S.I.C. F-16 V2 Racing SUP Stand Up Paddle Board
The F-16 v2 is the best F series board I’ve ridden to date. After the first Hawaii Kai run, I decided that the F-16 v2 was the best planing hull F series board I had tried but after 3 sessions in various conditions I now think that it’s even better than my F-18. The board is stiffer and doesn’t have that warble feeling when riding. It catches and connects bumps with little effort. I think the F-18 may still be better in 15 mph and under winds but at 15 mph it’s gonna be close.
Watch this short video shot during February 2010 Kihei, Maui downwinder.
(click thumbnail to launch video)
The F-16 v2 is:
Stiffer due to autoclave construction resulting in less warble, smoother ride and less speed loss from flex.
Better volume distribution keeps my feet dry and feels like more than enough volume to float my 205 lbs.
The ‘Aladdin’s shoe’ nose rocker allows the board to fit in a shorter trough and allows the nose to lift over the wave in front instead of poking through it.
The F-16 V2’s nose
The nose rocker
The board gets up to speed with little effort and the continuing glide allows much easier bump connection.
I had my best time so far on this board last Monday.
The foot pedal is now adjustable on the fly which allows real time adjustments.
Re-designed adjustable steering pedal
The air vent is now screw in so it can’t pop out during the run.
New screw-in type vent plug
Here’s Mark Raaphorst, the creator and shaper to explain the fine details of the F-16 v2:
Part 1
(click thumbnail to launch video)
Part 2
(click thumbnail to launch video)
The first day I rode the F-16 v2 was my fastest time to date. The conditions were good, 20 to 30 mph winds and a good tide which helped. The real kicker was when my 3 friends that I let try the board decided they had to have one and placed an order for the May 2010 shipment. If you want one of these you should contact Mark or Karen at 808-877-7728 or the SIC website www.paddlemaui.com. The shipment arriving in May has less than 10 available out of 20 being shipped. They are all pre ordered and moving fast.
What are they going for? is the normal 400 down enough to secure a board?
Pureadrenalin – They are $2,600 and $400 down to reserve your spot. The next shipment comes in May 2010 sometime and there are only a handful left out of 20. I have a feeling the rest will go soon because the production schedule in Maui is already into August 2010 so the only way to get something new before June is to get one of these.
Thanks for the article and videos. Been hearing a ton of great things about the 2nd gen F16. By the way, it looks like as of today (3/19) the price has gone up to $2800. Evan’s right about the production schedule too – if you’re not picking up a molded board, get your order in ASAP. Waiting a day or two to make your down payment can mean waiting an extra month for your board! I know this first hand! Great to see Mark & the crew so busy though, they definitely deserve the success.
I’ve owned the F-14 and currently ride the F-16 V1. I love the V1 but after riding your V2, I’m sold. It takes significantly less effort to get into and stay on the bump and just seems to go faster. I think if the winds are bombing at 30 mph and you’re on your tail the whole way, V1 is great because it has that extra rocker. You can keep more of the board out of the water when you’re dropping in with a bit more control. V2, however, just catches everthing small and large. The lower profile of V2 wants to ride further forward on swell and simply goes faster. At least, that’s how it feels. And my arms don’t feel like they normally do at the end of a run. The faster you make it down, the less energy you expend and the more exciting the ride. Definitely the best downwind board I’ve ridden so far. I’m on the list.
Warped – Wow, it’s good that we all got in early. I bet that these boards can be flipped for higher prices, especially since the wait list for anything else is so long. If I was even contemplating getting something, I would put my deposit in now, especially since it’s refundable. Last week there was something like 8 out of 20 sold. My friend told me this morning that his deposit was #14 out of 20. Once word gets out I will be surprised if there are any left at the end of the month.
Randy’s experience is what we’re all experiencing.
From http://www.paddlemaui.com:
The F16 2nd. Generation excels!!
The Hull:
It has a small flip in the nose to prevent sticking the nose on late drops or short wave periods. The mid section has a slight single concave for stability and extended planing time. The tail has some V for surfing qualities and we added some double concave for speed once you are on a swell and need to connect to the next trough.
The Rocker:
Growing up on Maui’s North Shore, with Maliko runs as its main testing ground, we found that the board needed some nose rocker. Submerging your bow into the next swell slows you down to say the least. The mid section is fairly flat for ease of glide and the tail exit has a natural curve.
The Deck:
The bow section has a “V” to expel water in case you do poke into an upcoming swell. The deck area where you mainly stand has a 3/4” contoured deck for standing and bracing comfort.
The Rails:
Like the lay-down paddle board concept ,we believe in soft rails in the front for displacing water. While planing, a hard edge in the tail give good water release.
A good amount of under-tuck makes for ease of surfing once on a swell.
Full rail volume allows for plenty of buoyancy for riders up to 270 pounds.
The Pad:
F-16 comes with a 2 mm. x 7’ long pad.
The Construction:
F-16 is built with lots of carbon for stiffness. All lay up is vacuum bagged, autoclave, prepreg. Core material is high density PVC foam. Boards simply cannot sink and if it does strike a leak all water can be drained out.
The Steering:
The Active Steering System (ASS) will be positioned for regular or goofy footer but are standard dual plumbed (resale). It has a 4” telescopic foot pedal for stance adjustment
It comes with a spring loaded fiberglass batten so when you step back and surf, the rudder will come back to the straight position.
The rudder is a molded 9 1/4” spitfire type (straight up and down) design. It has a foil for medium speed (5 to 15 MPH) efficiency.
Cables are tension adjustable with a turn buckle.
All hardware is stainless steel, and molded carbon. Cables are spectra.
Color:
We recommend a white bottom. We stock 5 colors . Contact us for availability
The Weight:
Approximately 31 pounds.
Time frame:
It takes a $400 down payment to be placed on the production schedule. The $400 is fully refundable up to 4 weeks prior to the start of your order.
We currently have 2 types of F16 available. The 1st generation is made on Maui. The 2nd. generation is made overseas. The main similarities and differences are mentioned below:
1st gen. You have custom deck color and EVA color choices vs. the 2nd gen. comes with 5 standard colors (white, blue, orange, yellow, red) with a light grey deck.
2nd gen. has more volume in the rails, single concave bottom increased the stability. The autoclave building process makes them very stiff and have good impact resistance. Extra features that now come standard with the 2nd. gen. are telescopic adjustable foot pedal, carrying loops and dual plumbed steering. The 2nd. gen. has an improved contoured deck. The 1st and 2nd gen. are priced the same. Waiting times for a 1st. gen. are usually in the 3 to 5 months range. The 2nd. gen. are available through World Wide direct factory distribution. Contact Mike Giblin for sales person contacts and ETA.
Cost: $2800 ($2600 for down payments received prior to March19, 2010)
Shipping:
Inter island pick up at the YB dock is $30
West coast by air in 5 days to your location: $230
West Coast by Matson Ocean Freight approximately. $150
East coast by air : $280 (cost also depends on the trucking portion of the freight)
Australia by ocean freight approximately $450 (4 containers a year)
Just for some info. I heard these F16’s were made in the same factory as the oc1 hurricane and Kai Bartlett’s Scorpius. Just figure something to mention if anyone would question structural durability because these should be very stiff and durable. I am excited to try one of these also. Its bottom design seems to be exactly what I am riding at the moment only this F16 has a some nice refinements in the correct areas.
Evan,
Forgot to ask but with all the volume refinements what is the new dimensions of this V2?
I heard the same thing about the factory. The bottom is just like the F-14 with concaves and flat panels on the edges, similar to a windsurfer. I haven’t seen any bottoms like this except on the F-14’s and some SIC customs.
I think it’s 16′ x 27.5″ x 5.5″. The volume and thickness was moved out from the center toward the rails.
Thanks for the write up Evan. And a big thanks to Mark and crew for being so open and sharing with info, ideas and shapes. The non-hyped approach is refreshing.
aloha,
pog
POG – Thanks.
Evan,
How do you think this board would do in side winds, head-on winds, and flatwater? I know other people didn’t care for the f16 1st gen in those type of conditions.
Thanks
JustPaddle – I think this also depends if there are bumps to catch. Let’s compare F series boards:
Side wind: F16 v2 is preferable to me. It seems to track in the direction I want with less effort. It’s also a few lbs heavier than v1 but it’s the first time I don’t mind the extra weight. V2 catches bumps easier so in side winds I like it better.
Head wind: I’m not sure why but the v2 is easier for me to paddle upwind. It’s also much easier upwind than my F-18. F-14 seems to go upwind pretty well bc of the lower rocker and the FW-14 goes upwind nicely due to its piercing nose and low rocker.
Flat water: If that’s what you’re mostly paddling in then I prefer a displacement type hull like on the F-18, FX-14 or FW-14. If comparing to the F-16 v1, I think v2 is better but not sure by how much.
The run I do 99% of the time is the Hawaii Kai run. I did a run on it last week in north winds which blow offshore, meaning sidewind for a lot of the Hawaii Kai portion of the run. It took me longer than normal but the experience and bump catching was much easier and better than my other F boards.
I got my V2 a week ago and did my first downwinder in kihei it’s everything you guys talked about fast much easier to get on a bump, it also hold’s my weight very well i’m 235lbs and this board is much more stable than my 1st generation board. It’s an awesome board thanks S.I.C for such a great board and thanks Evan for all your time and effort to bring us the lastest videos and info going on in the SUP world. Mahalo
Weston
Weston – Thanks for your comments. V2 is so fun on that Kihei run. I still dream about it. You guys are spoiled on Maui…lol…I guess we’re fortunate here on Oahu too.
Evan,
Forgot to mention, when I click on the thumbnail to launch the video. The bottom 1/4 of the video gets cut off. Not sure if i’m the only one but I figure I let you know. FYI, I’m using Safari 4.0.5 on a macbook. Your site is one of the best for SUP and I always recommend it to others.
JustPaddle – I have Safari 4.0.3 on my macbook pro and it seems to work fine so I’m not sure what’s happening on your end. Thanks for your nice comment and for sending people our way.
I concur with all of the positive comments about the attributes of the F16v2. The nose rocker and stiffness are exactly what I was looking for if I were to improve the Custom F-14 I am currently riding. Definitely improved glide factor with the F16. However, I am curious about the possibility of reducing the volume to accommodate the lighter rider like myself (150#). I’m on the list also because of my impressions on the short runs I’ve had with the board. Not to mention the great times Evan and Randy turned in two weeks ago leaving me watching their “rooster tails”.
Interesting point about your weight Rainman, I’m even lighter, I have an F14 and was wondering about the volume for lightweights too. Its a toss up now between the construction quality of the V2 against a custom built for lightweight riders. V2 certainly seems tempting though!
Custom would have been the answer for me but for the price I’ll settle for the V2
Jonathan – If you’re in Australia, I think there is a distributor there for SIC F-16 v2’s. If that’s the case, my guess is that the overall cost vs benefit for you is going to be in favor of the v2.
Evan, Do you have any idea one the colors will be like? Will the colors be light colored like the Hurricane OC-1 or darker? I know when they say blue,yellow and purple they came out more toward pastels then being deep in color. It would be cool to have that light color gray in there but just thinking out loud.
PA – The colors look similar to the colors in the past. I think they have white, blue, red, orange, yellow and purple top/yellow bottom.
Just as I predicted, I tried to order a v2 from the May shipment but they are all sold out.
Evan,
So did they confirm it was in May cause from what we heard it might be closer to late June. I guess everyone is very excited about this one I know we are.
PA – The actual date of delivery is always an estimate. I just hope they are here before Battle of the Paddle Hawaii so we can have a really good race. I think people are counting on it being here before Molokai to Oahu.
JustPaddle – I think this also depends if there are bumps to catch. Let’s compare F series boards:Side wind: F16 v2 is preferable to me. It seems to track in the direction I want with less effort. It’s also a few lbs heavier than v1 but it’s the first time I don’t mind the extra weight. V2 catches bumps easier so in side winds I like it better.Head wind: I’m not sure why but the v2 is easier for me to paddle upwind. It’s also much easier upwind than my F-18. F-14 seems to go upwind pretty well bc of the lower rocker and the FW-14 goes upwind nicely due to its piercing nose and low rocker.Flat water: If that’s what you’re mostly paddling in then I prefer a displacement type hull like on the F-18, FX-14 or FW-14. If comparing to the F-16 v1, I think v2 is better but not sure by how much.The run I do 99% of the time is the Hawaii Kai run. I did a run on it last week in north winds which blow offshore, meaning sidewind for a lot of the Hawaii Kai portion of the run. It took me longer than normal but the experience and bump catching was much easier and better than my other F boards.
Bruce – I agree. I noticed that the F16 v1 seams to sit higher on the bump and is pretty easy to get in a bump in good wind. With no wind it’s painful. The v2 is heavier but gets up to speed with less effort and keeps on going much better. It’s my go to SIC board currently.