Best boards for drafting somebody else?

[FloridaWindSUP]

Do y'all reckon there's a big difference among boards in terms of which make it easiest to save energy riding the wake of another paddler? Are blunt-nosed pin-tailed boards like the SB Ace better at it than blunt-tailed pin-nosed boards like the SB Sprint? Or are they all about equal as long as you know what you're doing?

[Eagle]

Getting right behind on a fat boof Ace seems to draft better than a spear nosed Sprint.  But a 21.5 Sprint is more efficient on flat vs a 22.5 Ace.  So depends what you want.  Here a 26 board floats beside a 21.5 board for a direct comparison down low.

From a different perspective -> the Ace pintail has very little drag off the tail.  Whereas the Sprint cuts a pretty deep swath to draft from.  So way better to draft off a Sprint.  As well it is easy to draft off a 24.5 All Star.  Just get close and you are sucked right in -> so have to stop paddling.

Probs is just best to get a board that you are fast on in most conditions.  Typically any flat water board from 21.5 to 23 is going to be fast and draft well enough with most skilled pilots.  Def would not want to race a 22.5 Ace on flat water.  The 23.5 Ace was very splashy up front.  No wonder Connor opts for the Sprint on flat.  Super fast efficient board.  Makes complete sense why SB makes 3 different style race boards to choose from.  But generally the All Star is good enough for most conditions.

[blueplanetsurf]

I recently spent 4 days drafting in the 11 Cities Tour, these are some things I observed: Blunt noses are better for drafting as they make it easier to follow the front paddler.  Pointy displacement noses can bow steer to the side away from the wake which can make it harder to stay in the wake of the lead paddler.  When you are leading the draft, a pointy nose generally has a little less drag in smooth water than a rounded nose but the rounded nose works better in choppy conditions.  The best boards to draft behind leave a big, wide wake.   Big, heavy paddlers that sink their tails leave a big wake that make drafting easy while light paddlers with good trim won't give you as much of a draft.  Pointy pintails are generally harder to draft behind than wider tails.

[Eagle]

Yeah agree 100%.  The comment of drafting a heavy rider is very true as well.  A deep drawing wide tail is much easier to get a hold of vs one made by a light paddler using a pintail.

But if they are going too slow -> forget the draft and blast ahead at the pace right for you.  Personally I do not like drafting off someone slow.  Screws up my rhythm and flow.