Author Topic: King's Paddle Sports  (Read 8348 times)

Blue crab

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King's Paddle Sports
« on: May 12, 2014, 04:46:53 PM »
Wondering if any zoners own a King's board. I paddled a number of boards at the NW paddlefest this weekend.  The King's boards really stood out (though several key companies were not present).  I was impressed with both the AC Elite & the Unlimited.  Both were extremely quiet through the water, really light and felt really fast.

My wife was fired up about a Candice Appleby but now is leaning towards the AC Elite.  I am wondering how these boards fare in choppier conditions, as we were dealing with flat water only. Any experience out there?

supdiscobay

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Re: King's Paddle Sports
« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2014, 06:13:34 PM »
Bluecrab,
I spent last week down at San Elijo Campground, surfing on two different Kings boards.  The sidewinder and the crossover.  We took off one day when the wind was bad and drove up to the Kings Factory and spent two hours with Dave, his wife Rhonda and staff, touring the factory and talking stand up. Dave walked us through every step and explained design theory (race and surf), and new materials they are using.

I am working on a detailed write up about my experience right now, and will post it when I am done.  It was eye opening and after seeing it all and riding their boards, nobody should waist there time with Naish, Starboard, Fanatic or frankly any other board made outside of the USA.  There are a lot on this forum who would like a board that might be an 1" wider or narrower than what is offered by these manufacturers, but Naish, Starboard, Fanatic can't do it.  Kings and a few others can, and do it cheaper and better. 

I saw your post and just wanted to give you a heads up.
8'5" Starboard Pocket Rocket, 8'0" Kazuma Fugu custom,  8'10" Kings Sidewinder, 10' Starboard Noserider, 14' BARK Carbon Dominator, SIC F16 V3, KeNalu and Quickblade paddles, 19' Eaton Prone, 67" Goode 9700

starman

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Re: King's Paddle Sports
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2014, 08:06:33 PM »
Hey supdiscobay, I would like to concur with your opinion of Dave Daum of King's. I had never met the guy but managed to walk by a stack of King's board at an event a couple of weeks ago. I asked a question about one of the boards (my wife is shopping for a shorter surf board) and I think we spent over 30 minutes learning all there was to know about Dave and King's SUP. Very knowledgeable and lot's of passion for designing and building SUP boards. I left very impressed and feel that it would be hard to find another builder making boards to your individual needs with the same passion Dave puts into his products.

I do need to mention I met him while he was packing up at the end of a long day to head home. He had not problem stopping what he was doing and engage a complete stranger in a long and very informative conversation about himself and his company. I just hope he doesn't do it with everyone as he would never have time to build boards ;-). Looking forward of your detailed writeup.

Blue crab

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Re: King's Paddle Sports
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2014, 08:54:26 PM »
Wow disco.  That is one hell of an endorsement. I look forward to your write up. While I am not sure I am ready to part with my entire quiver of mass produced boards, I totally agree that Dave & Rhonda are high quality.  It turns out that they were actually at the paddlefest. I had no clue that they were the owners of the company (until about 15 minutes ago) and asked them a couple of spec questions which they answered graciously.  They were not the least bit pushy and only smiled when I praised the boards.

I was a bit preoccupied as my barbaric sons were busily rotating through each of their carbon boards which I assumed to be fragile. However, Rhonda was every bit as invested in the kids checking out the gear as the adults, and seemed thrilled at how much fun they were having.

And I will reiterate that the unlimited is a bad mofo….. Felt like I could paddle for miles without getting tired on that thing.

JillRide45

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Re: King's Paddle Sports
« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2014, 09:19:09 PM »
King's makes really nice boards and they really support the sport. They sponsor more local women racer than any other company.

But for some reason their race boards do tend to not handle chop well.  If you are going to paddle in rough conditions then you might want to demo it in rough conditions. What type of paddling will your wife be doing?

Have fun. Jill

mrbig

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Re: King's Paddle Sports
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2014, 10:31:23 PM »
In the world of syncronicity I had contacted King's to discuss a new design Ian Cairn short big/old guy thruster. Talked to Rhonda for a while; then I'm talking to Dave; now I am linked to his CADCAM screen looking at this new design! We chatted some more and I am looking at a new noserider called the crocodile.

I have had several nose riding sups that have never been satisfactory as nose riders. Dave gave me LOTS of his personal time and after two more rather lengthy conversations and interactive screen design sessions - I have ordered a new ( top secret) crocodile noserider piggybacked onto the Cinnamon Rainbows shop order - props to Dave Cropper for making that happen. And got an invite for a surf on the Other Coast!

Absolutely unbelievable and amazing. Genuine aloha alive and well! Go to their FB site and check out croc pics!

Kurt, can't wait for your experiences and story as well!
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 10:36:53 PM by mrbig »
Let it come to you..
SMIK 9'2" Hipster Mini Mal
SMIK 8'8" Short Mac Freo Rainbow Bridge
SMIK 8'4" Hipster Twin
King's 8'2" Accelerator SharkBoy

supdiscobay

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Re: King's Paddle Sports
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2014, 01:01:20 AM »
Sorry, might be a day or two before I finish the writeup.  At 10pm PST, tonight I was writing and heard a car crash, that sounded like it was in front of my house.  It is warm out so the windows were open and the crash was very loud.  Ran outside, saw a car in the dark driving away. My motorhome was parked in the street, as we just got back from San Diego last night, and hadn't finished final cleaning yet. 
Then I saw the debris in the street, from where the driver hit the back corner of the motorhome. Called the highway patrol and reported a hit and run. Picked up some of the parts that came off the car (passenger side mirror) and googled part numbers to determine it was a 2012 Chevy Sonic. Highway patrol showed up a half hour ago and said they found the car, and driver.  They laughed when I asked if it was a silver 2012 Chevy Sonic.  The driver ended up hitting another car a couple blocks away. 
Damage was not too bad. If there was a good swell this weekend, I could take it on the road. But, still I have to take the time to deal with it.
8'5" Starboard Pocket Rocket, 8'0" Kazuma Fugu custom,  8'10" Kings Sidewinder, 10' Starboard Noserider, 14' BARK Carbon Dominator, SIC F16 V3, KeNalu and Quickblade paddles, 19' Eaton Prone, 67" Goode 9700

supthecreek

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Re: King's Paddle Sports
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2014, 03:23:07 AM »
Dave Daum of King's Paddle Sports is a Zoner ;D
Here is a link to his first post...offering to share his shaping knowledge with the Zone.
You can work your way back thru his post to gain lots of insight to SUP design.
I could not find his thread "Anatomy of a board" but it was a wonderful thread:

http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,3206.msg27181.html#msg27181


mrbig

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Re: King's Paddle Sports
« Reply #8 on: May 13, 2014, 03:27:34 AM »
Kurt, sorry to hear about the crash - at least nobody was injured! Supdiscobay crime labs now in business. Sounds as if the bozo driver was having technical difficulties.

Can't say enough good things about King's Paddlesports! 8)
Let it come to you..
SMIK 9'2" Hipster Mini Mal
SMIK 8'8" Short Mac Freo Rainbow Bridge
SMIK 8'4" Hipster Twin
King's 8'2" Accelerator SharkBoy

bretrwarner

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Re: King's Paddle Sports
« Reply #9 on: May 16, 2014, 10:12:10 AM »
King's boards are awesome.  I highly recommend them and agree with every positive thing said here already.

 


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