Sorry for the lack of action shots... gotta get my photographer to come out for a session soon. In the meantime, all you get is my smiling mug...
New Year's Day brought a fun little swell from the north. I got out at Silver Beach in St. Joseph, Michigan after meeting with friends Jen and Nick from Live Love SUP. They are growing their charity:water project and apparel line and it was fun to catch up with them and hear about all they're doing. I'll post more about their cool little company in the near future.
The surf session was a new low for me, temperature-wise. The air temp was 19-degrees. If you click on the photo above, you can see that my beard is embedded with chucks of ice... that was a first. I surfed for about an hour and my fingertips and toes were a little chilly at times, but otherwise I was perfectly comfortable. So, still no bottom to the threshold for comfortable winter surfing. I'll keep trying.
These are the next two surf boards in line for my Great Lakes Shakedown project, searching for the ultimate SUP surfboard for Great Lakes conditions. Yesterday I rode the 8'5" x 30" Pocket Rocket (the red one). Unfortunately by the time I went out the conditions had deteriorated and I only caught a handful of decent waves, so I don't really feel like I have enough info to give a review of the board yet.
I will say that at 130 liters and 30 inches wide, it is the smallest board I have tried to surf so far and I was curious to see if stability would be an issue. I'm happy to say that it wasn't. It was definitely more challenging to stay on than my 9'5" Wide Point, but not too challenging... and this brings up an important point about progression in SUP. When you're getting new gear, it's a good idea to shoot for the board that's just a little difficult for you to use at your current skill level. You will see that your skills will quickly improve to meet the challenge. Just be careful not to take too big a step... if the gear is too far beyond your current level you may get frustrated and give up before your skills elevate enough to match the gear.
Speaking of challenging your skill level, I'll leave you today with a video of the slightly bigger swell that crossed the Pacific on New Year's Eve. This was shot by my friend Matty Schweitzer. Matty is an up and coming videographer from Maui and he posts new videos all the time. Follow Matty's YouTube channel for a constant feed of SUP and surf action from around the globe. This vid was shot at Peahi, the break known as Jaws.
As I mentioned in my last post, I'm in the process of testing a fleet of 6 SUP surfboards of different sizes and shapes to shed some light on what makes a great Great Lakes surf SUP. In order to understand what makes these boards different, let's go over some basic board design elements that we'll also use as test criteria. Here are the basic design characteristics we'll be looking at:
1. Size - By size we mean the board's dimensions (that's length, width, thickness and volume). As a rule, bigger people and less experienced surfers should be on bigger boards.
2. Outline - This is the board's basic shape when you look at it deck side up, straight on. Notice how the rails curve, where the widest area of the board is and how narrow it gets (or doesn't get) toward the tail.
3. Rocker - Rocker is the curve the board has when you look at it from the side. More rocker makes a board look something like a banana, and less rocker makes it look flat.
4. Bottom Shape - Many people don't even look at bottom shape when choosing a board, which is a big mistake. A lot of a board's performance comes from subtle, precise shaping that the board's designer carves into the blank. Bottom shapes can be simple or complex, but the theme here is flow. Bottom shape is all about how the water flows under the board.
5. Fin Setup - Boards come with different fin setups - single-fins, thrusters (three fins) and quads (four fins) are the most common.
As I test these boards I'll go over the design characteristics and talk about how they affect the ride. I'll also offer recommendations on what type of surfer and conditions the board would work well for. The first board I'll be reviewing is the Starboard Wide Point 9'5", which I'm riding in the photo above. I've had this board since last August and I've surfed it a lot, both on the Great Lakes and in ocean waves in New York and New Jersey. So here you go:
Board Review - Starboard Wide Point 9'5"
1. Size - The Wide Point line from Starboard comes in five lengths from 10'5" down to an astoundingly short 7'8". Every board in the line is 32" wide at its wide point, thus the name. Here's a breakdown on the dimensions of the 9'5" WP:
Length - At 9'5" long, this board leans more toward surf than flat water. If you want to do anything other than the most casual flat water paddling, this board is really too short. That said, I've enjoyed taking the 9'5" WP out on flat days to practice agility, explore or put my daughter on the front and just goof around. It's still fun, but without the glide of a longer waterline. The board was really designed to surf, and it does this really well. If you're used to surfing a bigger all around SUP board, the shorter length is AMAZING! The reduced swing weight makes the board way easier to turn and maneuver. My surfing has improved 10-fold since I got on this board... so much so that now I'm looking to drop down to an even shorter board.
Width - 32" wide is a real sweet spot for SUP boards, and the designers at Starboard have obviously keyed in on this fact. This board is incredibly stable, as are it's shorter cousins in the Wide Point line.
The 9'5" is 4.3" thick and comes in at 155 liters of volume, enough to comfortably float a person up to 200 pounds (or a bit more if they're a fairly experienced paddler).
2. Outline - The WP boards all have a consistent contour that is pleasing to the eye. The widest part of the board is under and in front of the standing area. This gives the rider great stability when paddling and also helps the board get on a plane early when you drop into a wave. The rails are nicely drawn in toward the tail for fantastic turning ability.
3. Rocker - The 9'5" WP has a relatively flat rocker in the middle with a generous nose rocker and a moderate tail rocker. The nose rocker keeps the board from pearling, or nose-diving into the water during take off. The tail rocker makes the board lively in the turns.
4. Bottom Shape - All the boards in the WP line feature a mono concave bottom. This has been my first experience with the mono concave and at first I wasn't sure what to think about it. As time went on and I was able to ride the WP next to many other boards, I started to understand (everywhere I go people want to try my WP, so I swap boards a lot). The mono concave bottom helps keep the board stable and greatly increases control on the wave. Compared to other boards I've been on with a more traditional V shape, the WP feels like it's on rails.
5. Fin Setup - the WP comes with a thruster fin set - that's three fins, a larger center fin the back and two smaller fins on either side and in front of the center fin. It can also be set up as a quad with four smaller fins. I've surfed it both ways and they both work well. The thruster set allows you to do a nice drawn out, classic bottom turn. The quad makes the board turn quicker and slash-ier.
Here's an outline shot of the 9'5" WP along with specs from the Starboard website
Overall, I've found this board surfs well in everything from mushy Great Lakes ankle slappers to head-high point break in Montauk, NY. I don't think they're overselling it on the Starboard website when they call the 9'5" WP "The right choice for most people getting into wave riding." For it's versatility, I would recommend this board for anyone who wants a one-board Great Lakes surf quiver. For it's stability, I would recommend it for novice surfers under 180 pounds or intermediate to advanced surfers of any size. For it's fun factor, I'd recommend that any paddler who's out there surfing a big all around shape try the 9'5" Wide Point and see what you're missing.
OK... school's out for the day. That was fun to write and I hope you learned a little something about board design. Now here comes your treat... a three-part video series shot by Oxbow in French Polynesia featuring a band of intrepid watermen and women exploring the atolls on a 50-foot sailboat. I ran into this the other day and it made me feel all nostalgic for my own past adventures living on sailboats and exploring unknown waters. If only we'd had SUP's back then... These videos are each about 10 minutes long, so grab a refreshing beverage, put your feet up, and enjoy a little fun in the sun. See you on the water!
If you haven't noticed from recent posts, I am pretty much all about surfing right now. I had an incredibly fun session today in waist- to chest-high, clean little peelers in Evanston. It was snowing, lightly at times and at others enough to create full white-out conditions. The water was thick with icy slush. I was out by myself, and the solitude combined with the magical conditions to create an experience I won't soon forget.
A brief note on the conditions and my gear... As I mentioned, it was snowing on and off during the entirety my 3-hour session. The air temp was 31 degrees, the water was 36. I was wearing my 6/5/4 Hyperflex Amp, which I've been testing this fall and early winter. Today marked the coldest temps I've been out in so far, and I was shocked and pleased with how comfortable I was. Even my hands and feet were fine in 5mm gloves and 7mm booties, also from Hyperflex. I can't tell you how impressed I am with the wetsuit technology available to us right now. With the incredible warmth, flexibility and comfort of contemporary wetsuits, there is truly no reason to get off the water until it freezes.
The Blend 11'2" X 30, the Whopper 10' X 34", and the Wide Point 9'5" X 32
And now, on to the boards. The first thing I want to say (and I'm not typically one to make broad sweeping declarations) is that if you are a Great Lakes surfer, or aspire to be one, you MUST learn to SUP surf. Now I'm not saying you shouldn't surf your prone board when the conditions warrant it - too much wind or shore break too gnarly to standup paddle into. What I am saying is that adding a SUP surf board to your quiver will increase your water time more than you can imagine. Think of all those days when it was too small to go out on your 5'10" fish or even your 9' or 10' long board. You could have caught every one of those waves on a SUP. I must have caught 50 waves today... maybe more... and there wasn't a prone surfer in the water. Plus, SUP surfboards are no longer big tanks that can't carve a turn. Modern, high performance SUP surfboards can carve a deep bottom turn, throw spray off the lip, and even boost massive airs. The question is simply, which SUP board is right for your ability, style and the conditions you surf in.
The Converse 9' X 30", the Pocket Rocket 8'5" X 30, and the Wide Point 8'2" X 32
So, my next project will be to answer that question. Thus far, I've been exclusively surfing the Starboard 9'5" X 32" Wide Point. Well, this past week I made the trek to Kansas City to the Starboard warehouse and picked up an entire quiver of SUP surfboards for a thorough Great Lakes shakedown. I, along with a few trusted colleagues, am going to put these six boards through their paces in a variety of Great Lakes conditions to find the ultimate Great Lakes SUP surfboard. Now this is the kind of project I can sink my teeth into... it's going to be tough work, but I think I'm up for the challenge. So keep an eye on the weather for the next swell and if you're up for it, grab your wetsuit and come join us! See you on the water!
