14' Bark Expedition

[bikeski]

Anyone have any experience with the 14' Surftech Bark Expedition as a downwind board.  I will eventually have the opportunity to try one myself.   For now I just wondering how it may compare to boards like the Naish Glide?


Thanks

Tony

[balance_fit]

Tony

I had the opportunity to paddle an Expedition for about 2 months. At one point, i was able to compare it neck to neck with an AST 14' Glide on a short, 3 km, downwind run in coastal wind swell. I swapped boards with my friend and we tested both.
I felt the Expedition to have better stability than the Glide, so did my friend. That said, on the above mentioned coastal downwind, the Glide just took off quicker, almost by itself, (it's a lighter hull) and achieved higher GPS top speeds than the Expedition....for both my friend and me.
 
The Glide required extra effort to balance and it fatigued my legs at the end of the 3km run. The Expedition required extra effort to catch the runs but the stability was enough so that i didn't fatigue my legs.
The Glide never pearls, and if it pierces the wave in front, it comes up smoothly. The Expedition...read on.

I went for an open ocean downwinder on the Expedition some weeks later. It's behavior if the nose was allowed to pearl discouraged me. It went down, and came up, only after jumping back, with a side to side movement that robbed quite a bit of speed. Then i had to bring it up to speed again....fatiguing to say the least.

For me, the Expedition can do a downwind very well if not allowed to pearl, based on stability alone. If the wind is above 20 knots you won't feel the effort to make it catch runs. If under that, be fit to sprint, just don't allow it to pearl.

Otherwise, the Expedition is an excellent flat water, choppy, cargo hauling, stable, trusty, board to have. Just not designed as a downwind board per se. If pure downwind is your call, between Glide and Expedition, i'll get fit and go with the Glide. Only downwind, because in flats, the Glide is second to the Expedition, IMHO.

Be well

[bikeski]

Thanks - Balance_fit for the quick response.  I think I will definitely demo one before I buy.  The Expedition is the only remotely Downwind (ish) board that my shop caries, so my options are a little limited. 

Thanks again look forward to hearing from others.

Tony

[XLR8]

Tony,

I like where you are going with this.  I do not have a true DW experience on the Expedition to share with you but once had the pleasure of having fellow Zoner CHill drop me in a heartbeat on a mild 8 mile downwinder off the shores of Topsail Island, NC.  I like my old design Glide 14, but do not enjoy the strange grab and turn characteristic it sometimes has.

I think you should borrow that Expedition and hit me up this weekend, we might have some winds to go figure this out ourselves.

[bikeski]

Tony,

I like where you are going with this.  I do not have a true DW experience on the Expedition to share with you but once had the pleasure of having fellow Zoner CHill drop me in a heartbeat on a mild 8 mile downwinder off the shores of Topsail Island, NC.  I like my old design Glide 14, but do not enjoy the strange grab and turn characteristic it sometimes has.

I think you should borrow that Expedition and hit me up this weekend, we might have some winds to go figure this out ourselves.

XLR8

I am sure I can get my hands on it any time I want, so this weekend might be fun.  I can't on Saturday, but Sunday is open.

Tony

[XLR8]

I went back to check out balance_fit's description, as it was some good info.

The key piece for us in the Great Lakes is that comment on above 20 knot/mph winds...for me, the best downwinders start at these winds speeds.

This is key.  I am not prepared to rule the Expedition out based on this, rather, I think we need to take the board out on a 20-25 knot+ day and check it out.

But, if that experience begins to ring true for us, it is important.

The best downwinders I have had in the GL region have occurred after several hours of 20 mph winds or bigger, straight north or south.  I don't have trouble with purling on the Glide, and I wonder how the wider Expedition factors in.

Would love to try a Foote Maliko 14 or SIC 14 or BlkBox DW14 in these conditions.

But, in the meantime, we should really get out this weekend.

[bts]

I ain't no expert at downwinding or downwind boards, but I did try both the expedition and the dominator.

I had a lot of trouble riding swell on the expedition, in particular the board felt unstable on a wave.  Probably mostly operator error, I had trouble sliding back on that board for some reason.

I thought the dominator was better in every regard. Better glide, easier catching swell, and better on a wave. I had a little trouble with the nose, having never tried a wave piercing tip.

I've also tried the JL albatross and JL maliko, and liked both these boards better than the expedition.

For comparison purposes, I'm 6'5" 230, 53, and a novice downwinder paddling the Hawaii-Kai open ocean run.

[XLR8]

The JL Albatross is a nice board.  I had a chance to paddle a 12'6 and thought it mae a nice downwinder for GL swell.  It surfed well and had decent glide.  I forgot about that board, but it would be great too.  Does it come in 14?

[DavidJohn]

Tony

I had the opportunity to paddle an Expedition for about 2 months. At one point, i was able to compare it neck to neck with an AST 14' Glide on a short, 3 km, downwind run in coastal wind swell. I swapped boards with my friend and we tested both.
I felt the Expedition to have better stability than the Glide, so did my friend. That said, on the above mentioned coastal downwind, the Glide just took off quicker, almost by itself, (it's a lighter hull) and achieved higher GPS top speeds than the Expedition....for both my friend and me.
 
The Glide required extra effort to balance and it fatigued my legs at the end of the 3km run. The Expedition required extra effort to catch the runs but the stability was enough so that i didn't fatigue my legs.
The Glide never pearls, and if it pierces the wave in front, it comes up smoothly. The Expedition...read on.

I went for an open ocean downwinder on the Expedition some weeks later. It's behavior if the nose was allowed to pearl discouraged me. It went down, and came up, only after jumping back, with a side to side movement that robbed quite a bit of speed. Then i had to bring it up to speed again....fatiguing to say the least.

For me, the Expedition can do a downwind very well if not allowed to pearl, based on stability alone. If the wind is above 20 knots you won't feel the effort to make it catch runs. If under that, be fit to sprint, just don't allow it to pearl.

Otherwise, the Expedition is an excellent flat water, choppy, cargo hauling, stable, trusty, board to have. Just not designed as a downwind board per se. If pure downwind is your call, between Glide and Expedition, i'll get fit and go with the Glide. Only downwind, because in flats, the Glide is second to the Expedition, IMHO.

Be well

That's my experience as well.

DJ

[Old School]

I'm looking for a touring board that has some ability to do downwinders as well.  Keep in mind that what passes for a downwinder here in Florida is 15 knots.  I would love to do 20+ knot runs, but unless we find a spot on Lake Okeechobee to catch the trade winds, it's not going to happen very often. Alligator repellant, anyone? 

I like the idea of the expedition because it is such a great touring board, with a bit of rocker to help going downwind, but the comments about above concern me.  I had all but written off the old glide due to the front rocker making it a poor (IMHO) touring board, and also being very, very tough upwind. 

I don't know if the comments above are the new glide or the old one.  Any thoughts specifically on the new glide and it's abilities on a light downwind run? I'm thinking it could be a great board, but would love to hear the experiences of others.  It would take some effort to find one to demo, especially on a day with good wind, so I'd want to feel pretty good about it before going through the effort, although I'd certainly demo before I buy. 

Thanks to everyone!

[robon]

I'm looking for a touring board that has some ability to do downwinders as well.  Keep in mind that what passes for a downwinder here in Florida is 15 knots.  I would love to do 20+ knot runs, but unless we find a spot on Lake Okeechobee to catch the trade winds, it's not going to happen very often. Alligator repellant, anyone? 

I like the idea of the expedition because it is such a great touring board, with a bit of rocker to help going downwind, but the comments about above concern me.  I had all but written off the old glide due to the front rocker making it a poor (IMHO) touring board, and also being very, very tough upwind. 

I don't know if the comments above are the new glide or the old one.  Any thoughts specifically on the new glide and it's abilities on a light downwind run? I'm thinking it could be a great board, but would love to hear the experiences of others.  It would take some effort to find one to demo, especially on a day with good wind, so I'd want to feel pretty good about it before going through the effort, although I'd certainly demo before I buy. 

Thanks to everyone!

I fall in the same category as yourself and I'm very interested in the Starboard Coast Runner. I have its wider and shorter brother in the 12'6" Race. I like its overall performance and the CR should follow suit. The Fanatic Open Ocean and Hobie Elite race look like good choices as well for all arounders.