Topics

1

Travel, Trips, Destinations / SUP surfing course in Lisbon, Portugal

« on: December 20, 2018, 04:03:15 AM »

Dear Zoners,

I am spontaneously going to Lisbon, Portugal for a few days and looking for a SUP surfing course. Is there any place or instructor that you would recommend?

BTW, I read about Tiago's Mauka Lodge in other threads but 50 min drive from Lisbon is a bit too much for me.

Looking forward to your advice!

Best
LP

2

Gear Talk / Need help: flatwater hard boards for long-distance racing/touring

« on: July 22, 2018, 01:56:14 PM »

Aloha Zoners. I've been looking for my first hard board for flatwater conditions with small chops and swells. I live inland and have paddled so far mostly on lakes with a 14'x28" inflatable. Only recently I started preparing for a 10-km race and contemplating upgrading to a hard board. For what it's worth, I'm 1.87 m (ca. 6'2") tall and weigh approx. 76 kg (ca. 168 lbs).

FYI, here is a list of hard boards that I've tried thus far in chronological order. Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to collect any timing data.

• Starboard All Star 14'x23" (2017). Tested for less than an hour with wind gusts of 4 Bft. Felt tippy at the beginning but quickly adapted to it. Given some extra hours I might've been able to do a step-back buoy turn (tried several times but failed halfway).
• JP Flatwater Race 14'x25" (2017?). Tested for half an hour with wind gusts of 4 Bft, first 15 min upwind, last 15 min downwind. Felt more stable than the 23"-wide All Star.
• JP Flatwater Race 14'x24.5" (2016?). Tested for two hours with wind gusts up to 2 Bft. No stability issue from minute one. Suppose I could go with something narrower.

Here is a list of hard boards in alphabetical order that I'd like to try out.

• Blue Planet DO (Dug Out) Racer 14'x21"/22.5". Robert has always been an invaluable source with his Zen Waterman blog, Board Meetings (with Evan) and the like. Personally I'd also want to return the favor some day. 21" does sound a bit scary, but Robert (6'2", 195 lbs) managed to feel comfortable on it after a day's tour (https://blueplanetsurf.com/news/sup-11-city-tour-and-paddle-expo-euro-trip-report/). I suppose that I could get used to it in a few weeks' time. However I've never seen any Blue Planet board locally (in Southern Germany) and the nearest test centers are all too far away. Might not be easy to have a go.
• Light Nelo Signature Race 14'x23". Strongly represented by their team riders in local events. Shame that I haven't tried one yet. The design without an EPS core sounds appealing.
• SIC RS 14'x23". I've only read positive things about this one here. Although Reuben indicated in the SUPboarder review that the handle would store quite some water, it is possibly only a minor issue.
• Starboard Sprint 14'x21.5". I've seen people consistently stressing its stability in the forum. Not so sure whether I'd like the deep dugout though. I could imagine that it wouldn't be very comfortable when I fall in and have to climb back onto the board.

Sometimes I ask myself whether it's really worth the efforts, and whether I should just grab any board and paddle my heart out. Indeed, any hard board listed above would be a big leap from my inflatable. If you disagree, I'd like very much to have some feedback regarding, e.g.,

• any board that I should try but has not been listed above;
• your impressions about any board that would suit my needs, and, if it's not too much trouble, how it is compared to a board that I already had a go on;
• whether any two boards listed above are genuinely comparable, or whether one board would clearly better suit my needs than the other, so that I could narrow down the choices.

Never thought it would be so difficult to do test runs of boards of various brands. Possibly it has to do with the geographical location. Found a local retailer shop of SIC which insists any board rental service be bundled with a basic course at their SUP center. I may be an amateur in SUP but would rather not pay for another basic course...

Mahalo and looking forward to your replies.