Tower Xplorer 14' Isup

[deepmud]

Or: What I did Last Summer

Last winter my = wife got me a Tower Xplorer - it was a "grap bag special" (returned) - at $399 it was a good deal - at $200 shipping not as great. Alaska is not a state - the Unites States Post Office won't ship here.....wait it is......and they will....

Anyway - it was winter time. No paddling - but right away I inflated it and my Blue Planet 12'6" to compare.





The 6" thick Blue Planet seems like 3" compared to the GIANT 8" thick Tower board.

The Tower has about a 3" twist to it - this is why it was returned, I assume - it didn't/doesn't leak.

I've had both boards out last summer - I can't seem to get my free gps tracker to run two times in a row so I don't have back-to-back comparisons of speed on the same route - but my impression is that I can get about 4 mph out of either board.

I'm 280 so a big board helps but the xtra width and drag of the Xplorer is enough I can feel it - a lot. Tower's claims of "fast" are exaggerated - maybe it's fast compared to a 9'/10' surfer/all-rounder?

The big board takes a LOT of air to fill it  - here I'm trying my off-road air compressor - a decent, $200 Quick-Air II - it's pretty slow. Later I got one of the $50 Sevylor units - it's much faster to 15 psi - but for this beast I usally stop at 12 psi . The 8" thick board  seems plenty stiff at that pressure.



ALL my paddling is flat water, on local lakes and streams.



I got a Futures Fins plastic fin and cut and modd'd it to work with the Tower ( not only too long to fit the slot, but I have to cut the back of the fin to let it tip back and slip in) - I think it tracks better, sheds weeds better and a inch or so of clearance for underwater logs is NICE. I use the same fin on both my Isups. The stock fin STOPS on logs . The cut fin still tries to throw me off the front of the board but is less "grabbed and pulled back by an alligator" feeling. Maybe I need a soft fin.



I think if you are recreational, flatwater paddler - it's a great board. I like the stability, the ease of use. I think I'm going to want a hard board eventually - and I think this would be true with with either of these boards as a "first board". The fact is if you spend a lot of time on the water, and CAN store a hard board, they will reward your efforts with more speed. If you are just excercising - maybe it doesn't matter. I have a 14' fiberglass sea kayak that I take on multi-day trips but I have a plastic 10' boat that I like to toss in the Beetle and run to the lake 1/2 a mile away - it's slow but I only have a 2 mile long lake nearby anyway - it's great excercise to push at 4 mph, either on my plastic kayak or my Isup. Like a runner training with a parachute for drag

I don't see it as a downwinder - but if all you have for downwinders is a breezy day on the lake (like me) then it will be fun. It's pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to paddle INTO a wind - I went out on a day with just with just a little wave action and white-caps and it turned into one-way trip with a call the wife at the other end of the water trail  - I tried for 10 minutes to paddle back upwind and only made it 100 yards - even kneeling and paddling hard canoe-style made no progress.

I added a bunch of d-rings - http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-D-ring-Inflatable-Dinghy/dp/B00XFXPYQO - (these work out to less than $5 each even shipped)  and tried out the usual sup-fishing with a cooler - the board is so wide and stable it works great for this. I'd recommend it as a fishing platform  - as long as you don't have to fight wind to get back to the dock.



I use the board when I just want to poke around the lily pads and up the shallow stream or for when I need a 2nd board for a loaner/to bring a friend along (again - super stable - easy for beginners).



Fin as it ended up - most clearance I felt I could get while still tracking ok:


The combo of the fin and the really wide, long board means I can skim along if very shallow water.




I think if this had been the first Isup I had ordered I might only have the one - or I might have ordered another at the next "Grab Bag" sale (especially with a bit of planning on shipping it somewhere other than AK first) - I keep thinking if I have two of them I could have a great pontoon fishing boat like this ( pic stolen from the internet) :

[capobeachboy]

That is a great board for you Clydesdales. I remember doing an ULI demo at the Battle of the Paddle a few years ago and this heavyset couple wanted to take out a board tandem. I sent them to the Tower tent and they took out that 8" thick monster - mostly proning and getting clobbered by waves. The multi-person boards like Supsquatch use the 8" thick material and it's very rigid for a single person SUP (even at lower pressure) but you are way up there and will most likely need a longer paddle.

As you mentioned the thickness and boxy rails don't allow it to paddle well in the wind unless you are going with it which is why boards with heavier construction or stiffening systems can be made with 4" or 5" thick material and be very rigid too.  They also work better in all wind conditions and can be made narrower for speed and efficiency due to the lower center of gravity.

Nice job on cutting down the fin.  The shorter fin box allows the board to be packed smaller which is why some companies use it but it does limit the fin choices as most of the race/tour fins are made for 10" boxes.   

[deepmud]

Clydesdale lol - yeah - for a playing on the lake and putting around board, it's good for me - or a family of 5  . Seriously - plop it in the water with half dozen kids and they have a blast.

I did a lot of searching before pulling the trigger on my Blue Planet (the season before the Tower was bought by my wife)  - I couldn't find much in the way of a REAL review of the Tower then (or now) - I don't surf but I think we can guess it won't be a great surfer It's fine as a "lake property" or fishing craft on flat water - despite Tower's statement  -" ideal for anyone that just wants a crazy fast flat-water touring board" - don't expect to keep up with others just because it's 14' feet long - it's a fat, wide body with a lot of wetted surface to drag along. I can work really hard and get to 4.5 mph - and I can work 75% as hard and do 4.5 mph on my Blue Planet. At 2-3mph they are both easy.

You are right the paddle has to be longer when I use it - my main paddle is a 3 piece Blue Planet Carbon Fiber so it works for me on both boards well. If I had a one-piece carbon I couldn't adjust  .... well I might be a more serious paddler then and I'd not be riding the Xplorer anyway.