Messages

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SUP Gear Reviews / Newly Acquired / On Order / Inno 446 Surf/ SUP / Kayak / Canoe Locker Car Rack Attachment REVIEW

« on: October 25, 2021, 08:21:18 PM »

I was looking for a locking car rack for my SUP. After looking at all the options I chose the Inno 446. The Lockrack SUP carrier was a close second. I ultimate went with the Inno in part because I got a deal on an open box item.

Summary: The rack securely holds my 12'6"x29.5" Amundson on my roof rack with no problems. It doesn't make any vibrating noises or whistling sounds. It's sufficiently secure for my needs. I'm happy with it, but It's a near thing. I would probably try the Lockrack next time.

Installation: It comes with mounts for round, square, and aero bars. You have to apply rubber stickers to the mounts if you got with aero bars. The 445 models is designed for t-track. The installation is pretty straight forward. I did have some clearance issues in the front. I had to cut down the mounting screw by about a 1/4" to clear my roof. I have a factory rack that sits pretty low. The screws are hardened steel, so a hack saw will take you an age.

 While installation was easy, it very nearly didn't fit and this should be a major concern for anyone purchasing this rack system in general but especially if you have a factory rack. The mount points take up 4" and 5" respectively, so you need to measure how much free bar you actually have.

I have a 2001 Toyota Highlander. I thought nothing about when I purchased it. I assumed I would have plenty of space. It's 40 some odd inches across on my rack and my board is only 29.5" ... You can probably see where I'm going with this. Well I loose 2" on each side from the collars to mount my bars into the rails, 9" to the Inno SUP attatchment, and suddenly my board something like a 1/2" of clearance. Fortunately the system was designed in a way so that this is enough clearance, though it did bend one of the 'crane' wires.

Securing the Board:
It's pretty straight forward. You release the ratchet and hook the loop on to the hook and tighten the ratchet wheel until the board is secure. You can easily apply enough pressure to get all the wiggle out. It comes with chaffing gear for the ratchet side and has a cushy rubber liner on the other. I think for some board shapes you might want to cut up an old hose and run the wire through that.

One of the big selling points for me was being able to load quickly from only one side. With my car the Selnik quick strap method isn't overly quick, and I am concerned about tapping one of my doors into other cars in the parking lot when I the bottom of the door jam to as a stepping stool. This almost worked out as expected. I still need to open my driver door for a moment to hook the hook, but it's a lot less worrisome than having to do it twice on either side and fiddling with straps.

Security:
Most of the options for securing a board are a little lack luster. The Kanulocks are probably as good or better than most of the rack options. I'm not excessively worried about it. Having something that looks annoying with locks is good enough. You might be able to cut the wire with a hardwire cutter on a good leatherman.

Conclusion:
It does what I need it to do. It's not annoying to use. It doesn't make noise.  It's an OK offering in a collection of mediocre choices. The Lockrack and Kanulock solutions may be better, but I'm happy enough. I did look at the Yakima, Thule, etc. options. I wasn't particularly impressed.

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Gear Talk / ~2015 Starboard Allstar- is it good for chop?

« on: October 15, 2021, 10:15:45 AM »

I'm seeing deal on an old allstar 12.5'x24.5". How would it do in choppy conditions? What do you look for in a hull for chop?

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SUP General / Re: SUP Theft. Has it happened to anyone?

« on: October 05, 2021, 09:17:20 PM »

Anyway, back to your question, I've traveled a lot with stacks of boards, boats, bikes, foils, wings, sails and stuff. And never had much of a problem. A good set of locking straps holds off the casual thieves. Nothing is going to stop some guy with a battery-powered angle grinder. The bottom line is that not that many people want this stuff. Bicycles, maybe. Downwind boards? Probably not.

This was more or less my line of thought.

No,  SUP paddlers are too old and go to bed too early.

Worry about your mtn bike. People younger than 60 ride those.

I suddenly feel so uncool. It's past my bed time and I don't have a mountain bike.

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SUP General / SUP Theft. Has it happened to anyone?

« on: October 05, 2021, 01:30:12 PM »

I'm thinking about traveling with my SUP strapped to the top of my car, and I was wondering if SUP theft is a thing. I mean it seems like it would be a pain to steal an awkward 13' board from the top of the car, but you never know.  I would be leaving it strapped to my car over night at a hotel.

Also if you've never had problems feel free to chime in that's good to know too.

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: Axis Black series to Red series converter

« on: October 02, 2021, 08:53:16 AM »

I like this idea. Too bad I already own a red fuse.

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: Boom to non boom wing comparison

« on: September 25, 2021, 04:54:53 PM »

So I thought I'd throw this in here. I got my first SUP lesson today. I was talking with the guys at the shop and when they start people on wings they paddle upwind, inflate the wings on the water, strap their paddles to handles, and just have a nice easy down winder. I thought this was kinda neat. It seems like this would be harder on wing with a boom.

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: Dropped board size today

« on: September 25, 2021, 04:49:08 PM »

I am 95kg with full suit etc. I am of moderate finesse and atheletic ability. I am wing foiling on 105L (+10L/kg) Quatro WingDrifter Pro for 1y (was on 130L before that). On the 105L, I knee start but cannot balance/slog indefinitely while waiting for wind. If I go to 88L (-7 L/kg), how hard will it be and what method will I need to get up and onto foil.

I'm just a hair lighter than you (90kg no gear) and I just went for 125l to 90l. I suspect your experience will be more of less the same except that minimum amount of forward momentum to stand will increase. You will not be able to stand with no wind period. And, you will be a little more challenged to to maintain balance when standing in very light winds. I say go for it if you're into it.

I got to try a 105l board before I picked up the 90l. The difference was small between the two. Basically on the 105l I had a chance of standing in no wind on the 90l I have none. I also get hammered a little harder in the chop because it's a smaller board.  In light winds I can still get up and do all the things fine.

The last detail is are you in salt or fresh water? I'm in salt water so my board doesn't actually sink. It's pretty close. I have maybe 1cm of freeboard.  But, if you're in freshwater that may make your proposed board submerge a bit.

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Technique / Re: Newbie Paddling Up Wind Advice

« on: September 23, 2021, 05:14:10 PM »

Thanks everyone this is super helpful. I'm looking forward to trying this again.

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Technique / Newbie Paddling Up Wind Advice

« on: September 22, 2021, 12:53:00 PM »

So I tried SUP once on my own. It was a little windy maybe 7kts. I didn't have a bad time, but fighting the wind really put me off at the time. I went to wing foiling. Now the wind is consistently too low for me to go out and I'm eyeing that SUP sitting around in the backyard again. I watched a few videos and concluded that yeah... having no technique is probably the problem. I'm pretty sure my equip is decent. (I just snagged my father's set up. He's the same height.)

What's considered light/med/heavy/no-go wind for SUP? How much chop is too much?

Also any tips for strapping a 12' board to the top of your car? It was pretty sketchy last time I did it, and I had it strapped down enough to flex the bars.

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: ~95L Board Weights/densities

« on: August 28, 2021, 08:34:56 AM »

A light board will glide and ride much better than a heavier board and lift earlier than a heavier board of the same size.

Ultimately I agree with you. I like lighter boards too (just got the Phazer), but I think weight is such a small part of what drives your experience on the water.

In the water the fluid mechanics/architecture would probably be the most important feature as they are all the boaty things. Weight would impact displacement and thereby tweek the mechanics ever so slightly as the surface area in contact with the water increases. It would influence the amount of lift required by the foil to stay clear of the water (though here again I'm pretty sure architecture and fluid mechanics at the larger drivers for release from the water). But for all of these things you need to look at your weight as a package, for me as a 90kg rider I have difficulty believing that adding 1kg to my gear package is going to be a big deal. Yes it takes that much more energy but it's 100kg vs 101 kg that much more energy seems largely trumped by all the fluid mechanics in question.

Mmmm
Adding 1kg of body weight is not the same as adding 1kg of board weight.

Adding body weight will make it harder to get up un foil,and stall speed will be higher.It will also let you go faster on the same foil.You just increased wing loading on the foil.
But board will "feel" the same.

Adding 1kg of board weight has the same effect on wing loading...but will affect the board inertia very noticeably. If the increased mass is far from the balance point of the foil it might turn a sweet board into a total pig.

Shorter&Lighter=Less inertia ,board will respond to rider inputs in a quick and direct way without lag/overshoot.(Most of this effect is felt in the pitch axis).

Sinkers are a PITA ,but they ride so sweet once up because they have tiny inertia..

I agree. I took out my discussion on inertia because I thought no one wanted to hear it. But again, in discussing inertia weight is too crude a metric. If an extra 2 kg was centered above your mast it would have less effect than a 1/2 kilo closer to the outer edge. I'm not saying weight doesn't matter, I just think that in of itself it's not a primary driver of performance. Also I'm glad that people found my board carrying research so interesting.

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: ~95L Board Weights/densities

« on: August 27, 2021, 12:30:50 PM »

A light board will glide and ride much better than a heavier board and lift earlier than a heavier board of the same size.

Ultimately I agree with you. I like lighter boards too (just got the Phazer), but I think weight is such a small part of what drives your experience on the water.

In the water the fluid mechanics/architecture would probably be the most important feature as they are all the boaty things. Weight would impact displacement and thereby tweek the mechanics ever so slightly as the surface area in contact with the water increases. It would influence the amount of lift required by the foil to stay clear of the water (though here again I'm pretty sure architecture and fluid mechanics at the larger drivers for release from the water). But for all of these things you need to look at your weight as a package, for me as a 90kg rider I have difficulty believing that adding 1kg to my gear package is going to be a big deal. Yes it takes that much more energy but it's 100kg vs 101 kg that much more energy seems largely trumped by all the fluid mechanics in question.

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / ~95L Board Weights/densities

« on: August 26, 2021, 07:44:11 PM »

Yeah board weight is kind of a dumb concept for the most part. But, I was curious, and I did the research, so I thought I might as well share. I would point out a few things the first is that density is really the only way to compare board weights. The second that weight is one of the least important qualities in a board... so why do I care about weight? I just handle my equipment too much so I try to cut down on all the little things that make it more awkward out of the water.


Brand                        length   vol   weight (kg)   density (kg/l)
f one rocket                   5'5"   85   5.4                   0.06353
north seek                           5'5"   97   6.4                   0.06598
fanatic skywing                   5'4"   95   6.9                   0.07263
ak phazer                           5'8"   90   5.65                   0.06278
starboard wingboard          5'8"   88   7.9                   0.08977
blueplaner carver            5'2"   94   7.5                   0.07979
blueplanet wing master   5'3"   105   8.4                   0.08000
cabrina macro                   5'4"   98   7.3                   0.07449

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: Axis Foils

« on: August 16, 2021, 07:21:02 PM »

I run BSC 1060/390 with Short Fuse/75 Mast at 170 lb's.

My most recent session was in gusty - 18 to 28mph - conditions and started on Ensis 5.2 and dropped to my 3.5.  No issues with breaching and I run the mast with good bias to the front of the track.

Life long windsurfer so I am proficient at sail (wing) trim when powered or OP.  This helps I am sure.

Well figured out most of it for the moment. Moved the mast to the lift/board balance point, my 4.2 wing showed up, and I got a bit better in the interim. I still need either a smaller wing or a smaller foil eventually ... but those are questions for next month's pay check

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: How do you store your wing(s)?

« on: August 15, 2021, 09:15:57 AM »

No matter how vigorously I pump mine after rinsing with fresh water, it still takes at least a couple of hours to dry. Maybe rinsing in saltwater dries faster.

The only thing I can think of is that I do it at the beach when I get out of the water. It definitely moves a ton of water and the wind takes is away. I'm flying my wing overhead and pumping enough to make the sail snap back and forth. It's been super effective for me.

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Wingsurfing, Windfoiling, Wingfoiling, Wing SUP / Re: How do you store your wing(s)?

« on: August 14, 2021, 03:28:34 PM »

I just wanted to share my Earth shattering epiphany about drying wings. I got out of the water and flew the wing over head and gave it a vigorous pumping. It just dumped all the water off and was practically dry almost immediately!
I'm sure I'm not the first person to figure this out but it was pretty awesome. Now I can store my wings dry without extra handling or effort!