Race board suggestion for 265 lb rider. Please Help.

[PonoBill]

About the only 14' board that I could trim at 260 was the Bark. You could also make a Naish Glide 14 work, but in both cases you'll be standing at the edges of the pad to get the tail up. the real choice for big guys are longer boards, but there isn't much available. the Speedboard 18' is a revelation. If you're in good shape, learn to paddle well, and condition for it, you won't be alone, but you might be the only unlimited in a lot of races. But so what. Go big, go fast.

[sup_surf_giant]

I'm 230lbs normally.

In Feb, I rentad a Bard Laird to compete in the beginner class of the Santa Cruz classic portion of the event.

Worked well...I got 3rd in the beginner class.

[upwinder]

Pimptastic pictures, DJ.

But the Naish website says:

"Ideal for riders up to 230 lb (104 kg)"

http://naishsurfing.com/glide-12-6-gs/

So the OP is 35lbs (15%) over this recommended maximum, which is a fair bit.

I call BS...speaking from experience of the board, as a 125kg guy, not just quoting from the Naish website. The 12'6 x 30 naish floats me fine and is the most fun and tractable 12'6 I've ever been on. That said, I don't own one because I prefer 14 footers and I have a 17 footer in the stable at the moment which I quite enjoy.

For the OP, the weapon of choice in 14' production boards would be the 14 x 30 Fanatic Falcon. Facing hard facts, at 265lbs you're NOT going to be the fastest on the water, regardless of the board you are on. There's a HUGE difference in board performance between 230/240 and 260/270, stability rules over slipperiness because you (we) exert a lot of influence over a board that the lightweights don't.  As others have pointed out, you'll be your least slow on an appropriate 17-18 footer but if that's not feasible the 14x30 fanatic would probably be the pick for a range of conditions If it's pure flat water, little chop or wind then maybe the Coreban Edge is worth a look. ( I often get used as a fat boy test pilot/guinea pig by local dealers when the big boards come in, I've been on many so happy to share some experiences/impressions by PM)

There's a thread over on seabreeze on this topic, the OP over there ended up ordering a 14 x 30 falcon.

See

http://breeze.weatherwise.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/14-Flatwater-touring-board-for-very-big-guy/



 

[pdxmike]

If Naish says 230 and people's experience says that's conservative, I admire Naish for that.  They're choosing not to mislead anyone by overstating the weight range, even though they might lose some sales.  Some other companies take the opposite tact.  Obviously there's no exact number--experienced paddlers can be heavier than inexperienced ones. 

[PonoBill]

Your biggest issue isn't going to be what floats you--they all will. It's going to be what trims well and therefore glides best. I can trim a 12'2" x 26" starboard better than I can a 14' M&M. Any board with footwells or a narrow pin tailis going to be a problem. You need to try some, but you have a good start here

[Area 10]

Your biggest issue isn't going to be what floats you--they all will. It's going to be what trims well and therefore glides best. I can trim a 12'2" x 26" starboard better than I can a 14' M&M. Any board with footwells or a narrow pin tailis going to be a problem.

Yes, quite right. I assumed that when Naish give a weight limit for the 12-6 Glide, they do so not because above that weight the board will be underwater, but that they have designed the rocker, volume distribution etc with a certain load in mind. So, I took from this that you certainly could use the board either above or below the recommended range, but the result might not be optimal. This won't matter if you are using the board for cruising. But the OP specifically wants a board to use in races. But pdxmike is quite right - if Naish are being conservative in their recommended weight ranges then they should be commended for that.

I've become very aware of this trim issue recently with a few boards I've tried. I'm very lucky to have a protected perfectly flat water testing ground near me that allows the study of trim with different riders quite carefully. I've been very surprised by some findings. For instance, my friends and I tried a Jimmy Lewis Blade II. This seems quite a large volume board for a 12-6, it is very stable, and there have been some good results in European races using it. It is a lovely board, with great construction. But neither me nor my friends, who together probably cover a large section of the "average" weight range, could get it to trim just right. Wherever we stood, the tail seemed to drag. I've subsequently been told that it is best for a lighter rider, but I have no data as to whether this is true or not.

We had a similar experience with the Coreban Vision. This is gargantuan for a 12-6 race-type board: 30” wide x 8 3/4” thick and 332 Litres of volume. For an average weight rider it is like standing on a battleship. There are wonderful things about it (for instance it is amazing to kick turn, and is hugely stable and fun to paddle), but at the weights of me and my friends, the water would just not release off the tail, and it felt like we were dragging weed all the time. I presume that if we were heavier, standing forward a little would release it.

Then we tried the old shape white carbon Fanatic Fly 12-6 x 30.5". This is also a big stable board with a pretty high volume. But we "average-weights" had no trouble finding perfect trim on it, and consequently were faster on it.

So, here are three 12-6 boards, all of which are wide and stable, and all of which have fairly broad tails and volume throughout, and are similar shapes (i.e. all displacement nose types). But the three of them seemed to be designed with vastly different weights of rider in mind.

On another note, I must say that the 'Zone often surprises me. None more than the way that this thread went. We have just had a very long thread elsewhere where many riders who are heavier than average (and several others) tried to make the case for the abandonment of existing board length limits since many heavier riders would naturally choose to be on UL boards, and few manufacturers make any. (Well, this is only one small part of what was a long and complex discussion, but it is the part which is most relevant to this thread here.) Then the OP makes here a query saying that he is open to the idea of getting an UL board, and wants to go as fast as he can in races, and what happens? He gets mainly recommendations for 12-6 and 14ft boards.

I don't suppose this could just be because many of the people who post in this forum have some kind of link to manufacturers and/or retailers, and very few of them sell UL class boards (probably only SIC and Starboard are the ones very frequently mentioned here)? Or maybe it is as simple as the fact that people can only recommend what they already know, and most people have never even tried a UL class board because the manufacturers don't sell them... chicken and egg.

But maybe I've misunderstood the issues involved when heavier-than-average guys want to go fast and do, as the OP put it, "some ultra long distance touring". Is a 12-6 really the obvious choice for that?

[mdsurf]

If you want to race in the 14 class then a 14 x 30 with 330 liters will do.  There are a few out there that are like this including the Fanantic Falxon 14 x 30 the Hovie Big Boy Comet 14 x 30 330L.  As well as a Custom Unlimited in the 17-18 foot range.  If you need to sell the board in the next year the 14 would be easier to sell.

Go to a few races and meet some people and demo some boards.