I managed to get a lend of one of these at the SPSC club race on Sunday - thanks Linda from 'Stand Up Paddle Gear' at Terry Hills.
It's Corebans new 12'6" race board and is the same one featured in that vid posted of Ivan smashing a Down winder.
I only got to paddle it for the 20 min or so that the race took but thanks to an interesting course, I got to Paddle in and out through the surf twice, paddle upwind (about 10+ knots) and paddle down wind on it.
Compared to the Fanatics - which many guys in the club ride - it has a very different nose shape, being more like a conventional 'gun' nose as opposed to the flatter, 'cutter' type nose of the Fanatics. The other thing about it is the incredible light weight - I reckon the one I tried was about 8kg which felt bizarre for such a large board.
Paddling out through the break was a breeze as you can pop up and over the white water like on a surf sup. I am not the fastest paddler and some of the guys in the club would be top 10 in Oz so I was surprised to get out the back second fastest. I was soon mowed down but managed to keep up with the main bunch for half the race - so the thing definately has some paddle speed.
Being 29 inches wide it was very stable which is a major plus for me when paddling down wind as I hate wobbling all over the shop. Paddling into the head wind was no big deal and on the down wind stretch it was cruising into little runners very easily. I managed (just) to keep up with Casso on his very slick 'Deep' 12 6" and he usually smokes me in a race. Catching a wave back in, was very comfortable and I felt like I had a bit of control - I reckon it would be insane in steep runners!
I reckon this board would be awesome in a BOP style race that involved lots of in and outs through the surf and it certainly seems like it would be great for Down Winders (Check Ivan's vid). If I had the cash ATM I would be straight up to get one!!
PS: I should add that compared to L K pop out that Dan has it would be about 20% faster on the light down wind stretch as I have paddled the LK 12'6" against Casso on his Deep and he got about a 100 meters on me over about 500.
