Messages

661

SUP General / Re: Travelling with equipment?

« on: May 22, 2009, 02:41:35 PM »

There has been some discussion on the Sea Breeze forum in Oz recently. From looking at a couple of airline policies it seems that for most the issue is length, international flights usually have a length limit of 9'1" (wonder if they would worry about an inch over). Think I'd be making a stencil up and spray on the board bag 9' just to convince them!! Does vary though Virgin Blue have a limit of 3 metres or 118", I guess it comes down to the fine print and a bit of luck on check in.

Namotu looks amazing. Is there any option to the super expensive luxury path?

662

Downwind and Racing / Re: Beacon paddle pics.

« on: May 21, 2009, 11:17:57 PM »

Hi Venice Mace, we're not that smart ...all we had was LCB carried by FBI  . (that's Lindt Chocolate Bar and Four Bl@@dy idiots). At least one of us had the good sense to bring his digital watch compass so we did have some idea where home was. It was amazing how easily we became disoriented after mucking around on the beacon for a while.
PS Please don't take offence at blunt ozzie sarcasm!

663

Downwind and Racing / Re: Ever-changing shape of SUP race boards....

« on: May 14, 2009, 03:52:24 PM »

I've paddled both an early 14' Penetrator and the new 12'6 with the sunken deck. I think that because I'm light 150lbs, the 14' initially felt super tippy because I had actually so little of the board beneath the surface so the effective width was probably low 20's inches. It didn't actually tip you off because once it tipped to a certain extent there was more foam in the water, but the initial feeling is of complete instability, you end up doing these crazy little micro wobbles - but then after a little while your body sorts it out and it's fine, next day I didn't even notice. The 12'6 however immediately felt  very stable because it suited my weight, wonderful stable fast all around board.

The 14 on flat water with no wind was a revelation, paddle - go, felt almost frictionless. Seems that you can maintain a higher speed than on a planing hull with the same effort. Stuey described a day that Woogie came into work all excited one day (he can downwind to work!). On an 18 foot Penetrator he would catch a wave then pierce through the next, build up speed then pierce through the next etc etc. Of course Woogie is a master waterman, but that indicates that he was actually able to go faster than the speed of the wave.

I only managed to surf the 14 on regular small waves rather than wind swell, was very surprised how forgiving it was, seemed very hard to trip - I guess because there basically aren't any rails up front. As Pono-Bill said the hard thing is actually getting off the wave, I found that when I came into the bar and I started to get worried about depth I just had to jump off to get it to stop.

My own custom 14 Penetrator with sunken deck arrives next week so I'll post a report.

664

Random / Re: Embarassing myself at surfpainters request

« on: March 01, 2009, 12:42:20 AM »

My thoughts exactly Stoneaxe - looking down over the polished V8 on the front of the board. Thinking I'd leave off the  Race? comment - that would just be asking for trouble!

665

Random / Re: Embarassing myself at surfpainters request

« on: February 28, 2009, 12:45:55 PM »

First post on the Zone but I've been reading for ages. This one caught my eye, I've just ordered my 14' Penetrator from Stuey and looking for design inspiration. Thinking that the Pene is not really something you want turtles and dolphins on......more hot rod.....bingo Ed "Daddy" Roth. That hand reaching up for the gear shift could surely be on top of a paddle. Only trouble is, haven't got the skill to do it justice, I've attached a couple of images for inspiration and
acknowledge all copyright to big Daddy and EdRoth.com .

Any thoughts or art based on the Roth style with a SUP slant would be great fun, and I'm going for the all white with subtle carbon pinstripes so have the perfect back drop for something politically "in" correct! 

666

Downwind and Racing / Re: Does an F-14 make sense for N. California?

« on: February 20, 2009, 04:50:29 PM »

Hi riverrat, interesting post for me. I'm in Melbourne Australia and I've just pulled the trigger on a 14' Penetrator, I have a 12'6" Starboard that I've been using for flat water and down-winders, also 9'6" for waves. Found that I really enjoy the longer distance cruising and think the 14' will add a new dimension and hopefully not too much time in the drink! I'm getting Stuey to make it slightly friendlier than the full on race version. I've also used the 12'2" Starboard quite a bit and enjoyed it too, I'm hoping I'll just be able to fit the 14' inside my VW van with the seat reclined and the tail touching the windscreen, the thought of trying to get it on and off the roof for a high wind down-winder is pretty scary. I should have it in a month so I'll post photos and impressions - can't wait! Interesting that you are going for the F-14 rather than a Bark, I would have thought the local knowledge and the ability to customise would be worth having , the new F-14 does look pretty appealing though. Good luck with the decision, I've got a funny feeling you've already made it though.....