Author Topic: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race  (Read 259622 times)

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #705 on: March 04, 2019, 10:16:18 AM »
Ok well they could hardly bring out first a megabucks board that is only a tourer. So it was nevitable that their first offerings were going to be aimed at elite paddlers. I’ll have to wait until they have saturated the market for such boards (which will only take a dozen or so in Europe maybe :) ) and then they start making detuned versions boards for plebs like me, who have more money than ability.

In the meantime, I guess I’ll go custom again... not as light as the hollow boards but my UL has proven crazy durable, and was cheaper than the Nelo.

ukgm

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #706 on: March 05, 2019, 12:03:37 AM »
Ok well they could hardly bring out first a megabucks board that is only a tourer. So it was nevitable that their first offerings were going to be aimed at elite paddlers. I’ll have to wait until they have saturated the market for such boards (which will only take a dozen or so in Europe maybe :) ) and then they start making detuned versions boards for plebs like me, who have more money than ability.

In the meantime, I guess I’ll go custom again... not as light as the hollow boards but my UL has proven crazy durable, and was cheaper than the Nelo.

The 21 inch wide version coming though - that's insanely narrow. It'll be so light that it may well be too light and the agility you'll need for something with so little inertia is going to make the equivalent Starboard Sprint feel like a barge. If Bruno thinks he can handle that, fair play to him.

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #707 on: March 05, 2019, 06:26:04 AM »
The 21 inch wide version coming though - that's insanely narrow. It'll be so light that it may well be too light and the agility you'll need for something with so little inertia is going to make the equivalent Starboard Sprint feel like a barge. If Bruno thinks he can handle that, fair play to him.

We'll see if they make any changes to the shape to promote stability. We've already seen top
paddlers having hard time finding their rhythm on a 21.5" in open water conditions.
in progress...

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #708 on: March 05, 2019, 07:22:46 AM »
The 21 inch wide version coming though - that's insanely narrow. It'll be so light that it may well be too light and the agility you'll need for something with so little inertia is going to make the equivalent Starboard Sprint feel like a barge. If Bruno thinks he can handle that, fair play to him.

We'll see if they make any changes to the shape to promote stability. We've already seen top
paddlers having hard time finding their rhythm on a 21.5" in open water conditions.
That’s only because we haven’t yet got a generation who fully grew up with SUP. There are a few coming through now, but really, probably if you weren’t racing on narrow boards by the time you were about 10 years old (and preferably much earlier than that), you don’t have any future at the top level of SUP racing, within 2-3 years. Board widths should go sub-20 very soon indeed, and probably the height of top racers will decrease.

Gotta clear out the oldsters, finally. We’ve been hanging around like embarrassing uncles and aunts at a teenager’s party for too long anyway. Jim Terrell’s predictions about the future of racing from several years ago are almost inevitably coming true. The next generation of board reviews will be presented by teenagers, because no-one ukgm’s age will be able to stand on them, so won’t be able to offer an opinion :)

Racing is a waste of time anyway. The future for SUP events IMO is all about the “life experience” and the social and environmental connections they will afford. Most people these days have quite enough competition in their working lives or at school, without seeking yet more competition in leisure time. Collaboration and shared experiences rather than the narcissism of competition.

ukgm

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #709 on: March 05, 2019, 11:34:49 AM »

1) That’s only because we haven’t yet got a generation who fully grew up with SUP. There are a few coming through now, but really, probably if you weren’t racing on narrow boards by the time you were about 10 years old (and preferably much earlier than that), you don’t have any future at the top level of SUP racing, within 2-3 years. Board widths should go sub-20 very soon indeed, and probably the height of top racers will decrease.

2) Jim Terrell’s predictions about the future of racing from several years ago are almost inevitably coming true.

3) The next generation of board reviews will be presented by teenagers, because no-one ukgm’s age will be able to stand on them, so won’t be able to offer an opinion :)

4) Racing is a waste of time anyway. The future for SUP events IMO is all about the “life experience” and the social and environmental connections they will afford. Most people these days have quite enough competition in their working lives or at school, without seeking yet more competition in leisure time.

5) Collaboration and shared experiences rather than the narcissism of competition.

1) I agree.
2) I agreed with him then and I agree with you now.
3) .... that made me roar with laughter.
4) Not in my opinion. I believe that it will just follow the route that running, multisport and cycling has done whereby racing exists in its own universe but numbers will be far higher in participation style events (think parkrun, cycle sportif's, etc). As I said to you earlier though, from my perspective elite racing is not growing at all but it is in the participation classes.
5) Calling competition narcissistic is just cynicism. There are a variety of reasons for racing.

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #710 on: March 05, 2019, 12:04:38 PM »
Racing is a waste of time anyway. The future for SUP events IMO is all about the “life experience” and the social and environmental connections they will afford. Most people these days have quite enough competition in their working lives or at school, without seeking yet more competition in leisure time. Collaboration and shared experiences rather than the narcissism of competition.


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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #711 on: March 05, 2019, 12:10:35 PM »
Ukgm: There is research on the topic of narcissism in sports competitors.

Here are a couple of fun summaries of some of it:

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/narcissism-boosts-athletes-performance-study-2030095

https://www.ultius.com/ultius-blog/entry/narcissistic-personality-disorder-in-athletes.html

But being a successful competitor yourself you were probably too busy looking in the mirror to have noticed this work :) :) ;)

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #712 on: March 06, 2019, 03:05:00 PM »
MMMM Hollow!! I know another company doing hollow boards and already has a dugout unlimited that has been getting tested for a while now and have just made a 14 dugout Hollow to now really start putting them to the test.
Early testing has been pretty positive and anyone who is serious about races like Molokai should be looking hard at what they paddle!


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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #713 on: March 06, 2019, 03:20:26 PM »
MMMM Hollow!! I know another company doing hollow boards and already has a dugout unlimited that has been getting tested for a while now and have just made a 14 dugout Hollow to now really start putting them to the test.
Early testing has been pretty positive and anyone who is serious about races like Molokai should be looking hard at what they paddle!

Curious on what is the benefit of a very light board for down-winding, specially in strong winds.
I am a beginner for sure but during teh few years I have been down-winding (generally in light to under 40 knots conditions) I have found teh following advantage to a bit of weight in a downwind board:
*increase inertia that help keep the board going
*easier with the right nose to punch through the bumps in the front if needed
*slightly higher stability
This is again from the point of view of an average Joe paddler not a top level racer of course.

I could imagine some advantage of a very light board, in marginal conditions, maybe to accelerate with less effort to get into a bump?

I had a DW board at 22 lbs and of course some heavier up to 28 lbs and did not really find that the lighter board had an advantage.


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Jacko

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #714 on: March 06, 2019, 03:50:52 PM »
Advantages for the hollow DW? here is just a few.

*All the weight in the standing area.

*Having very little weight in the nose area makes the boards super responsive.

*The feel of how the board handles the bumps is unlike nothing else and very hard to describe.

We are not talking 6 or 7kg boards these boards will range between 10 to 13kg so they still have some weight and if anything hollow could have a far bigger advantage in the ocean than the flat.
This is only the start for us and if the market is there we will invest in flatwater boards as well but as it has been talked about here before making only one or two is not very cost efficient.

More than happy though if a bunch of people come to me and want a certain kind of board hollow and see ways to make it work. It's only early for us but on the boards we have made i love the feeling.


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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #715 on: March 06, 2019, 04:33:59 PM »
MMMM Hollow!! I know another company doing hollow boards and already has a dugout unlimited...

Don't be cheap on details, it's all about sharing here ;D

Curious on what is the benefit of a very light board for down-winding, specially in strong winds...

To me it seems like a very personal preference but also about skill and finiteness level.

I had runs on unlimited boards ranging from 20LB to 36LB. For me the magic is somewhere
in the middle around 26-27. That said I could immediately recognize the benefits of the lighter
boards, You can make connections you wouldn't be able otherwise due-to ease of turning and
better to acceleration. For my skill level though, lighter boards present some control issues that I
didn't experience with the heavier boards.
in progress...

Luc Benac

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #716 on: March 06, 2019, 04:34:25 PM »
Advantages for the hollow DW? here is just a few.

*All the weight in the standing area.

*Having very little weight in the nose area makes the boards super responsive.

*The feel of how the board handles the bumps is unlike nothing else and very hard to describe.

We are not talking 6 or 7kg boards these boards will range between 10 to 13kg so they still have some weight and if anything hollow could have a far bigger advantage in the ocean than the flat.
This is only the start for us and if the market is there we will invest in flatwater boards as well but as it has been talked about here before making only one or two is not very cost efficient.

More than happy though if a bunch of people come to me and want a certain kind of board hollow and see ways to make it work. It's only early for us but on the boards we have made i love the feeling.

You could just send a downwind prototype to David and Peter in Squamish/Vancouver. :-) or bring one for the next Canadian Downwind Challenge this summer. There will be more wind then last time....
Would be delighted to take it on an outflow to experience what you just commented on.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2019, 05:12:08 PM by Luc Benac »
Sunova Allwater 14'x25.5" 303L Viento 520
Sunova Torpedo 14'x27" 286L Salish 500
Naish Nalu 11'4" x 30" 180L Andaman 520
Sunova Steeze 10' x 31" 150L
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Luc Benac

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #717 on: March 06, 2019, 04:36:39 PM »
Advantages for the hollow DW? here is just a few.

*All the weight in the standing area.

*Having very little weight in the nose area makes the boards super responsive.

*The feel of how the board handles the bumps is unlike nothing else and very hard to describe.

We are not talking 6 or 7kg boards these boards will range between 10 to 13kg so they still have some weight and if anything hollow could have a far bigger advantage in the ocean than the flat.
This is only the start for us and if the market is there we will invest in flatwater boards as well but as it has been talked about here before making only one or two is not very cost efficient.

More than happy though if a bunch of people come to me and want a certain kind of board hollow and see ways to make it work. It's only early for us but on the boards we have made i love the feeling.

You could just send a downwind prototype to David and Peter in Squamish/Vancouver. :-)
Would be delighted to take it on an outflow to experience what you just commented on.

Does not matter if the nose is green or purple/pink :-)
Sunova Allwater 14'x25.5" 303L Viento 520
Sunova Torpedo 14'x27" 286L Salish 500
Naish Nalu 11'4" x 30" 180L Andaman 520
Sunova Steeze 10' x 31" 150L
Blackfish Paddles

Luc Benac

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #718 on: March 06, 2019, 04:41:09 PM »
MMMM Hollow!! I know another company doing hollow boards and already has a dugout unlimited...

Don't be cheap on details, it's all about sharing here ;D

Curious on what is the benefit of a very light board for down-winding, specially in strong winds...

To me it seems like a very personal preference but also about skill and finiteness level.

I had runs on unlimited boards ranging from 20LB to 36LB. For me the magic is somewhere
in the middle around 26-27. That said I could immediately recognize the benefits of the lighter
boards, You can make connections you wouldn't be able otherwise due-to ease of turning and
better to acceleration. For my skill level though, lighter boards present some control issues that I
didn't experience with the heavier boards.

Maybe the sweet spot would be a wider hollow board around 26" or even 27" for a flat deck.
I can see the advantage of lighter for a dugout and even more fro a dugout UL and I understand better what Jacko is talking about now.
My Ace-GT is lighter than many deep dugout UL at 31 lbs but you cannot move it around like you would the Naish Maliko of course.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2019, 04:47:44 PM by Luc Benac »
Sunova Allwater 14'x25.5" 303L Viento 520
Sunova Torpedo 14'x27" 286L Salish 500
Naish Nalu 11'4" x 30" 180L Andaman 520
Sunova Steeze 10' x 31" 150L
Blackfish Paddles

Luc Benac

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Re: NELO is in for the games with Light Signature Race
« Reply #719 on: March 06, 2019, 04:42:58 PM »
For me the magic is somewhere
in the middle around 26-27.
For my skill level though, lighter boards present some control issues that I
didn't experience with the heavier boards.

Same here. You and me both.
Sunova Allwater 14'x25.5" 303L Viento 520
Sunova Torpedo 14'x27" 286L Salish 500
Naish Nalu 11'4" x 30" 180L Andaman 520
Sunova Steeze 10' x 31" 150L
Blackfish Paddles

 


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