Author Topic: 2017 Ace in the House - Questions on railtape and Velocitek Makai positioning  (Read 6650 times)

Off-Shore

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So my 2017 SB Ace arrived today, to great excitement! When I got it unpacked, I was asked by my rather exasperated wife, why oh why, after buying "all those boards" had I now bought a kayak? "I thought you only liked stand up paddling?!"

Forget the ghost board...there was no hiding this one or saying it was a friends. It's not so bad. She paddles too as do my kids so it's a family board? Yeah...right..

Now looking at its massive sides and deep well, I'm thinking:-

1. How many strips of Railsaver Pro do I need down each side and where exactly do I position them? Do I need it at all? This is going to be expensive. I hadn't anticipated this..

2. Where best to position the Velocitek Maki? On the deck or on the front console area?

Appreciate the help as always...
« Last Edit: October 25, 2016, 07:39:19 AM by Off-Shore »
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Area 10

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I've got an Ace. Here's my take on it:

1. Tape the paddle not the board. 3M door edge protector (like thin narrow helicopter tape) is excellent.

2. Makai goes on top of the front of the board near where the accessories plug is inlaid in the deck and NOT in the footwell.

Welcome to the birdbath experience ;)

PDLSFR

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I'd agree not to use RSPro on the board, but maybe use their paddle edge protection:

https://www.rspro.org/collections/paddle-accessories/products/blade-edge-saver-rspro
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Quickbeam

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I've got an Ace. Here's my take on it:

1. Tape the paddle not the board. 3M door edge protector (like thin narrow helicopter tape) is excellent.

2. Makai goes on top of the front of the board near where the accessories plug is inlaid in the deck and NOT in the footwell.

Welcome to the birdbath experience ;)


I use the 3M door edge protector Area 10 is talking about. In fact, I got the idea from him. Is very good stuff. I run two layers around the paddle blade and then another couple of layers about 12 inches up the paddle shaft. I’ll never use rail tape again.
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burchas

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off-shore, Congrats on your new canoe ;)

Take a look at this product: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004JFFED0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1

I've been using it for a while now. I use it to cover most of the rail area on both sides as my put it and out is off a very nasty deep water rocky area and I keep banging my board against the rocks mostly trying get back on land.

This tape take a lot of abuse and still holds very well. easy to apply and obviously a lot more economical than the RSPro.

No idea how it compares to the RSPro as I never put my hands on one, nor did I have any reason to since this one has been working for me.

Depending on the curvature of the board, you might want to take to units of the 3 inch rather than say a 1 unit of 6 inch wide as it might be easier to conform to the shape of the board.

Very easy to re-apply and correct position just by using a soap water applied on the board before applying the tape.
in progress...

PonoBill

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Wow. that looks like you need to climb on like a surfski to get rolling. I understand the value of footwells, lots of speed advantage. How does that drain? Holes or a ducted scupper?
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Kieranrsup

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Regarding the location of the Makai Area10 is spot on; on top by the FCS plug. Or even better, make yourself a mount that uses the FCS plug & tilts the screen towards you.
Re tail tape, I didn't rail tape mine at first but that soon changed. I found that I was rubbing the shaft off the side of the board so taping my padddle blade would'nt help.
I just used some 60mm wide 3M stuff that the local shop uses. I've used this on all of my boards and it's cheap and works a treat!!
I also taped the top of the rails (looking down into the cockpit)as they can pick up knocks when loading & unloading or falling etc.
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Kieranrsup

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Nice board choice too. Several of the crew have then and love them so far!!
Very, very capable 1 board solution.
SIC custom hand shaped 17' x 25.5" V3 Bullet.
NSP DC 17'10" x 26" .
Starboard Ace 14 x 25".
Starboard Sprint 14 x 24".
JP 10' x 29"
Starboard Pro 8.0 x 29".
Starboard Pro 8' x 29".

Area 10

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Regarding the location of the Makai Area10 is spot on; on top by the FCS plug. Or even better, make yourself a mount that uses the FCS plug & tilts the screen towards you.
Re tail tape, I didn't rail tape mine at first but that soon changed. I found that I was rubbing the shaft off the side of the board so taping my padddle blade would'nt help.
I just used some 60mm wide 3M stuff that the local shop uses. I've used this on all of my boards and it's cheap and works a treat!!
I also taped the top of the rails (looking down into the cockpit)as they can pick up knocks when loading & unloading or falling etc.
Like Quickbeam, I run some tape up the side of the shaft of my paddles too, for the first 10" or so higher up from the blade. No more rail rubbing problem.

I also have some helicopter tape on the top rails of the dugout. One area where you get special wear with the Ace is just forward of the handle, where you rest the paddle as you jump to your feet. On a flat deck you rest your paddle on eg. an EVA mat and/or do it kinda without the shaft touching the board at all (with knuckles resting on the deck and the shaft in your hand. But with a dugout you tend to rest the shaft on the thin and unprotected upper rails and press on the shaft as you get to your feet. This wears the rails, and can in fact damage them. So it's worth thinking about exactly how you are going to get to your feet in the dugout, and protecting the board at potential damage spots. Falling is part of the Ace experience: it's a highly effective board, but the pintail does mean that you have to be on your game. In significant bumps it is fast, but exhausting mentally as well as physically. You can easily damage the upper rails falling on the board, clobbering them with your paddle as you change sides, and clambering back into the cockpit after a fall - there's a whole art to that in itself.

But I guess it depends how good your balance is, how wide your Ace is, and how choppy/windy your waters are. My Ace is 25" wide, I paddle very choppy seas, and my balance is distinctly average. So the Ace is like a balance trainer for me, and some outings are more about resolve in the face of sheer frustration than going fast or having fun. Other people can paddle it all day in any conditions. Mind you, some can't paddle it even in the mildest of chop, so I guess I'm not doing too badly :)

yugi

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So the Ace is like a balance trainer for me, and some outings are more about resolve in the face of sheer frustration than going fast or having fun. Other people can paddle it all day in any conditions. Mind you, some can't paddle it even in the mildest of chop, so I guess I'm not doing too badly :)

cool! 
 
Do you have a t-shirt with "The beatings will continue until morale improves” to go with that?


« Last Edit: October 25, 2016, 04:38:58 PM by yugi »

Muskoka SUP

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It sure doesnt look that different from the original SB New from so many years ago.  I tried Argosi's 23" 12-6, and my only thought wasthat i was standing in some sort of foot bath... The water was up to my ankles.. Though Having you feet below the waterline sure helped balancing it. 

One observation from an engineering design pov..  Why the f&$k does SB continue to NOT radius the top rail corners..  Dumb.  Sharp corners are not user friendly as everyone has pointed out, and are structurally weaker.   My 2 sense worth.
It ain't over until the fat board sinks....

Argosi

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It sure doesnt look that different from the original SB New from so many years ago.  I tried Argosi's 23" 12-6, and my only thought wasthat i was standing in some sort of foot bath... The water was up to my ankles.. Though Having you feet below the waterline sure helped balancing it. 

One observation from an engineering design pov..  Why the f&$k does SB continue to NOT radius the top rail corners..  Dumb.  Sharp corners are not user friendly as everyone has pointed out, and are structurally weaker.   My 2 sense worth.

That Starboard NEW was the first Ace-like design. It had a really low sunken deck that kept your feet wet. They changed it in later revisions to raise the deck so your feet were above the water line.

Argosi

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Offshore, a couple of suggestions:
- I'd place your Velocitek further forward on the deck so you can look at it more easily when paddling. Paddling an Ace in choppy water takes concentration and reducing the amount you have to tilt your head will help. Far enough to see more easily, but within reach when you bend down.
- In addition to the usual places for rail tape, I'd also put rail tape on the top rounded corners of the top deck where you normally bring your paddle blade across when changing sides. Because of the sunken deck, it's easier to accidentally hit your paddle blade on the top corner of the deck. On the rails, I used 6" wide automotive tape from JEGS and it's been working great on my Ace going on year 3. It's thicker (14mil or 0.014") than most rail tapes.  http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance-Products/555/75023/10002/-1 Practice getting the air bubbles out first. Use wet application with a dilute dishwasher solution.

VMG Chris

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Have Fun with it, I'm sure you'll love it.

We've been BOP training on Aces lately   :D

Off-Shore

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Thanks everyone for their great advice. This is where the Zone comes into itself. Here I am in Hong Kong getting the best advice from 6-7 different experts from 5 maybe 6 countries.. How awesome is that?!

Today I tried to get some helicopter tape locally but it was not to be found, and so with the board in the house, and being told under no uncertain terms that it was to be out this evening, I took the plunge and bought two packs of Rail Saver Pro Clear tape (wide) from our local SUP shop, and got to work on the sides and top rails. As you can see from the pics below, I think I did not start far enough forward (the tape starts midway under the "D" of "STARBOARD") on the side rails to stop forward paddle whack from happening but I think it will be good for laying on its side (which is my main concern).

For the top rails and centre piece I took one RSPro tape and did the following

1. Cut both ends off where it stops tapering
2. Cut off a piece that fits the centre section in front of the handle for use as per Area 10's suggestion
3. The remaining piece I cut into two and wrapped each piece along one of the the top rails
4. I then took the two remaining "tongue shaped" pieces and added them at the in front of the strips I'd add to the top rails

I did this all dry (i.e. no soap and water). I've had a lot of experience in my aerospace days laying tape and prepreg over various complicated shaped aircraft parts and so have a way to do this.

The only thing I found was when I placed it on my roof rack the RSPro tape on the top rails did not extend far enough back to reach the back cross bar of the rack. SO... I will have to take the remaining RSPro tape I have from the 2nd set and add some pieces here.

Is there anywhere else I should add some tape?  Argosi is suggesting on the deck where I bring the paddle across. I took the board out today for a very short paddle and being so close to the water "in the bird bath" as Area 10 calls it, means two things. One you need a shorter paddle than a normal board, and 2 you do hit the deck as you are not used to having such a high thing in front of you to bring the blade across.

I am trying to figure out whether I should make a mount for the Makai as Kirensup suggests or stick the mount that comes with the Makai on the board further up the deck as Argosi suggests..

I have not added RSPro to my paddle blade... looking to find some of the 3M tape first...
« Last Edit: October 26, 2016, 03:48:56 AM by Off-Shore »
SB 9' x 33' x 4.1" - RPC 9'8" iSUP - SB All-Star 12'6" - Blue Planet Bump Rider 14 - SB Ace 14 x 27 - RedAir 14' Elite Race - SIC Bullet 14v1 TWC - SICMaui F16v3 Custom

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/HksupaHk_SUP_and_Downwinding

 


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