Author Topic: Unlimiteds making a comeback?  (Read 1585 times)

surf4food

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PonoBill

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Re: Unlimiteds making a comeback?
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2016, 05:45:37 AM »
It'd be cool to think so, but really, for open ocean downwind, they never left. I'd love to see unlimiteds racing something other than M2M-style races, but I think that ship has sailed.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

surf4food

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Re: Unlimiteds making a comeback?
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2016, 07:30:03 AM »
It'd be cool to think so, but really, for open ocean downwind, they never left. I'd love to see unlimiteds racing something other than M2M-style races, but I think that ship has sailed.

Yeah but it seems like the # of open ocean/M2M style races seems to be on the rise, at least in Australia and New Zealand.  Probably South Africa also.  Hence the apparent new found popularity for ULs. 

Night Wing

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Re: Unlimiteds making a comeback?
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2016, 08:03:39 AM »
That is one good looking board from One Sup. BTW, since I'm still learning my way around sup differences, what is the difference between this race board and a downwind board?
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

PonoBill

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Re: Unlimiteds making a comeback?
« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2016, 08:21:16 AM »
This IS a downwind board. Race boards are designed for speed under paddle, downwind boards are designed for speed in a bump. There's overlap, and in some downwind areas. like the Viento run in Hood River, race boards are commonly used. But for big open ocean swells a downwind-specific board works better, and an unlimited board, that has a better chance of getting into the big, fast-moving swells, is best.
Foote 10'4X34", SIC 17.5 V1 hollow and an EPS one in Hood River. Foote 9'0" x 31", L41 8'8", 18' Speedboard, etc. etc.

PT Woody

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Re: Unlimiteds making a comeback?
« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2016, 02:30:50 AM »
If King of the Cut agrees to make the prize money category unlimited instead of 14', this may well be a watershed worldwide. I think it's interesting that the pressure is mounting thanks to the likes of Travis Grant - it may well be the case in future that if you are running a distance race and you want to attract the top talent, you will have to make the elite category unlimited. And what's even more interesting is that some of the people who were most in favour of retaining 12'6" as the elite class for distance racing are now getting right behind unlimited boards themselves.

 


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