Archive for the 'Boards' Category
August 1st, 2011 by robert
This article was originally published at Robert Stehlik’s Zen Waterman blog.
Last week Evan Leong and I had a chance to test Mark Raaphorst’s S-16 Standamaran prototype that he was shipping to New York for a race with a stopover on Oahu. I have been wanting to organize a speed test for SUP race boards for a while, so this was a good opportunity to comparison test unlimited boards in flatwater conditions. Continue reading ‘Flatwater speed test- unlimited SUP’s by Robert Stehlik’
November 4th, 2010 by evan
I visited Blue Planet Surf’s shop and Robert Stehlik suggested I try the Amundson 12′6″ stand up paddle board. He thought I might like it because it has enough volume to float 200+ lbs people comfortably and it surfs small waves really well and he was right. The board also has a displacement type nose so it has a nice glide and the rocker is low, making it perfect for small wave conditions. The tail is fairly wide and thick so it doesn’t sink too much when I step on it to turn. The wide tail helps for the stability and the sharp rails really help to turn the board no matter where you’re standing on it. The board is also fairly light. I demoed this board in small waves and light winds and really liked it.
Continue reading ‘Amundson 12′6″ SUP Stand Up Paddle Board’
October 13th, 2010 by evan
After spending some time training and going on a few downwind runs with the S.I.C. Bullet 17′4″, I decided to shoot this video and share my thoughts on how the Bullet compares with the S.I.C. F-16 V2. Mark Raaphorst covered some of this in the video we shot with the Bullet earlier. I thought a visual where you can see the differences with the boards side by side would be helpful.
Continue reading ‘S.I.C. Bullet 17′4″ and S.I.C. F-16 V2 Comparison’
March 19th, 2010 by evan
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. Continue reading ‘S.I.C. F-16 V2 Racing SUP Stand Up Paddle Board’
March 8th, 2010 by evan
I recently visited Mark Raaphorst at the S.I.C. headquarters in Maui and got to check out one of his latest creations, the S-16 Standamaran racing SUP stand up paddle board. The S-16 is surprisingly fast, especially going upwind. Upwind paddling is actually fun on this board. I shot some video of Mark explaining about the S-16 and got some footage from our downwind test run.
Continue reading ‘S.I.C. S-16 Standamaran Racing SUP Stand Up Paddle Board – Full Review and Videos’
September 16th, 2009 by evan
I took this quick video after the July 4th Da Hui race of the new S.I.C. F-18 next to a Bark 17′6″. Both boards placed in the top so it was interesting to see their design differences. Check out the video for a quick peek. Continue reading ‘Bark Race SUP and F-18′
July 15th, 2009 by evan
I went to Sandwich Island Composites and had a chance to talk to the man himself, Mark Raaphorst. I saw the new S.I.C. F-16 version 2 (v2) SUP board side by side with the F-16 v1. I thought it would be good to compare the F-16 v1 with the new generation of F-16 v2 to find out the difference between the two versions. Watch the video and hear it straight from Mark R.
(click thumbnail to launch video)
Continue reading ‘Sandwich Island Composites F-16 v1 vs. F-16 v2-video’
June 3rd, 2009 by evan
I visited the Tropical Blends Surf Shop at 907 South Queen Street here in Honolulu, Hawaii and took a look at surf heaven. In the last year, the store has more than doubled in size, largely due to the growing interest in stand up paddle gear.
Jim Hayes, Tropical Blends owner
Continue reading ‘Tropical Blends Surf Shop- video’
May 27th, 2009 by evan
I’ve been riding the Starboard K15 SUP board off and on and shot some video of it in action. First off, the K-15 is an interesting board. It’s not meant for surfing but it can actually surf small waves. The board has incredible glide, especially in flat water which makes it perfect for lakes and inland paddling. A while back I took it out to Old Man’s in Waikiki and caught swell. I’m saying swell because for the most part, the swell never broke into a wave. You’ll see what I’m talking about in the video I shot of Randy Lui-Kwan surfing it.
Continue reading ‘Starboard K15 SUP Board in Action-video’
May 5th, 2009 by evan
Here is my take on the Starboard 10’ x 34″ stand up paddle board which I tried during my trip to Bangkok, Thailand at the Starboard headquarters.
I like those dual leash plugs because it makes it easy if you run a rope between them to have a handle to grab on to when you get pounded by waves. It also allows the leash to go side to side as needed.
Continue reading ‘Starboard 10′0 x 34″ SUP Board’
April 28th, 2009 by evan
I’ve been waiting for the Starboard K15 to come in and finally it’s here. This is the first K15 production of Starboard in the world. It’s 15’ x 30” and designed by Svein Rasmussen and Jim Drake. Thanks to Margareta Engstrom, Starboard’s Media Manager for making it possible. Starboard made this board for flat-water conditions. It can catch smaller, slower moving ocean swells but it’s primary use is for flat water.
Continue reading ‘Starboard K15 SUP Board-video’
March 3rd, 2009 by clarise
I am 6′2″ and weigh 240 lbs. That’s about 119 kg. I recently tried to go skydiving and found that I had to pay extra for every pound over 200 lbs. Thankfully the Sub-vector holds no kind of pre-conditions for who gets to ride. So the first time I tried it, it was at 6 ft. Jocko’s super clean. I ran it with a 7″ middle and two 451 side fins from Future Fins (part of the Quad set up). I found it to paddle unreal and be very forgiving from rail to rail, especially when your trying to bring it back from the ‘tipping point’ or as all SUPers know as the ‘embarrassing point’.
Continue reading ‘My Thoughts on the C4 Sub-Vector – Liam Wilmott’
December 14th, 2008 by evan
Here are some pictures I took of the Dennis Pang 12’6” race board which was made for Candice Appleby. I had to finish up and demo this board quickly so I could hand the board over to Reid Inouye from Heavy Water Magazine, who ended up buying it. I found out from Dennis that Reid’s 15′ race board is almost ready and the 17′6″ race board (Guy Pere’s one) is being prepped for demo.
Continue reading ‘Dennis Pang 12-6 SUP Racing Board’
December 1st, 2008 by evan
After a long wait, I finally got my Joe Blair 12′6″ SUP race board. It’s way different than any of the other racing stand up boards that I’ve ridden or even seen. Actually, the closest one to this would probably be the Jimmy Lewis 12′6″. But the Jimmy Lewis 12′6″ is much thicker, the rails are different and the outline is different. Some of the other ones almost have a kayak type look, or paddleboard type look and feel. But to me, this one to me has more of a surfboard feel.
Continue reading ‘Joe Blair 12-6 SUP Racing Board – Preview and Video’
November 23rd, 2008 by evan
Here’s a short video I took of Joe Blair’s 9′8″ SUP custom board which he made for my friend Jeff and I ‘borrowed’ for a while. The board has a slightly pulled in nose, round pin tail and originally had three 4.5″ fins on the bottom. I’ve had pet peeve about the Blair boards that I’ve ridden. Although they surf amazing and are super stable, it takes a bit of getting used to due to the way it yaws side to side when paddling. After thinking about this, I decided to replace the middle fin with a 6” cutaway in the center fin and leave the 4.5″ side fins. I tried it at Diamond Head a few weeks ago and at Leftovers on the North Shore the following week and the difference was night and day.
Continue reading ‘Joe Blair 9-8 SUP with 6 inch Center Fin – Video’
