What boards are used in White water river SUP...

[SUP Bali]

Hello friends,
I'm really looking forward to a reply.
Do they have to be inflatables? If yes I know about the ULI but any other brand in the market? Boards strong enough to be used daily in a white water river SUP business?
Thank you for your help.
Bye Jankie

[Gossimer]

www.ridestride.com

[Allan Cheateaux]

I use ULI's.

[SUP Bali]

Thank you for the reply...
The river I have in mind is not very deep... In some area is actually quite shallow!!!
Hitting rocks and stones would be quite a regular thing...
This river is used normally for commercial white water rafting...
I think the stronger board would be better.
Keep the reply coming!
Bye Jankie

[corran]

I have two alternate solutions to the ULI, and Stride, both of which are awesome.

I've been taking my Stand Up 12 into up to class 3+ whitewater no problem. Because its made of the same thing as the whitewater kayaks, its great for this... bang it all day long on rocks and you don't care....

At 12' its a bit long to go much beyond hard core class3... but up to that its sweet.

I also make the Chopper in a kevlar construction - super tough. While not as strong as the Stand Up 12, and also much more expensive, its a lighter and more "manouverable option" for people looking to take ww river SUP beyond casual class3.




And a pic of the board


3D click and drag file

[Allan Cheateaux]

Thank you for the reply...
The river I have in mind is not very deep... In some area is actually quite shallow!!!
Hitting rocks and stones would be quite a regular thing...
This river is used normally for commercial white water rafting...
I think the stronger board would be better.
Keep the reply coming!
Bye Jankie

The river I run is super shallow (8" is pretty normal) and I have no complaints. The Poudre is really sharp too, no punctures either. Ask Dan what he uses, that guy has been throwing himself down allkinds of stuff.

A roto molded option (the yolo yak) would be great, as long as its not to heavy...

[Gossimer]

Here in NC the rivers are shallow as well. I use a 10' ULI and have had no issues.

The Yolo Yak is a good option but weight is an issue plus not as forgiving as inflatable but with being roto molded it can take some hits like whitwater kayaks.

Never used a Stride, just another alternative for wh2o SUP.

Good luck and have fun.

[SUP Bali]

Hello again and thank you for all the reply.
I think I will have to stay on the inflatables ones as there are 500 steps down to carry the board to the river and another 300 step up at the end.
The Rafting company use porters that carry the gear and then inflate it on the river banks...
So are the ULI and the Stride the only 2 options?
Going to start to make some inquiries soon.
Bye Jankie

[SUP Bali]

by the way... what would be the best paddle to use!!!
Not an expensive carbon I think...
Bye Jankie

[corran]

 - the Stand Up 12 I mentioned is rotomolded like a whitewater kayak ;-)

[SUP Bali]

Ciao Corran,
yes I understand the construction but it would be impossible to carry it down to the river... For sure it will have to be inflatables.
Bye Jankie

[river]

Yes the Gerry Lopez Uli is the Best board I have used in Whitewater.  I have tried many different boards and this 9'6" ULI works excellent.    The ULI is super durable and has been holding up great.  My Uli has a double skin on the bottom and single on top so its not 12lbs but it is light (20lbs ish)  When it gets shallow I paddle it backwards so the fins dont hit the bottom and it works sweet.  I am loving the Whitewater on the SUP.  Having so much fun.  This will be a segment of our sport that will grow BIGTIME in the future.  Sweet

http://vimeo.com/user1836932

I use the Werner NITRO Paddle and love it of course.  I also use the Carve but only when its super shallow and I know I will be hitting rocks a lot.

[steamroller]

thats great to hear dan *but* i need to clarify that...

the ULILopez you got is i *think* going to be called the ULILopez X2....X2 for double skinned... weighs about 22lbs and totally bulletproof...im  jealous of you because i dont even have one yet...sheeeeooot...once i get one im never riding anything else...

the regular ULILopez is single skinned...weighs only 15lbs but you gotta treat it like a fiberglass board...be nice to it...no shallow rivers...no rocks...

if anybody is thinking about the ULILopez make sure you tell them what youre gonna do with it...surf, river, or both...

i love those new big bladed werner paddles too...i dont regularly use one but have tried it and the drive/dig due to large surface area is fantastic...

 

[J.Riggs]

Hey NC_YOLO,

I'm going to be home in NC late summer, are there any SUP river tours?  If so, where? Or any other info you could give me would be great!

Thanks!

-Jeremy

[localpaddler]

It is good to see interest in Whitewater boards.  There are great durable boards out there but not all were designed with the intention of being on the river.  Uli makes a great surfing inflatable and corrans board rotomolded construction looks promising as well.  Stride make two versions of the Airlite board, the first is a super light weight board that is really easy to paddle and there are a ton of accessories for pimping for what ever adventure you want.  The second board is the heavy duty version of the Airlite which can take all the accessories as well.  The boards have a simple attachment system where the attachment point are low key when not in use.  When you want to use them there is a bungee system that actually works really well, drybag mounting system, and two different kayak seats that attach as well.  The Airlite boards are thicker than most boards which makes them ride higher out of the water and they catch the edges a lot less than thinner inflatable boards. 


The Airlite HD river board is on the left and the regular airlite is on the right.  You can see some of the attachment points of the accessories.

Most Stand Up Boards are low volume and because of this they edge and carve on waves...that is great but not so great when that same board is paddled down river in swirling currents.  The purpose of the thicker Airlite is to make it so the board is not affected by the currents as much.  The Airlite series makes stand up paddling alot easier right off and provides a number of accessory options for whatever the adventure might be.


Aside from inflatables....Stride has been testing 5 different prototypes for a rotomolded surf style board.  The prototype in these photos is 10-6 and 30 inches wide with a single concave into a double with a very tapered tail.  The board is super fast on a wave and crazy durable. 

Here is a shot of it on a river wave: