VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Thanks Tony.

The Pocket Rocket and the 8'2" Widepoint are pretty close in specs:

Pocket Rocket 8'5" x 30" x 4.1" (130 L)

Widepoint 8'2" x 32" x 4.4" (130 L)

On the boardfinder.....basically the Pocket Rocket comes up if you select "low lateral stability" and the 8'2" Widepoint if you select "medium lateral stability".

Gonna think more about it.

Keith

Let me put it in lamens terms:

Widepoint = Kooky

Pocket Rocket = Actually Fun

Plus like I say, 32" wide sucks in surf, and the rocker makes it not great for flat water. Pocket Rocket is your board.

Funny, I hopped on Dave's (not sure of his last name) 8.10 Widepoint last winter for a few turns on head high waves while he tried my 8.6. I expected to hate it after stepping down from my old 8.10 WP to my more swervy 8.6 Quatro. I really had a lot of fun on it! It does need a heavier dude to pilot it well (200 pounds plus) or the rail just doesn't want to sink and engage. This is the issue with ALL of the @130L SUPs in waves for guys under 200. Having said that, it was far from snappy and really needs you back on the tail to crank it around. It didn't feel like a longboard to me though. It felt like an obese, detuned shortboard. If you were 240 pounds it would rip, but you'd need it built very light to get the most out of it.

The 8.2 WP interested me a little, but 32 was too wide to be responsive enough. I'm sure it would be a lot of fun, but again you need to be heavy enough to shove the rails in. For someone just doing the odd day in the waves I think it would be fine. The next step down might be the answer for a bit more performance and still a fair bit of stability. I'd go carbon if possible. Most of us have realized that we are being encouraged to buy boards that are too big to perform the way we want on the wave. So you might fall in a few more times initially and fatigue a bit more. This ain't sea-dooing.

I rode the new Pocket Rocket in Maui for a day and enjoyed its ability to generate speed in less than powerful waves, but it turns more like a mini-mal (I think the WP turns better). However, this was in the heavier construction; the carbon seems to liven the board up a fair bit (BWD's PR was a blast in carbon). It was super stable but the wide nose would get smacked around by the foam climbing up and over a breaking wave. A pointed nose is SO much better for spearing through.

I sold the Quatro. Great board for all around conditions (and windsurfs great!), but I felt ready for something a little more nimble. I'll be swearing and in the drink more on the 8.0, but I'll enjoy the responsiveness of something lighter, narrower, more rockered, and faster.

Keith, don't undersell your abilities. You'd be up and ripping in no time on a smaller SUP. Maybe the 7.8 WP could be a fun compromise despite the huge width?

I'm uncoordinated, middle aged & a little tubby (pushing 200 ) but interested. So I just picked up a used: http://www.star-board-sup.com/2013/prod ... wide-point Silver. So I can put a sail on it to stop from falling over

Nice! I have been out on the water more in the last month since I got my Sup then I have in 5 years! eek

Has anyone done any distance sailing or paddling on their SUP? I am tempted to sail from esquimalt lagoon to the inner harbour or soemthing just for fun.

BWD covers a lot of sea miles on his SUP ... Jordan R. to Tugwell was his training run last Summer

Hey Moo and Wdoc,

Thanks for the advice. Though I think you guys are pretty aggressive in your SUP recommendations for me.....in my opinion. I probably do undersell my surfing and windsurfing abilities but those are sports I want to be easy, cause I do them 20 days a year. If you were recommending skis, I would definitely be into the most aggressive and most difficult skis to ski out there cause I ski 50+ days a year (and know what I am doing in that sport).

Anyways.....to continue the SUP discussion.

Another surf SUP I am considering is the Fanatic AllWave (8'10"x 31")....146L. Comes with windsurf capability.

Gorge Surf Shop is offering me a new 2013 Fanatic AllWave 8'10" SUP for $1,149 cause I bought some FreeWaves from them.

That is $400US lower than the price on the Starboard Widepoint 8'10"(Silver) of $1,549 from Big Winds.

I can see me getting used to this shorter 8'10" SUP and then selling my 10' woody Whopper, either for a smaller surf SUP or a longer, flatwater SUP in future (just spent the weekend at Lac la Hache "touring" on the Whopper.....that thing does not have a ton of "glide").

Here is a video on the AllWave.....thoughts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmjkX2SwBsc


Keith

OK....here is another reason to get floatier SUP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lycgfl2kQyY

PS - I think this guy has his SUP paddle backwards.....I wonder why he is not really focussing on his SUPing.

And I like his quote "it would have been really interesting if I fell in the water"

Tony.....does this give you nightmares?

Great price on the Allwave, and I've read good things about it. Yep dude in the video had his paddle backwards. Hopefully he knew which end of the shark was the business end

they are both cobra boards with mast inserts, i don't see why the price has to be so high on the starboard. have you been happy with construction of your past Fanatic boards? if so, it seems like a great deal. size is fine IMO unless you see yourself getting into surfing regularly. save some bucks so you can get a cool lake cruiser like the starboard touring 12-6.

ps if i had a GWS under my board i probably would forget which way the blade goes too!

KC7777 wrote:Hey Moo and Wdoc,

Thanks for the advice. Though I think you guys are pretty aggressive in your SUP recommendations for me.....in my opinion. I probably do undersell my surfing and windsurfing abilities but those are sports I want to be easy, cause I do them 20 days a year. If you were recommending skis, I would definitely be into the most aggressive and most difficult skis to ski out there cause I ski 50+ days a year (and know what I am doing in that sport).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmjkX2SwBsc


Keith

Fair points for sure. I still think the small widepoints would be fine and more fun than a 146L beast, but the Allwave would be very fun too. One thing; the footage of Nick Baker ripping around on the Allwave with his 5.0 is a bit deceptive in the sense that if you can plane on an Allwave on the way out, you can be fairly sure a 95-110 L quad is going to as well and be waaaaay more fun coming back in. Sailing a SUP in the surf is more novelty than anything else. Like most novelties, the fun is only really fun for so long. At a certain point you start wishing for some straps, a thinner tail, lower volume, etc. What it does do very well is keep your short board skills sharp and sail handling up.

I noticed in Hawaii that most guys were riding pretty big SUPs due to the chop and wind making balance tricky. I have to admit that I was in the water a fair bit last day in Tofino due to the very challenging waterstate, but I loved the maneuverability of the smaller SUP on the wave. This is where bull-headedness comes in handy

winddoctor wrote:Sailing a SUP in the surf is more novelty than anything else

I'll show you novelty....

A short word about going away from the tried and true Starboard in terms of construction.

My RRD FSW has served me well, but the 9-2 RRD SUP that did the rounds of this group was the exact opposite and was more fragile than BWD's feelings.

So far I know of no one who has had major issues with SB's in any of their constructions, so for me, spending this kind of money, that is where I will stay. It's no fun missing sessions due to repairs.

Gdawg wrote:

winddoctor wrote:Sailing a SUP in the surf is more novelty than anything else

I'll show you novelty....

The huge aerial you stuck in the next frame is forever etched in my mind, you San Dimas slayer...

I was surprised how much fun it was & energy it took riding some 4-6'ers in the rivermouth in March....sure beat not getting out/getting any AND a must if you don't otherwise surf or SUP Definitely a sailing SUP is a good plan for those Tof visits