Which 14? SB Ace 14 x 27 or SIC X14 Pro x 26 or Naish Javelin Carbon 14' x 26?

[mr_proper]

If a FX14 would be a nice board, then you could have a look at the Jimmy Lewis Sidewinder. A litte bit more stable than the FX14 and really fun in small waves.

[Kaihoe]

So, the time came to sell on my trusty and wobbly Think XO 14' prototype to someone much younger with better balance, and time to buy a new board to race and to train on... The dilemma I have is which one to go for of the following?

1. 2017 SB Ace 14' x 27
2. 2016 SIC X14 Pro x 26
3. 2016 Naish Javelin Carbon 14' x 26

I'm no longer the hard core racer I was, and so making sure I have something that I can race and paddle upwind and downwind and in cross-chop in non races is something I'm keen to have. I'm no longer able to make the podium, so it's all about competing for me now on something fun rather than something fast.

I've read so much about the Ace being a great downwind and downbreeze board that I am veering towards this, but it obviously won't race as well as the SIC or the Naish.. Having a SICMaui F16v3 and SIC Bullet 14v1 TWC, I'm good for pure downwind boards and touring boards respectively so keen to get a Zone perspective on these choices.

I'd encourage you to rethink that last statement. The ACE doesn't turn as well as a flat board so there is a disadvantage if your racing really short buoy courses and it really doesn't work too well in pure surf races (for the average skill set).  But
- It is blisteringly fast upwind and into chop
- It handles the sloppy conditions you find in races really well
- It catches downwind bumps well
So meets a lot of your aims if you are prepare to put some time into learning how to paddle it.

As an example we have a regular week night 3km race with between 8 and 11 buoy turns, that runs in conditions from dead flat to wind blown head high bumps. We have a high proportion of the elite paddlers in the country turn up to this race and the ACE would be the most popular race board, a lot of the regular crew have race board quivers and choose to run ACE's rather than kick turn capable flat deck boards.

That said there are a fair few 14x25" AllStars, dugout NSPs and a hand full of Naishs and SICs being paddled pretty fast

[Off-Shore]

Kaihoe. Thank you for your comments on the buoy turns. I can completely understand that the Ace has a disadvantage here, but most of our races here have few turns (thankfully as I suck at them)..

Interestingly SIC did come back to me with a revised lead time on a 2017 FX (which is unchanged to the 2016 version) for end Sept, but by the time they did this, I'd placed the order for the 2017 SB Ace..

[Off-Shore]

Here's a couple of vids with the FX Pro

[Argosi]

Why the ACE over the allstar? I have not paddled an ace but i imagine the allstar is a much more forgiving all around board.

I've owned both the Ace and All Star. The Ace is clearly faster downwind and upwind. The Ace rolls a bit more for those that aren't used to it, but once you're used to it, the Ace is also faster in mixed chop.

The All Star has the advantage for buoy turns and surfing breaking waves.

I sold my All Star and replaced it with a Sprint, but still have the Ace.

To turn the Ace around a buoy, I step back a bit and use a cross-bow draw to initiate and continue it on the other side of my board. That works pretty well on the Ace.

Surfing the Ace on breaking waves is certainly doable by the skilled, but not me. I just try to ride it with only very subtle direction changes. 

Interesting to see that SIC now has a prototype dugout with a pin tail. As I'm sure you know, Kenny Kaneko won the recent Hong Kong race over Kai, Casper and Bernd on the SIC dugout. Did you help organize that race Off-Shore?

After 6 years, it looks like the weird Ace shape is taking a wider hold with other brands (NSP, Deep, One, Mistral, SIC). Demonstrated performance eventually won out over an "ugly" shape. Even Starboard wasn't very enthusiastic about the board for a few years. For me, since the shape works so well, it's attractive.

[Board Stiff]

For pure flatwater, the X-14 Pro is great. If you're looking for something for racing in mixed conditions, though, I'd take a look at the FX. The X-14 Pro is manageable in choppy water, but it really drains your legs and feels like it's struggling against all the chaos. The shape of the FX is amazing, and it just feels more at ease in chop from all directions, and as stable as the X-14 despite being an inch narrower. Both are great boards, but I think the FX is more versatile.

[Off-Shore]

Argosi. Thanks for your comments. I can't wait to get my hands on the 2017 Ace which should be end this month, early Oct. Mostly so that I can do more upwind / downwind paddling and it will be interesting to see how it performs racing.

As you say the dugouts seem to be making a come back and the SIC prototype Kenny used in HK last weekend was a beautiful looking board. The issue with this type of board is any pivot turn fills the deck with water and slows you right down and in fact it can be difficult to get the tail back out of the water so if you look at any of the FB pics of Kenny rounding the buoys you'll see he is staying up front and using wide sweeping paddle strokes to get around.

Whilst I did participate as a rather slow racer, I was not involved in the organisation of the 2nd International SUP races last weekend, which were in the good hands of Bryan Ng and his team at HKSUPBA. They, the equipment sponsors, SIC and Naish along with a host of volunteers did an awesome job.

The race I organise every year and since last year with the support from HKSUPBA is the SUP racing in the Dragon Run an International Surfski, Outrigger and SUP championship Www.thedragonrun.com.hk which this year will be on November 12. This is in its 16th year this has run with some of the world's best Surfski and OC paddlers competing. It has only had SUP races in the last 4 years and whilst I've always wanted this to be a proper big downwind SUP race along the same course as the OCs and Surfskis, we have concentrated on building up a base of paddlers over 2 or 4km and then 8km races. This year we'll have 2km and 8km races and a fun close to shore 200-300m race with a new format.

[Area 10]

The Ace isn't a panacea for upwind paddling, unless your upwind conditions are ripples. Nor is any other board, unfortunately. So if a buyer is buying one because the think that the Ace will allow them to tackle conditions that other boards won't, then they may be disappointed. The Ace works best for determined and serious racers who are after speed at all costs. This issue with this sort of design is partly of course the dugout, but also the extreme pintail. This is a source of the speed (in part), but is also the source of much roll and makes specific handling demands. But, owning an Ace has improved my skills, for sure, and the 27" wide version is an enticing prospect that may broaden the appeal considerably. The 14x25 that I have is fine for people with better-than-average balance and fitness, but it's a bit much for beginners or those with worse-than-average balance.

[Kieranrsup]

... I am also keen to have one of these boat shaped dug outs in the quiver, as it is a shape that is tried and tested and is unlikely to change...

Unless the dug out shape is the main attribute you're looking for in your new board, I would also suggest the SIC FX14. This board really does it all! I've talked to experienced downwinders in Hood River that said it's their goto board rather than the Bullet v2.

You won't be disappointed: the Ace is an unreal board DW. Once you get the hang of it and get it dialled in its like a 'eureka' moment!!!
You can read the comment from forum member who switched from x14 pro the the FX14 here: http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,28555.msg314101.html#msg314101

From my own experience paddling with the two boards, the FX sounds much more suitable for what
you described. Only if I was aiming for flatware specifically I would pick the x14.

Thanks Burchas for the link. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing I agree the FX is the SIC board best suited to the conditions here, but I will have to wait a long time to get a 2017 one, whilst I can get the 2017 Ace by end October, so the Ace wins.

Looks like it should downwind too if the 2014 version is anything to go by...