Author Topic: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke  (Read 10287 times)

Night Wing

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Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« on: June 25, 2019, 10:19:07 AM »
I received my board last Saturday morning and took it home. On Sunday, at  6:00 am it was a blue bird sky without any clouds and it was extremely hot and muggy.

I decided to take my BP Duke for a flat water paddle on Monday morning, but alas, a split in the jet stream brought us 4 hours of a steady rain which totaled 2.5" of rain from 4:37 am till 9:50 am. Then the sun came out and it got hot real quick.

Today (Tuesday) at 6:40 am, there was no rain on the radar close to me so I took my Duke down to the largest lake in our subdivision and went for a supposedly 2 hours paddling session, but since i was enjoying my new Duke so much, the session lasted 3.5 hours.

Now for the nitty gritty details. I will be comparing my Duke to my One World in this topic thread. I'm 5'8" and 146 lbs. My Duke's specs are 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 liters. My One World's specs are 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 liters. My Duke has a rounded nose and my One World has a  pulled in pointed nose.

The paddle I prefer to use is a Naish Alana 75 Vario RDS adjustable paddle. I like the small diameter shaft of this paddle with it's 75 square inch blade. Also for this comparison, both boards were using a single 9" fin.

As for weather conditions, the temperature was 73 degrees F and the wind was dead calm.

The first time I stood up on my Duke, since the Duke is 32" wide, it was easy for me to find the "sweet spot" for me. I immediately felt how  comfortable my feet felt on the deckpad of the Duke. More comfortable than my feet felt on my One World's deckpad.

I use a 77" paddle length when I'm paddling my One World for flat water paddling. However, it only took me about 10 paddle strokes paddling the Duke to realize the 77" paddle length felt "short". I lengthened my paddle length to 78" and then the paddle felt perfect me when paddling the Duke.

For the comparisons below, keep in mind the Duke has 190 liters of volume and the One World has 173 liters of volume.

Speed:

The Duke, with it's round nose and being 8" shorter and 2" wider than my One World, is slower than my One World.

Stability:

Since the Duke is 8" shorter and 2" wider than my One World, the Duke is "much" more stable than my One World.

Glide:

Since the Duke is 8" shorter in length and 2" wider than my One World, my One World has the better glide.

Maneuverability:

The Duke being 8" shorter and 2" wider than my One World, the Duke was much easier to turn than my One World. With both boards traveling forward at a good clip of speed, it was much easier to turn my Duke 90 degrees to the left or right than it was to turn my One World.

Tracking:

I'm right handed. When it came to tracking, this was a real "eye opener". When I paddle my One World, in order to track a straight line with a dead calm wind, I paddle 7 strokes on the right side and 7 strokes on the left side.

There is a tree on one side of the lake. I have a range finder and from my launch point, the distance to that tree is 145 yards. With the same dead calm wind, I could paddle the Duke from my launch point to that tree 145 yards away in a straight line by only paddling on my right side and never switching over to my left side.

If the nose of the Duke started to drift to the right or left of the straight line, all I had to do was change the angle of the blade on the stroke to keep the nose of the Duke going straight. I cannot do that with my One World. I think the Duke's rounded nose has an advantage over a pulled in straight nose when it comes to paddling a straight line when flat water paddling.

And now for a picture when I got back home.



Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

Night Wing

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2019, 10:20:33 AM »
I needed to delete this message. Not the lake report with the photo in the previous message above. This one. Can a moderator do this for me?
« Last Edit: June 25, 2019, 10:38:56 AM by Night Wing »
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

Night Wing

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2019, 10:45:02 AM »
This post is mostly geared to anyone on the Zone and/or any unregistered lurkers on here who is close to my weight.

Keep in mind I'm 5'8" in height and weigh 146 pounds at this moment in time. I have had both my left and right shoulder joints surgically repaired and I have a cranky lower back that acts up sometimes.

I went flat water lake paddling this morning with my new Duke. The session lasted 2.5 hours and I had three, 10 minute breaks so actual paddling time was 2 hours.

The Duke's recommended poundage is for people between 180-210 pounds. From my experience, you can forget about the recommended poundage because my Duke works very well for me on flat water at my 146 pounds. I paddle my Duke with a woman's Alana Vario 75 (blade) RDS (reduced diameter shaft) paddle set at 78" in length.

Now for the nitty gritty.

Air temperature was 73 degrees F when I got to the lake at 6:45 am. It was foggy too and the wind was dead calm.

For flat water paddling, I like to keep the outside diameter distance between both of my feet equal to the outside diameter distance between both of my left and right shoulders. In the standing area of the Duke, for added strength, it has a black colored carbon deck which the soft deck pad covers from left rail to right rail.

The best sweet spot for me when flat water paddling, I like my big toe of my left foot touching the end of the black colored carbon deck where it meets the layer of bamboo veneer (going towards the nose of the board). For my right foot, I like my big toe about 2" below the top of the black colored carbon deck where it meets the bamboo layer (going towards the nose of the board). This basically means both of my feet are above the top of the sup grip handle (going towards the nose of the board). And my shoe size is (9.5).

I can leisurely paddle along in this stance or when the need arises, I can shift into a high cadence paddle mode for power when I want to paddle fast.

Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

TallDude

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2019, 11:22:13 AM »
Paddling in perfectly flat calm water is a Zen like experience. You can really take in your surroundings in a peaceful way. The glide is pure as well. Sounds like the perfect board and suits your specific needs well. Enjoy it.
It's not overhead to me!
8'8" L-41 ST and a whole pile of boards I rarely use.

Night Wing

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2019, 12:54:02 PM »
Just a short review today.

Went flat water paddling on the lake again this Saturday morning. This time, with the Duke at 190 liters and me at only 146 pounds, I wanted to see how many sweet spots I could have. This time my wife went with me and she sat on a bench on dry land as I paddled by.

Wind conditions were perfect at 6:45 am. Calm wind. Great for experimentation. Little warm though. Heat index was already at 80 degrees F at that time of the morning.

I found another sweet spot I liked. Basically half of my left and right feet were above the top of the sup grip and the other half of both feet were below the top of the sup grip.

My wife said I was burying the paddle blade too far under water. So I kept shortening the length of the paddle from 78" and settled on 75". Felt real short to me, but my wife assured me I was burying the blade just below the the water line.

My wife said in the back of my mind, I was aware of my cranky lower back and this is why I liked my 78" paddle length. I'll stay with the 75" length for now and "see how my lower back likes the new length".

And I could still paddle a straight line by paddling on my right side of the board without paddling on the left side of the board with the 75" length.

Left the lake at 9:15 am.

 
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

Wetstuff

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2019, 01:21:26 PM »
Robert's shapes paddle well.  I also like my Sunnovas where I could bury the rail and keep it there.  My 10-9 Multi-Tasker is a totally dry-hair paddle; I still get knocked off by phantoms in the ocean. My 'cranky' back has become an interest of science.  I have no desire to get cut but I'd fail any cop's drunk test - 'till they got to the part; I've had, maybe, three beers in 2019. I had to add non-skid strips forward of the pad where I could put my hand to get up into basically the same sweet spot.

I particularly like a shorter paddle in the surf, it forces me into a lower posture where I can dig with a lower C/G.  If too long, I seem to fumble with it and not get the drive.   Paddle on!

Jim
Atlantis Mistress .. Blue Planet MultiTasker ..   Atlantis Venom

Night Wing

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2019, 10:31:16 AM »
I definitely agree Robert designs some nice sups that track very well. At least my Duke does with it's 9" plastic center fin. I can paddle a straight line just by paddling on my right side and not switching over to my left side as long as the wind is dead calm.

I've been looking at the webcams on the upper Texas coast and we are in a period where the waves are around knee high. I'm getting ready to go down to the upper coast in the near future so today (Sunday), I went into my garage, got the two sawhorses out and placed my Duke on them with deck pad side down.

Then I uninstalled the big 9" plastic fin from the center box. I then installed 4 Gerry Lopez (Futures GL2 Sup) quad fins in the front and rear sidebites.

I plan on taking my Duke down to the lake, hopefully Monday morning early and see how it paddles with a 4 fin quad setup. Then take my board down to the upper Texas coast and see how those 4 fins perform.

I'll take a picture of all 4 fins installed, but it'll have to wait until my wife comes home this Sunday night around 8:00 pm. I do not know how to operate her iPad and I don't own a smartphone.

Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

supthecreek

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #7 on: July 01, 2019, 04:07:28 AM »
Nice write-up Wingman, glad you are enjoying some long paddle sessions in Texas!

I notice that I can paddle any board straight forever.... IF I can easily lean on the "paddle" side rail, dip the rail slightly and still paddle comfortably.
Longer boards tend to get trackie when I dip a rail during a one side paddle, so they tend to be hard to paddle in a straight line because "straight" requires the board to correct slightly to the "paddle" side

Also.... anytime you start a post and decide to delete it..... just hit the "back" arrow in the top margin of your browser. It is as if you were never there!  :)

Night Wing

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #8 on: July 01, 2019, 10:41:51 AM »
Yesterday I installed my Gerry Lopez Futures GL2 SUP 5 Fin Set in my Duke. I had to wait until Monday so my wife could take some photos with her iPad.

My plan was to demo the fins on the lake "first" before heading down to the upper Texas coast. I wanted to see how the 4 fin quad fin setup would track on the lake compared to the single 9" plastic fin.

But "Murphy's Law" came into play. At 6:45 am this morning. When went into my garage to get my Duke and paddle, I noticed my wife's Camry had a right front "flat tire" and had to be fixed at one of the automotive shops that opens at 7:00 am. So this killed my Duke paddle session this morning.

However, after returning home when it was getting hot outside, I did get to use my wife's iPad to take 6 pictures which I will now post. I'll have to post them in three messages since this site can't handle lots of big pictures in one post.

The first four pictures are of my Gerry Lopez quad fins along with WarDog's 2.25" nubster fin.

Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

Night Wing

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2019, 10:44:04 AM »
This post will have the 5 fin setup.
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

Night Wing

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #10 on: July 01, 2019, 10:57:29 AM »
And last, but definitely not least, "Spirit4Earth" wanted to see my two Naish Alana 75 Vario RDS paddles which are adjustable from 64"-84".
« Last Edit: July 01, 2019, 11:00:59 AM by Night Wing »
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

spirit4earth

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #11 on: July 01, 2019, 12:42:32 PM »
Thanks, Night Wing!  That is a gorgeous board.  I really like it!
I’m going to try to sell my KeNalu paddle so I can get an adjustable.  The Alana will be perfect.

surfsupla

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #12 on: July 01, 2019, 02:44:39 PM »
Those gl2’s are sweet in a big board. If you have some controller rears laying around toss those in if you want the tail a little looser.

Badger

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #13 on: July 01, 2019, 03:19:18 PM »
FYI - Knubsters are made by FCS.

WarDogs version is called the StubNub.

Futures has the TMF (The Middle Finger).
« Last Edit: July 01, 2019, 03:25:21 PM by Badger »
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Night Wing

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Re: Lake Session: Blue Planet Duke
« Reply #14 on: July 01, 2019, 08:18:28 PM »
Those gl2’s are sweet in a big board.

When it became clear to me the Duke was going to be the choice, with the Duke's 5 fin boxes, I was leaning towards the Gerry Lopez fins. I was just lucky Blue Planet had them in stock.

And I was also lucky in finding a YouTube video for them. Although the video below is for the FCS fins, I knew the fins came in Futures too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGyqrHFTeWQ
Blue Planet Duke: 10'5" x 32" x 4.5" @ 190 Liters (2 Dukes)
Sup Sports Hammer: 8'11" x 31" x 4" @ 140 Liters
SUP Sports One World: 11'1" x 30" x 4.5" @ 173 Liters
CJ Nelson Parallax: 9'3" x 23 1/2" x 3 3/16" @ 78.8 Liters (prone surfing longboard; Thunderbolt Technologies build in Red construction)

 


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