I wish I had the opportunity to try a 30" width surf sup on flat water, but I don't want to go any narrower. Bottom line, I'm more comfortable (feel wise) on a shorter but not too narrow sup and the surf sups seem to fit that bill.

[Dusk Patrol]

I have this idea that I should just use one board... enough that I know how that one board reacts pretty much under any conditions, and I can move between conditions seamlessly.  A man and his horse kind of thing. I try... but not exclusive yet.  So far my Bullet V2 is the go to.

[stoneaxe]

A far more reasonable and rational solution would be to move closer to the ocean.......

[yugi]

I have this idea that I should just use one board... enough that I know how that one board reacts pretty much under any conditions, and I can move between conditions seamlessly.  A man and his horse kind of thing. I try... but not exclusive yet.  So far my Bullet V2 is the go to.

^^ yes! exactly.

Nothing better than knowing your board intimately.

this amazing picture springs to mind...



from:
https://www.facebook.com/supracerr/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE

[Night Wing]

Moving closing to the Gulf of Mexico is something I would like to do, but unfortunately for me, my wife doesn't like that idea.

My wife and I live 90 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It's about a 2 hour and 15 minute drive (because of traffic, traffic lights, school zones and other things) to the Gulf. If there is one thing my wife doesn't like and fears for good reason are hurricanes. When hurricane Ike came ashore on the upper Texas coast in 2008 and traveled inland, the eye wall of Ike came within 30 miles from my home. Even 90 miles inland, the winds from Ike were blowing 75 miles per hour at my home. My home didn't sustain any damage, but the yard was a mess from all of the debris (broken tree limbs, other people's possessions) which was blown onto our property. I remember taking 138 wheelbarrows of "stuff" to a burning pile to clean up my yard.

My next door neighbor's roof, there were lots of missing shingles. So living closer to the Gulf for me is out of the question. This is why I want a sup which can handle flat water (ponds, creeks, small rivers, bayous, lakes) well, but when I go down to the GoM, it can handle surfing the waves. Hence, my propensity for a surf sup.