Same run. Same day. Different boards - Downwindy-breezer Vids (x2)

[Off-Shore]

I was fortunate to downwind / downbreeze the same run twice on the same day with two different boards this past week

Run 1: 2017 Starboard Ace 14 x 27 (“The Dugout”)
Run 2: 2015 SIC Bullet V1 TWC ("The Surf Machine”)

The wind was a little stronger on the 2nd run but interesting to see how the two boards differed and performed. I like both, but they really are different animals, and although I’d say the grin factor is overall the same for each board, the bits that make up the grin are different.

Run 1


Run 2


Wishing everyone a Happy Holidays, and for those who downwind, better downwinding and longer glides in 2017. And for those that don’t yet downwind, a chance to try this amazing sport in 2017.

[Night Wing]

Nice videos again. Although you like both boards, I noticed you fell off the SIC. Looked like it was easy to get back on. If you fell off the Starboard with it's "dugout" style, I imagine it would be a little more difficult to get back on because of the dugout design. It seem to me you would have to "climb over the rails and back down into the dugout" so to speak.

[Area 10]

Yes, dugouts are a PITA if you fall. Especially in rough seas, when getting back in is an even greater challenge. In a close race it could be game over. If you are paddling a dugout you are always thinking about not falling.

There is a price to be paid for owning dugouts. And recovery after a fall is just one of them.

[Off-Shore]

Nice videos again. Although you like both boards, I noticed you fell off the SIC. Looked like it was easy to get back on. If you fell off the Starboard with it's "dugout" style, I imagine it would be a little more difficult to get back on because of the dugout design. It seem to me you would have to "climb over the rails and back down into the dugout" so to speak.

Nightwing, Yes you are right, as well as losing my hat on the run with the SIC, I did fall.. This is unusual for me on this board, and sometimes it just happens and you have no idea why...  . I think it was the ground swell that comes in from the left hand side that caught me off guard... As you say though the SIC is way easier to get back onto than the Ace. I have however found it gets easier every time I remount the Ace, but at first it was very awkward, especially with the CamelBak I wear with chest pockets full of gear that catch on the high side. If conditions were very big or cold, I would NOT take the Ace out for that reason. Being able to slide like a slug onto a board when you are exhausted, cold, or scared, or all three, is important.

There was a story recently of some surfskiers on a double Surfski on the famed Millers run in South Africa and one of the paddlers could not get back into the ski after falling out and getting exhausted in big conditions.. They were eventually rescued.. but that is what I fear about the Ace in Open Ocean conditions if I was on my own, cold, exhausted and in big conditions..

[yugi]

You didn't say much about difference, OffShore.

I'm biased but I can see the Bullet pick up and take off many times. I know I like that feeling. Maybe it's harder to tell if the Ace is slithering a bit faster.

Troughs did look a bit more defined for the SIC session.

[Off-Shore]

Yugi. Ive been paddling the SIC Bullet 14v1 TWC for 2 years + now so I feel right at home on it, no matter what the conditions are, and it is just a very intuitive board. It will go where you want it to go. If you look at the 2nd half of the Bullet vid above you will see it is a real mishmash of waves coming from all sides, but there is a way through that on a board like this, and it is a lot of fun "surfing" your way through something like this. It's not surfing of course, but you know what I mean.

The Ace on the other hand is super-responsive to turns of speed. If you want to paddle down into the trough, and through the backside of the wave in front and onto the next one, this is the board that will let you do this with minimum of effort. But try and surf it like the Bullet and the board stalls way much quicker unless you get your weighting just right. Too much weight too far back sinks that narrow tail, and you suddenly lose the speed. So the Bullet is much more forgiving on where you are on the board when you are in conditions that you are stepping back and forwards on the board... Maybe it's just I have not done my TOTW (Time on the Water) on the Ace, but I feel I need to be more light footed and nimble on it to get it performing at its best than when I am on the Bullet.

So when I say I get the same amount of grins riding both, but in different ways, I get my grins on the Ace when I make an effortless paddle-powered connection/link that I know I could not do on the Bullet without significant effort. It also is really fun and fast when you are in enough wind to step back on the tail.. Conversely, I get my grins on the Bullet when I can easily switch from goofy to regular foot, step back and forwards and keep the board moving along from glide to glide. With the Ace, because you have high sides, that effectively takes 2" off each side of the deck, a 27" wide board becomes a 24-23" wide one, let alone with the much narrower tail... So in summary, there is less room to dance... The Ace is though overall faster in these conditions, and speed = more grins. The Bullet is more fun to ride = more grins.

Tomorrow we have 20 knots forecast... I'm leaving the Ace at home.. I think I will have more fun on the Bullet or the F16, and feel safer on it.. but the Ace is one awesome board..

[PonoBill]

Nightwing, Yes you are right, as well as losing my hat on the run with the SIC, I did fall.. This is unusual for me on this board, and sometimes it just happens and you have no idea why...  .

I call that the "Fall For No Apparent Reason" or the melodic acronym FFNAR. It happens to me often enough to need a shortened reference. The SIC V1's have a unique little side roll and dip combination that occasionally just pitches me off. It's characterized by a feet-first fall rather than a simple horizontal ditch. Happens less on the 14 than the 17, but it's there, a function of the tail design I think. I would definitely characterize your fall as a FFNAR.