Jimmy Lewis Rail Downwind vid

[mrbig]

Help me out laddies. Where does my 14' x 26" Focus Bluefin fit on Luc's summary. I know what it does for me, I traded a short board for it!

Down breeze, all water chop, winter fun. Even took third in over 50sup short 5 miler on it. It seems slow compared to my Starby Race 12'6, but that sucker is nervous. Good training though..

Cheers!

[warmuth]

Warmuth - I wouldn't replace the Vapor with the Bullet V2 if I were you. They overlap too much in uses, and the Vapor is probably more versatile. It would make more sense IMO to replace the Vapor with the Bullet V1 or Rail 14x28 or similar.

The Bullet V1 handles bigger conditions quite a lot better than the V2 IMO (and I have both boards, plus a Vapor too). So if you are looking for something pretty stable for use in 25 knots+ and knee-high and over bumps, the V1 is what you want. However if you just want to downbreeze then unless you've got money to burn I'd stick with the Vapor and just practice some more with it. The Vapor is a really good downwind board. The new super-light version ("Ghost Carbon") must be awesome for small to medium DW conditions. For perspective, I own the following 14ft boards which I downwind: Vapor, Bullet V1, Bullet V2, Ace 14x25, Sidewinder 14x23, Coreban Dart, Angulo Shaka, and I have owned others (eg. M14; tried many more) and I also own a 12ft DW board plus two unlimited DW boards and have tried others. So I get a lot of opportunities to compare boards, and I'm not connected to any brand.

  Maybe sticking with it is the way to go then. I do need to ride it more. No doubt the board was plenty capable yesterday but my lack of experience was evident. We only get a handful of those days per year anyway, conditions are normally going to be more like knee high short period chop.

[yugi]

…
The Vapor and the V3 are not far enough apart for me. The Vapor is slower enough in flat to mild that I'll never pick it(the V3 is actually more stable in flat) but not quite enough for me for the truly gnarly stuff. I'd be better off with something in the 27-28 inch range to choose from that can handle any condition that might arise.

…
 the Vapor will probably go to make room for a Bullet V2 to give me broader coverage.

If you’re not heavy and enjoy the Vapor then the Rail26 might just be what you are looking for. Very versatile board. It may challenge you a bit in festive conditions in the beginning but coming from a skinny race board it’ll be a walk in the park.

The Rail has the “hammock” type of stability a downwind board has. My guess is it will be a bit more at ease in bigger winds than a Vapor (guessing, I haven't been on a Vapor). Also guess  you’d be able to get used to it quick enough to enjoy festive conditions. Whatever the board it’s the timing you need to sus out.

You were originally asking for a rough water race board, right? I’d think the Vapor is pretty good. Now you ready for something that improves the range of your quiver in bigger winds?

[warmuth]

  It's a lack of skill, I'm sure the Vapor probably wasn't outmatched, I'd never done a real downwinder like this one before. A 26" board was a bit hairy for me but as far as racing, it was too rough for anything other than downwinding so the Vapor is still good in that respect. There wouldn't have been any course racing going on in that stuff. A10 is probably right and I just need more time on it as well as more time downwinding in general, we don't get those conditions often though so in the end I'd end up with a board I would rarely use. I still got great glides and the thing catches damn near anything that comes its way so practice is the likely answer for me. This all takes place in a river thats 2 miles wide so it's not going to get much bigger. Ocean downwinding around here isn't really a thing, there's no point A to point B spots it would work for just straight coast.

[Eagle]

Went out for a little upwind DW fun today.  Winds were a bit blustery and the M14 was definitely the ticket.  Stayed in somewhat protected areas as the winds were blowing major offshore for our normal winter arctic outflow.  Could have been very risky and dangerous if there was a problem though - so needed to be somewhat careful.  Everything turned out ok thankfully.  Any board other than the M14 would have been a problem.  Almost went in a couple of times.  So probe would have fallen off the Bullet or Rail.

The M14 was pearling upwind in the steep wind swells even standing back.  And had to get on my knees to paddle back in as the wind was blasting coming in on the nose.  Great fun - but still wore too much under the dry suit expecting it to be real cold out there.  Fingers were ice cold in the 3mm gloves - so need to find something much better. 

Then did a polar bear swim to start off the New Year for the first time - followed by our annual tug-o-war contest.  Warm soup and hot toddies after as always.  That really hit the spot.  Gotta love Vancouver in the winter.  Cheers.