Bullet 17.4 - SIC Inflatable

[10generation]

Anyone  have one of these?  I  have  RED  boards but like the idea of the longer board for downwind runs.

[10generation]

No one  has one of these or  has  ridden one?   Super curious as  its the first inflatable  downwind board I've  seen.

[burchas]

No one  has one of these or  has  ridden one?   Super curious as  its the first inflatable  downwind board I've  seen.

A friend of mine rode one, I remember he told me the the board ended up with more rocker
than when he started the run I don't think it left profound impression on him but maybe
he'll jump in at some point and tell us about it. I think it was a pre-production one.

[10generation]

Its a lot of length for an inflatable!

[Area 10]

Two things that inflatables do not do well: surf and downwind.

I have a 16ft inflatable. I wouldn’t use it in winds above 20 knots (which is when downwinding starts).

The material that inflatables are made of tends to “stick” to the water rather than release. The flexing of an iSUP exacerbates the problem markedly. And the lack of a hard rail anywhere, and uniform rail thickness, makes them very hard to turn on a bump, and an absolute pig to quarter against wind and chop.

So unless SIC have invented some completely new inflatable technology and construction, I’d forget it for downwinding. The board might be good for flat water touring, and you might get away with downbreezing (15 knots or so) if you aren’t too discerning. Otherwise, IMO buy a “proper” downwind board.

[PT Woody]

Further to A10's comments, the best part about DW'ing with an unlimited board is steering. An inflatable board at 17'4" would obviously not have steering. That would make it a handful with dodgy, soft rails and an inclination for the nose to stick to the water. There is basically no way of directing the board when on a wave.