Cheap Racing Board?

[PDLSFR]

Heard Riviera is going out of business ?

[FloridaWindSUP]

The 12'6x28 RP should work fine for 210 lbs, and even the 12'6x26 should be OK in flat water. Of course if you want something extra stable but still usable for light racing you could try a 12'6x32 Voyager touring board. If you can't find one in Tampa Bay, you might be able to order one through cgtkayaks.com in Bonita Springs. Nick at CGT is about 200 lbs and has ridden most of the sizes of Riviera boards so you can get his thoughts on them.

I haven't heard anything about Riviera going out of business so I'm assuming they're going to stay in business for a while, at least.

[TallDude]

Heard Riviera is going out of business ?

The rumors have been circling locally. I heard sales have gone kinda flat for them. The kids are running things now. Not sure if they have any serious team members anymore either. I think their top female racer is with Starboard now, and Rob Rojas is now with Brawner Boards. 

[warmuth]

  California kiteboarding has all manner of naish glides on sale. Not a bad place to start. I'd go with that over a voyager for racing. It really depends how serious you want to take it. Neither are great if you decide to chase results but they're also a lot more useful than "proper" raceboards.

[robon]

  California kiteboarding has all manner of naish glides on sale. Not a bad place to start. I'd go with that over a voyager for racing. It really depends how serious you want to take it. Neither are great if you decide to chase results but they're also a lot more useful than "proper" raceboards.

Agreed. A paddler can also enter the rec class for racing with a touring board and get much more practical use out of it overall compared to a race board you might not ever get used to in rough conditions.. California kiteboarding had very reasonable shipping costs when I ordered a 14' Glide from them a couple years ago. I noticed a 2016 12'6" GTW Glide on sale from them at a very good price.

Paddlesurfwarehouse usually have good deals with free shipping on their boards.

Someone recommended Big Winds, and they are blowing out their used boards right now, and Gorgeperformance have good deals on used boards too. Shipping isn't cheap at either shop, but when you are getting a next to new board at cost pricing, then it can be worth it. BigWinds has a 12'6" Tahoe Zephyr on for 899.00 in A condition.

[Remickulous]

Im down to 210lbs now so that should help a little.  I love riviera (have the pink plaid paddle).  For storage reason i would have to get a 12'6 board.  I live in tampa bay  but craigslist has no real deals on there, most of it is just shops advertising their new boards.  I see riviera has that same board in 12'6.  Is the volume about the same as the weight limit?  They have the 1500 board with a volume of 265 but an 1100 prone board with a volume of 200 which i assume is too low for me?

I'm down to 215, so I feel your pain. Sounds like you don't have a lot of time on the water, so consider that your paddling will change as you spend more time doing it. Nothing you buy right now is going to be the "right" board for your paddling a year from now, so don't get lost in details too much. Like PonoBill says, there's a lot that determines your speed.

I bought a used Starboard 12'6" x 30 touring board for $500 last year that worked extremely well, I absolutely loved that board. I weighed around 250 then, and paddled it into 50mph winds (don't do this without a helmet  ), surfed it on downwinders, and I used it to paddle flat water, all with great success. I now train on another used starboard I found for $500, the 14'x28" Coast Runner, and I really like the way it handles chop. It's too long for your storage, I know, but I'm trying to show you that with a little patience and looking around you can find a great board at a great price.

I advise that you stay away from prone boards, and consider that your weight in lbs is roughly equal to the litres of volume you need, with the weight of the board and gear added to that. Id est, you weigh 215, your board weighs 25, your paddle & gear weighs another 5 = 245lbs = around 245 litres of displacement needed. This changes depending on LOTS of factors, but it's proved to be a decent go-by guesstimation for me.

[Eagle]

"I bought a used Starboard 12'6" x 30 touring board for $500 last year that worked extremely well, I absolutely loved that board. I weighed around 250 then, and paddled it into 50mph winds (don't do this without a helmet), surfed it on downwinders, and I used it to paddle flat water, all with great success."

Yeah that board is surprisingly versatile.  Still have our 14x30 but have not used it much this year.  Do remember vividly taking that board DW into Squamish and planing on that double concave.  Super fun and scary at the same time.  Have to have perfect trim in steep waves.  After doing that a few times got the Bullet V2 and have not looked back.  So much easier with a proper surf nose board with rocker.

Was the perfect starter board for my wife.  Plenty stable -> yet goes quite well for a wide board.  Think the pintail helped reduce drag off the tail making that board semi-efficient.  Really designed for lake use but does fine in ocean slop and chop.  Not a dedicated race board -> but goes ok and is quite solid for 200+ riders.  Our carbon version has almost zero flex.

[fosterbarefoot]

thanks for all the help.  So looking into your posts ive seen a few options:

1. NSP DC Elements - a surf/race board that looks okay but seems like its on sale big time? https://www.surftech.com/sup/nsp-dc-elements-surf-race-126-x-27

2. The Naish Glide - would this be one of the fastest for a big guy at under $1000?
http://www.californiakiteboarding.com/product/2015-naish-glide-126-x-30-gs/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw0ejNBRCYARIsACEBhDOhPbpvODC2yMpweOa3myY2pJMQ5VFt5lyIfJEJPFOhr0FazF-PP64aAosuEALw_wcB

3.  Isle Spear - a new race board for $1200, should i save and get this?  would it be that much faster?
https://www.islesurfandsup.com/stand-up-paddle-boards/race/isle-spear-race-paddle-board/

[fosterbarefoot]

also

Dean Custom Racing board? - looks really nice but no idea if they are good?
https://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/spo/d/14x26-dean-sup-racing/6252729222.html

Voyager - riviera - great deal, just dont know if its good for racing
https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/spo/d/riviera-voyager-sup/6262542154.html

C-Ride - a custom shop near me.  Can't tell just looking at the site?
https://www.c-ride.com/product/126-race/?v=7516fd43adaa

[warmuth]

  What's your real goal? You can race on any 14' board. Do you want to be competitive or just have a good time at a race? IMO it's hardly worth owning a board under 27/28" unless you really want to try and compete.

[fosterbarefoot]

  What's your real goal? You can race on any 14' board. Do you want to be competitive or just have a good time at a race? IMO it's hardly worth owning a board under 27/28" unless you really want to try and compete.

My goal is to get in shape and go to races.  I don't expect winning or taking them too serious.  My issue is that if i have a slower board that wont keep me at least in the middle of the pack i probably wont have the motivation to train and take my board out on weeknights.

I already have my surf/sup so i also find it kind of pointless to spend that much on another board if its more of a touring board and not that much faster.

[TallDude]

If it's a true race board, it will not be comfortable to just cruise around on. 25" to 22" wide is the fast range. Not fun in choppy water or even just rippled water with a little side chop. My race board is really narrow for me. I'll fall a few times during races because the board is so unstable. You just power it till you fall and get back on. That's racing. 

[JEG]

thanks for all the help.  So looking into your posts ive seen a few options:

1. NSP DC Elements - a surf/race board that looks okay but seems like its on sale big time? https://www.surftech.com/sup/nsp-dc-elements-surf-race-126-x-27

2. The Naish Glide - would this be one of the fastest for a big guy at under $1000?
http://www.californiakiteboarding.com/product/2015-naish-glide-126-x-30-gs/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw0ejNBRCYARIsACEBhDOhPbpvODC2yMpweOa3myY2pJMQ5VFt5lyIfJEJPFOhr0FazF-PP64aAosuEALw_wcB

either board will be fine fosterbarefoot though NSP DC Elements is good by margin?

3.  Isle Spear - a new race board for $1200, should i save and get this?  would it be that much faster?
https://www.islesurfandsup.com/stand-up-paddle-boards/race/isle-spear-race-paddle-board/

[warmuth]

  What's your real goal? You can race on any 14' board. Do you want to be competitive or just have a good time at a race? IMO it's hardly worth owning a board under 27/28" unless you really want to try and compete.

My goal is to get in shape and go to races.  I don't expect winning or taking them too serious.  My issue is that if i have a slower board that wont keep me at least in the middle of the pack i probably wont have the motivation to train and take my board out on weeknights.

I already have my surf/sup so i also find it kind of pointless to spend that much on another board if its more of a touring board and not that much faster.

  You can finish in the middle of the pack on any non surf board. Racing is mostly about fitness. The boards are where you split hairs. A Glide or similar type board will be racy enough while also being good at everything else besides racing. You can race, tour, downwind, play in the surf , paddle in a hurricane, put your kids on it etc. Basically that's a good every day board that's versatile. Most pure touring boards will have similar speed but are usually displacement style which isn't quite as versatile. If you get into it you will want something faster at some point but you won't all of the sudden be .5mph faster just by dropping 3 inches of width.

[fosterbarefoot]

  What's your real goal? You can race on any 14' board. Do you want to be competitive or just have a good time at a race? IMO it's hardly worth owning a board under 27/28" unless you really want to try and compete.

My goal is to get in shape and go to races.  I don't expect winning or taking them too serious.  My issue is that if i have a slower board that wont keep me at least in the middle of the pack i probably wont have the motivation to train and take my board out on weeknights.

I already have my surf/sup so i also find it kind of pointless to spend that much on another board if its more of a touring board and not that much faster.

  You can finish in the middle of the pack on any non surf board. Racing is mostly about fitness. The boards are where you split hairs. A Glide or similar type board will be racy enough while also being good at everything else besides racing. You can race, tour, downwind, play in the surf , paddle in a hurricane, put your kids on it etc. Basically that's a good every day board that's versatile. Most pure touring boards will have similar speed but are usually displacement style which isn't quite as versatile. If you get into it you will want something faster at some point but you won't all of the sudden be .5mph faster just by dropping 3 inches of width.

Good to know, it was just very frustrating the one race I did paddling 3 long strokes to see someone glide by me with one slow stroke.  Even though I finished 1/10 for surfboards it made me not care to sign up for the next races.  Does the custom c-ride sound like it has good specs?  It's 28 inch wide so I feel like it's more of a racing style but not super narrow.