An Inflatable - faster than a 12’6

[photofr]

Area10:
Couple years back, you would have probably said that iSUP are way too slow. Now I am showing you that inflatables are pretty darn fast.

Fast forward to 2016, you are now saying that they are unsafe. Clearly, you know how easily they could further evolve to include two or three inflatable points - in the very near future.

Sadly, I think that you are "misrepresenting the point that I was" trying to make in this post:
iSUP have come a really long way, they are faster than ever imagined, and they could really be the perfect tool for many people seeking alternatives.

Now rest assure: I love my rigid boards; in fact, I ordered TWO of them for 2016. They are both 14' long - and there's nothing inflatable about them.

I will, however, continue to experiment with my iSUP for it just so much fun & quite comparable to a rigid board.

[Area 10]

I didn't say that iSUPs were unsafe. I said that they were less safe than hard boards. There is a big difference. Please don't put words into my mouth - Spookini is doing a fine job of that as it is.

Inflatables are quicker than they were. But they are still slower than hard board equivalents. But I don't care about speed, particularly. It's about the paddling experience. And in the conditions I paddle in, unless I'm pootling with my family, I wouldn't choose an iSUP. But for many, the cheapness, transport, and ownership issues outweigh factors such as paddling pleasure or performance.

Look, I don't know why we are apparently disagreeing. Maybe something is getting lost in translation. ISUPs are great in many ways. But they have some pretty serious drawbacks too, at least as far as current designs and constructions go. Surely no-one could really disagree with that statement?

I do get frustrated with the iSUP Koolaid sometimes. ISUPs generally stink upwind, downwind or cross-wind compared to their hard board equivalents. But for sure they have their place, and you can find conditions where their performance is only about 3-5% worse than a hard board. But in racing terms that is still a pretty big margin. However I'm with Dave Kalama: I think all international races should be on inflatables so paddlers can get to them easily. As long as everyone is using the same thing it really doesn't matter for racing what you use since racing is not about paddling pleasure.

[photofr]

I totally agree that all International (and perhaps even National) Races should take place on inflatables. Come on… that a step forward.

Everything has drawbacks.
The hard board biggest drawbacks might be transport & storage & price.
The inflatable boards might be downwind, but my opinion greatly differs; iSUP can excel in sidewind conditions, and sometimes even in upwind conditions.

Taking a closer look, your favorite rigid board (and my favorite rigid SUP) should not be made out of styrofoam. They should inevitably be made from a molds - much like surfskis. We'd end up with 15 lbs boards that would be far more rigid, and way stronger in all respects.

In retrospect, rigid boards are archaic in more ways than one. iSUP are closing a virtual gap. The future remains uncertain.

Perhaps one common denominator: Paddling Experience - as you say - and that's highly subjective, especially when you consider how much fun I was having with my new toy.

Cheers - because that can't be lost in translation

[UKRiverSurfers]

virtually nothing but iSUPs on display. If that is the future, then soon there will be hardly any hard boards being imported into many markets. Then pretty much all racing will be on inflatables by default.

Cool - then all you sailing background guys can keep it and the paddlers from eons ago will start again on another tack that actually makes sense!

[UKRiverSurfers]

Taking a closer look, your favorite rigid board (and my favorite rigid SUP) should not be made out of styrofoam. They should inevitably be made from a molds - much like surfskis. We'd end up with 15 lbs boards that would be far more rigid, and way stronger in all respects.

My board is made exactly like that and that is the future.... Because most geezas bringing in the kit are ex windsurfers/sailers etc, they don't get the hollow vibe yet!

Any 'paddler' knows that the best paddle craft are not made of EPS...

At the moment in the UK its all iSUPs as Area10 says, but thats purely down to lack of education

[Area 10]

virtually nothing but iSUPs on display. If that is the future, then soon there will be hardly any hard boards being imported into many markets. Then pretty much all racing will be on inflatables by default.

Cool - then all you sailing background guys can keep it and the paddlers from eons ago will start again on another tack that actually makes sense!

Sailing background? I'm not sure I follow. Only a vanishingly small proportion of SUP racers are from a sailing background, and not many sailors use iSUPs as tenders.

The iSUP onslaught is being driven by families, occasional paddlers, city dwellers, people with little money, international travellers, and the Watersports industry.

Dave Kalama made the suggestion partly as a provocation I think, but he was making the general point that the racing board classes are stupid, leading to slow races and excluding many bigger guys from the podium. So if it is ludicrous anyway, then why not make it ludicrous but also convenient, inexpensive, and more inclusive, and run all races on inflatables. So I suspect the starting point of the suggestion was actually a viewpoint about SUP that is pretty similar to yours. It was a suggestion partly borne out of frustration and dismay at the way the sport was developing.

Oh, and btw, there are several paddlers on these forums who have owned both hollow and foam UL boards and have decided that they prefer the foam ones. So it isn't always the case that once you've tried hollow you don't want anything else.

[UKRiverSurfers]

On the storage issues - to me thats secondary..

The paddling experience comes first and if I can't store it, I will find a way somehow..

All my boards are stored in the dry except my WW bashing plastic boards..

As far as storing iSUP in a small space, thats not really recommended either.. My iSUPs are stored inflated just below fun pressure.

The iSUP onslaught is being driven by families, occasional paddlers, city dwellers, people with little money, international travellers, and the Watersports industry

Mostly because of the way it is marketed by windsurfers with no timeserved paddling background.

If I were marketing Red I wouldn't put a model in a bikini on a board who has never paddled. That just puts time served paddlers off, as it looks like noting more than a beach toy.. So you get your described market not quality paddlers.

[UKRiverSurfers]

I guess I mean the blokes at the top the UK market making the decisions on what they import.. They are virtually all ex wave sailers etc..

[Area 10]

They are just going where the sales are. Most UK SUPers are the same crowd as would otherwise be on a sit-on-top kayak, playing on the shoreline on a summer day. You can't really make proper money out of the SuP business in the UK. It needs to be part of a diversified package, which is why the windsurf/kitesurf guys run the show, pretty much.

[UKRiverSurfers]

Well thats exactly my point.......

It can be a package - but a dynamic package that attracts great paddlers from other back grounds not the weekend warrior market

It is a dynamic package with me - which is why the likes of Siri Schubert came over from Switzerland to train with me for a week. If my posts were all like Reds shed have run a mile..

[UKRiverSurfers]

So - we have a bunch of paddlers in the UK that do not have a timeserved back ground. When and if elite paddlers do get attracted to UK SUP racing the boys at the top will be blown out of the water. So maybe they want to keep it aimed at low end paddling fraternity??

[UKRiverSurfers]

They are just going where the sales are. Most UK SUPers are the same crowd as would otherwise be on a sit-on-top kayak, playing on the shoreline on a summer day. You can't really make proper money out of the SuP business in the UK. It needs to be part of a diversified package, which is why the windsurf/kitesurf guys run the show, pretty much.

It is their marketing that dictates where the sales are..?

[UKRiverSurfers]

Here's me slating them.....

If I want change I should invest a few hundred grand and do it myself.

I won't though, but while the market fizzles away in the future, us hardcore paddlers will be making our own micro markets that will continue to support us and aid us, much as i have with swimming.

[Off-Shore]

Jeez Louise... We're almost on the 3rd page already... Every time I'm about to post, I get the message that I should reconsider, as someone else has posted something new.. So unlike FB

So back to ISUPs being faster than hard boards. No. Maybe a 14' over a 9' but a like for like hard board IMO will always be faster.

But as an owner of a hollow carbon board, and several foam core boards and long term ISUP paddler I'm a great believer in horses for courses. As an ex composite engineer I love my carbon hollow board as a piece of engineering and when I bought it there were no production foam versions of it. The truth is though, if the foam version had been available, I'd have bought it instead, purely on price.

Returning to ISUPs there are a few that I've tried that are getting there in terms of delivering a similar experience to a hard board. The SIC Airglide Bullet 14' is up there at the top of my list. The RPC Elite Race 14' x 26" is also a surprise how slippy it is, but I'm only ever going to choose these two over a hard board if I'm travelling and touring. It is simply magical to be able to pull up at some piece of water, pump up a performance piece of kit and have 90% of the experience (or more) compared to a hard board. It is a 200% experience when the only way you could have paddled is on an ISUP either because of there being no good rentals or no other possible way to get a hard board.

That is why I like ISUPs.

[UKRiverSurfers]

Like for like - as Off shore says, its a no brainer.

I reckon every paddler should have an iSUP in their quiver purely for the travelling possibility..

Of course there is also the iSUP with hard tail that hopefully will be bringing out an touring version. The Pendleboard