Thinking about a Race Board, what should I get?

[ForeverBlue232]

Pretty much any modern all water race board will go plenty fast depending on your skill and power level.  Narrower is often more efficient for paddlers with good technique and balance -> but can be terrible if balance is a problem.  So really is dependent on the rider what suits that person best. 

Definitely try as many boards as you can otherwise expect to swap for something else down the road.  Just look at this forum for examples where paddlers have switched from board to board to board -> sometimes within the same year.

Can concur with ukgm that the AS is a good AW design as have been paddling mine for a year and a half now.  The 24.5 or 25 is a good width that many race on.  If possible get one used to keep costs down.  They sell pretty quick round here.

When I arrive in town for the Carolina Cup, I pick up my new board, a Sunova Allwater Faast Pro 14x27.  Unfortunately this was a purchase I had to make sight unseen.  So hopefully I researched well and got what is best for me.  I'll find out when I race in the CC.  It's only .5" wider than my current race board (14x26.5 Bote Valhalla), and it's a dugout.  So i think I'll enjoy the stability, which will let me be more confident to crank hard on my strokes. 

[Eagle]

Nice.  The Pro 27 should be better in rough water and over distance but expect the efficient pin to feel tippy when stepping back.  For racing it is very important to be able to feel confident to put down power so you can concentrate on the race and your competitors.  The shape of the Pro looks faster than the Ace up front.  Paddled a 23.5 Ace and it felt slow on flat because of how tubby wide it was.

Way back I used my Touring pin 30 for a rough water race and it performed like a champ.  Placed first in my div by a large margin.  On my Dom 27.5 my speed would have been slower slamming thru the waves.  So appreciate very well how proper stability can affect performance.

Good luck on your new board.  And let us know how that board works out for you.

https://sunovasurfboards.com/en/sup/flatwater-touring-race/allwater-faast-pro

[APPST_Paddle]

Update to this thread, tried my first race board out today in flat water with some minimal chop here and there. It's a BIC WC Carbon 14' x 21.5" wide. I thought it would be pretty tough (I'm 175 lbs/77kg roughly), and while I can't really turn it or even attempt to pivot turn, it's pretty stable for just straight paddling, etc.

What a workout it is, we went 6 miles in roughly a hour and 20 with some bullshitting, talking, etc. mixed in. It's pretty nice to have something that moves smoothly through the water. I'm thinking about getting it, and at least toying with the idea of getting into racing.

Gotta work on cleaning my stroke up, I've only ever SUP surfed, so I'm used to quick, violent sprints, not long smooth pulls.

[yugi]

I reccomend you try a board in some horrible messed up chop. Pretty much anything works in pristine conditions.

[Area 10]

I reccomend you try a board in some horrible messed up chop. Pretty much anything works in pristine conditions.

Never a truer word spoken. The measure of a board is how good it is when conditions are bad, not how good it is when conditions are good.

[Luc Benac]

I reccomend you try a board in some horrible messed up chop. Pretty much anything works in pristine conditions.

Sounds like a definition for my Bark Vapor. might be slowish when it is flat but as soon as we start to hit nasty cross-chop and wind at an angle, I just keep on paddling comfortably holding my line. A friend with a new 2018 AllStar 14x26 just noticed when we were paddling together. I still finished ahead even on the slower board been able to choose my way and take advantage of the small bumps more efficiently.

[APPST_Paddle]

Yeah, I'm thinking about maybe going with the 24", even though the 22" was really easy to paddle and I could weigh on the rails back and forth until they were about to roll without any real issue.

I just don't have a bearing on what would keep me at least in the same field in a race but would still be fun to ride in different conditions. To give you an idea, I'm on a 110L surfboard, but I'm comfortable down to 100L generally speaking (depending on board shape, etc.).

[warmuth]

  Just as an indication, almost no one races on a 22. Not that you can’t do it but you’ve got to be realistic when comparing yourself to anyone who pulls it off successfully.

[APPST_Paddle]

  Just as an indication, almost no one races on a 22. Not that you can’t do it but you’ve got to be realistic when comparing yourself to anyone who pulls it off successfully.

Cool, yeah that's what I was looking for.

[yugi]

As lovely as a pointy displacement nose is in flat water when you are drafting, on race chop behind leaders or in chop it gets pulled one way or another and results in a death-roll.

A board with parallel outline and allwater [non-displacement] bow can be ridden narrower. Which is what race boards are tending towards. For good reason.

The Tracer was not a bad board but things have moved on since then.

Try some more if you can.

[yugi]

psst, APPST

check this out
   https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,33472.msg377335/topicseen.html#new

You said...

… I'm pondering getting a race board just for one more option to get on the water. I'm in an area (Charleston, SC) that has a pretty solid racing scene, and I could see maybe doing some comps later on just for fun.
…

Given what you said about your SUS boards and you being OK on  21" wide Tracer I think you can grab the Balckfish. You'll be faster and have more fun in races with that.

Looks cooler too. And, mmmmmmmmm.... light. Light boards are nice.

[ForeverBlue232]

That's a nice board.  A little thinner than I think I'd want, maybe.  But I'd love to try it out if only I wasn't so far away.  Though I'd want to add the pro box twins to it.

[APPST_Paddle]

psst, APPST

check this out
   https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,33472.msg377335/topicseen.html#new

You said...

… I'm pondering getting a race board just for one more option to get on the water. I'm in an area (Charleston, SC) that has a pretty solid racing scene, and I could see maybe doing some comps later on just for fun.
…

Given what you said about your SUS boards and you being OK on  21" wide Tracer I think you can grab the Balckfish. You'll be faster and have more fun in races with that.

Looks cooler too. And, mmmmmmmmm.... light. Light boards are nice.

Yeah, that's a good distance away, I'll keep my options open.

[APPST_Paddle]

How would a 14' SIC Bullet V2 work into a race? I'm guessing it's a lot more downwind-oriented (and again I'll probably only do downwinders in >10 knots because I'm going to kite otherwise). I am ultimately looking for something to do mid-length races (like Money Island - CC) eventually, a year out may be a good time to try.

Would I get completely smoked on a more downwinder oriented board? It seems pretty wide at 27.5", but I found one second hand locally for $1k.

Thoughts?

[ukgm]

  Just as an indication, almost no one races on a 22. Not that you can’t do it but you’ve got to be realistic when comparing yourself to anyone who pulls it off successfully.

This has changed in the UK substantially this year. At the biggest race in the UK held last month, out of a field of 40 male 14ft paddlers, ~15% of those were on boards around 21 inches in width. Nobody in the top 10 was on anything wider than 24.5 (and most were on 23 or narrower). The race game is changing and if it continues this way, I'll be leaving it within 2-3 years.