Author Topic: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?  (Read 36122 times)

Lake Paddler

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #135 on: September 11, 2018, 02:21:40 PM »
I would agree for us mortals. The reality is that the true elites don't find a 21.5 board energy sapping. For what it's worth, I'm splitting my time between SUp and surfski next year so will unlikely see enough time on a board that narrow to justify it so I'm likely to be going for something like the 23.5 Allstar (for the exact reason you gave in your post) and whatever I'm given to test.
Mind you, a fellow paddler of mine, who is around 190 cm and 90 kg, tried a 23.5 All Star (2019) and found it more tippy than his 23 Sprint (2019). The tail of the former is 1.4" narrower.

JEG

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #136 on: September 11, 2018, 03:00:08 PM »
the narrower board manufactures think its a good market to bring out 21.5 wide or under are making a big mistake. I do like the hype race wins and I wonder how long the honey moon period will last until we realize were not all pro paddlers.

ukgm

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #137 on: September 11, 2018, 03:06:10 PM »
I would agree for us mortals. The reality is that the true elites don't find a 21.5 board energy sapping. For what it's worth, I'm splitting my time between SUp and surfski next year so will unlikely see enough time on a board that narrow to justify it so I'm likely to be going for something like the 23.5 Allstar (for the exact reason you gave in your post) and whatever I'm given to test.
Mind you, a fellow paddler of mine, who is around 190 cm and 90 kg, tried a 23.5 All Star (2019) and found it more tippy than his 23 Sprint (2019). The tail of the former is 1.4" narrower.

Yep, that's why I've been shopping for the 2018 version. The 2019 version is a step backwards in my view by narrowing the tail again.

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #138 on: September 11, 2018, 03:51:09 PM »
Ukgm - Have you tried the 14x21.5” 2019 Fanatic Strike? It’s 274L so might float you despite the narrow width.

ukgm

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #139 on: September 11, 2018, 11:28:02 PM »
Ukgm - Have you tried the 14x21.5” 2019 Fanatic Strike? It’s 274L so might float you despite the narrow width.

I haven't (it's on the list to test at some stage). It looks very good.

The volume is ok (I'd like a shade more to be honest) but even with a discount I might be able to get, it's not an affordable option for me when I can still access some 2018 boards at less than 50% retail. I'm already seeing that the Sprint 21.5's have become hard to shift so I would be very cautious about getting one as its not an everyday board for most.

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #140 on: September 12, 2018, 12:06:38 AM »
Speed costs money mate, in any sport.

ukgm

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #141 on: September 12, 2018, 12:40:59 AM »
Speed costs money mate, in any sport.

Indeed.

(or just wait for a 21.5 bargain 6 months from now when team paddlers are getting frustrated they still can't shift their old gear to allow them to have the new stuff -standard team ambassador deal clause).

Lake Paddler

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #142 on: September 12, 2018, 01:44:15 AM »
Speed costs money mate, in any sport.

Indeed.

(or just wait for a 21.5 bargain 6 months from now when team paddlers are getting frustrated they still can't shift their old gear to allow them to have the new stuff -standard team ambassador deal clause).
Are team paddlers/ambassadors normally bound to upgrade their gear every year? Can't they stick with their gear for one more year if, say, they don't like the changes?

yugi

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #143 on: September 12, 2018, 03:15:18 AM »
Fiona Wylde kept an older version of her Allstar for several years. I'm assuming because she preferred that board as she was doing well enough to have the choice.


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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #144 on: September 12, 2018, 07:47:41 AM »
Fiona Wylde kept an older version of her Allstar for several years. I'm assuming because she preferred that board as she was doing well enough to have the choice.
The early versions of the All Star were quite sleek and low volume compared to today’s models. Somewhere along the line the target rider for the board seemed to move from being Fiona Wylde to ukgm and it consequently ballooned :)

And if ukgm had his way, the 14x23 All Star would be 400L for 2019 :)


ukgm

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #145 on: September 12, 2018, 08:32:36 AM »
Fiona Wylde kept an older version of her Allstar for several years. I'm assuming because she preferred that board as she was doing well enough to have the choice.


And if ukgm had his way, the 14x23 All Star would be 400L for 2019 :)

Damn straight. It's a bugger the 2018 22.5 was still quite low in volume to the rest of the range though as I would have definitely gone for one of those.

As you know, board sizing is just the product of a sports natural selection though. I read an interesting anecdote in a book today regarding the history of the bicycle. Back when we rode penny farthings, it wasn't jockey like flyweights that did well in the races - it was the tall. Why ? Because there were no gears so the large front wheel governed top end speed but due to the direct mount cranks, the tall riders could therefore have a bigger wheel and therefore were more likely to win the races. Somewhere along the line, the chain drivetrain was invented and suddenly the shape of cyclists began to change (this is known as 'reskilling' a sport). When I first saw SUP, this seemed to be the case too of big, burly powerhouses seriously moving a K15 or equivalent to my eyes but then we got regulated and the best riders became lighter and more lithe with an emphasise on power to weight and a high V02 max rather than outright horsepower.

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #146 on: September 12, 2018, 10:56:48 AM »
Yes quite. But it’s people like you who are responsible for making yourselves obsolete. So don’t expect any sympathy from me - you made (and are making) your own bed.

ukgm

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #147 on: September 12, 2018, 12:20:59 PM »
Yes quite. But it’s people like you who are responsible for making yourselves obsolete. So don’t expect any sympathy from me - you made (and are making) your own bed.

Well I wasn’t after sympathy. It’s merely an observation. Besides, in my experience, regulation (at the right point, granted), is essential. Without that, the initial freedom left unchecked will destroy a sport due to the increasing imbalances it creates.
« Last Edit: September 12, 2018, 12:22:59 PM by ukgm »

Eagle

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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #148 on: September 12, 2018, 01:08:07 PM »
For what it's worth, I'm splitting my time between SUp and surfski next year so will unlikely see enough time on a board that narrow to justify it so I'm likely to be going for something like the 23.5 Allstar (for the exact reason you gave in your post) and whatever I'm given to test.
As noted the original triple concave All Star 23 is somewhat sleek for a cutting boof design.  It easily pearls if you are not constantly trimming it in steep wave action.  But interestingly the current 22.5 may be pretty close in size and handling.  Whereas the current 23.5 and 24.5 are considerably larger bulkier and have a lot more float comparably.

Personally my preference is always a wider tail option since my balance is pretty crappy on narrow boards.  So losing an inch stability at the tail width would be quite a bit for me on the 22.5 model.  The tail width on the current dropped deck Sprint 23 is a nice fat 15.8".  So even better.  Notice the Sprint 21.5 tail width is now the same as my old AS23 -> at 14.8" wide.  ukgm my suggestion would still be the Sprint 23 -> unless you mostly expect to race in ocean slop and chop.  Then would go for the AS 23.5 just to handle waves better.  The Sprint 21.5 nose spears too mch for me in steep waves.  So is very hard to keep speed up and consistent unless a top elite.  My suspicion is the Sprint 23 would be optimal for your type of racing.  ;)

2016
23" - 8.7" Thick - 14.8" Tail - 264L - 50-80kgs

2019
22.5" - 8.7" Thick - 13.8" Tail - 272L - 40-75kgs

2019
23.5" - 10.2" Thick - 14.4" Tail - 327L - 50-85kgs
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Re: Toothpick, ultra narrow tippy race boards. What would you want to know ?
« Reply #149 on: September 12, 2018, 01:20:57 PM »
Yes quite. But it’s people like you who are responsible for making yourselves obsolete. So don’t expect any sympathy from me - you made (and are making) your own bed.

Well I wasn’t after sympathy. It’s merely an observation. Besides, in my experience, regulation (at the right point, granted), is essential. Without that, the initial freedom left unchecked will destroy a sport due to the increasing imbalances it creates.
This is a straw man argument. Regulation is of course required in sport. But regulation of the wrong kind will kill a sport faster than having none. And that is what is going to happen. The sport is re-skilling people like you right out of it. But greater diversity of equipment could avoid this. For some reason you are happy with this. Maybe you are happy having an excuse as to why you aren’t winning (when you aren’t) :)


 


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