Baby Queens Session with Duane DeSoto – Surftech Blacktip – Oxbow Stand Ups
I got a chance to ride two of the Oxbow stand up paddle boards on July 2. Duane DeSoto called up and said he was taking his family (5 kids and wife) along with a bunch of family friends and kids to Baby Queens in Waikiki. I took my family to meet up with them for a fun late afternoon get together. I really wanted my boys to play with Duane’s kids so that they get more comfortable in the water. Duane’s kids can all swim and most can surf. I brought my Surftech Blacktip for the kids to play on and when we both got to the beach around the same time. Duane brought a whole truck full of boards…I think 6 or 8 of them, paddles, bodyboards, etc. There was definitely enough for the kids to play with.
Duane with the kids catching some waves
One highlight was watching him take 4 kids on the Surftech Blacktip and catch waves. I’m bummed that my camera ran out of batteries at the wrong moment but it was a sight to see. At first, he started inside the wall area of the lagoon in front of Baby Queens and eventually moved out to the break right in front of Queens. They caught some fun waves and some of the girls stood up while riding. If you have kids and want to play around with them, the Blacktip is a really fun stand up board.
The board I was surprised with was the Oxbow stand up board. I tried the 11′er for a short while during a downwind run with Duane a few weeks back but that wasn’t in the surf. His Oxbow 11′ is surprisingly stable and paddled pretty well. My only gripe was there was some delam on the board but that may have been due to a LOT of use and no pad on the board.
I jumped on the 11′er with my 54″ paddle to get close enough to get closer pictures. After the battery died, I started catching waves. At first I thought that the glide and speed I was experiencing was due to the short paddle and that may have been the case but I could catch ripples and waves that were just thinking about forming.
I later tried out his 10′ Oxbow and realized that the awesome glide I was experiencing was for real. I wish all the stand up boards could glide like the Oxbow did. I need to get more time on it in the water to properly judge the surfing although Duane won second place in the Steinlager Queens contest the previous weekend on it.
We stayed at the beach until after dark. I wish we could have stayed longer although it was after 8 pm and a school night so the kids needed to get back home. We’ll definitely do this again.
(click thumbnail to launch video)
Hi Evan,
I got Sue the Oxbow 11. This past weekend was the 1st chance I got to try it out in surf. Waist high and clean…I had some real fun on it It feels small for me since I spend all my time on my 12-6 but it catches waves with ease and turned really nice. I want to try it with the thrusters on it next time. Just had the stock 9″ fin all the way forward in the box.
Hey Evan,
I got a couple of questions for you. I saw the black-tip on surftech’s website and was interested in it. How do you like it and can you give me details on its construction. At first I assumed it was constructed like a Softtop, but I’m not so sure as it seemed to have a stringer or is that just a centerline painted on it. Is the bottom surface the same material as a softtop? The reason I’m interested in it is I’m looking for an SUP board that is durable enough to run down a Class 2-3 river.
Thanks!
Reid
Hi Bob – I wonder how the 11′er will ride w/ thrusters. Duane’s setup was a single fin and it was something like 9″ or so but not 100% sure. After trying a ton of fin configurations, those big boards really seem to want to be a single fin or 2+1.
Reid – see below…
How do you like it and can you give me details on its construction?
I love this board for a family fun board. My son is very comfortable and the kids have a great time on it. I can put first timers on it with no problem. It is not a performance surfboard and although it can be surfed, that’s not its strong point. The strong point is stability.
I was told the core was the same or similar to the epoxy ones w/ a soft covering over it. The soft covering is like a body board type material. It needs to be waxed. The bottom is like the slick body board material also. I put XM Surf clear traction tape on the rails to protect them because without it the rails get cut up a bit from the sharp paddle edge. The board is fairly heavy but has a lot of handles that help a lot.
At first I assumed it was constructed like a Softtop,
but I’m not so sure as it seemed to have a stringer or is that just a centerline painted on it?
I’m not sure on the stringer but the line on the top is painted.
Is the bottom surface the same material as a softtop?
It’s a soft slick material and not the hard plastic bottom.
The reason I’m interested in it is I’m looking for an SUP board that is durable enough to run down a Class 2-3 river?
I’m not sure on that as I’ve never gone down a river before.
Thanks Evan for info.
Someone recommended an ULI to take down a river since its inflatable and constructed of materials used for inflatable rafts/kayaks. I’m going to check it out.
Reid – Cool, keep us posted.