Big guy bought a 2015 Red Paddle 14x26 Elite

[deepmud]

AirKayaks had it for $999 - 2015 model - someone posted up a link and I couldn't resist. Took 3 days to get to Alaska!

I took it out this afternoon. I figured I'd be in the drink a lot - 26" from 30" Blue Planet. Not so much! First run, upwind, was a faster average than I've managed on my Blue Planet with NO wind! (4.2mph) , at just under 4.4 mph. Not bad fighting a blustery day - maybe 10-12mph wind - strong enough I could see it rippling the water in gusts. Downbreezed back at 5.23 mph - average! I have sometimes peaked at 5 or 6 in a sprint before but wow! I'm pretty stoked. At 270lbs on an inflatable, I figure this is pretty fast I went on down the lake, using the ankle-high waves to assist, and got an average of 4.9  - great fun, water splashing over the bow, felt fast Fought the wind back to the dock again at 4.4 mph again (these are all 3/4 to 1/2 mile mini-runs - the whole lake is about 1.5 miles long).

It really didn't seem unstable (on flat water! which is all I have)  - I am going to try it on the little creeks and such - I think it's speed makes up for stability - just not that much penalty in stability and a pretty big benefit of speed.

Erik

[bdlee73_Idaho]

Glad it's working out for you! I was tentative to pick it up as my first board. I'm getting a Boardworks Raven ISUP coming off demo in a few weeks. For now, it'll be a better fit for me.

[deepmud]

SO - on day 2 (Sunday) I did a much longer paddle - went to the end of my 7 mile trail, the long part I usually avoid and paddled to the end and back.

Man - my legs! The balancing burns energy. Towards the end on the return leg, I got a series of small swells, left over from a boat going by - 8" high, 3 or 4 feet apart, coming from the side. By the time I got thru about 8 I began to realize I'd have to get down or fall off, I couldn't keep coordinated while being "hit" from the side, even gently like that. So - is the board tippy? Kind of. But more like, I'm still not in shape, still really heavy for this (but down again 265 this morning) - it means I get tired more quickly.

On the plus side, the board has so much more glide....it's funny, I'm using this as exercise, I'm not trying to get anywhere - but it's fun to go faster. The muscles used going faster are different, or maybe used in different way, than when I go more slowly at high effort on my Blue Planet 12'6"x30 board. I think to go fishing I'd take the BP - or my Tower Xplorer which is an aircraft carrier of a sup.

[lucabrasi]

Thanks for posting this deepmud.......along with your other stuff as well.