The guy on the picture, Vincent, just said: it's crazy, I hardly had to paddle. It was a 25 knots DW.

Vincent was apparently more than a little surprised by the board, I heard he beat many guys in this race that he has never beaten before. He borrowed the board off Rico Leroy and it was his first paddle on it.

This board is quite different to the Ace but gets compared due to the deck shape, even this is quite different to an Ace. If you look at the rest of the board however it is almost opposite to an Ace. The Ace is hard edged and concave for example, this board is soft edged and rolled bottom. The rocker is also very different. Travis, Alain and Dale designed this board based more on inspration of OC1 or surf ski's rather than prone paddle boards or windsurf designs.

The Ace is a great board without doubt but evolution is what it is, people are faster now than they were a couple of years ago.

It's the same board Travis won the BOP long distance on also.

When will this sunken deck NSP/DC board be available to the public to buy?

On the company web site, I don't see this board. The closest ones I see are:
shop.surfindustries.com/us/sup-type/all-rounder/

and

www.surfindustries.com/surfboards/nsp_dc_oceanRacePro_sup_bc.php

Would the 14x25 Ocean Race Pro be the board most like the 2014 Fanatic Falcon 14x24.75?

Thanks CMC. Nice pics on the NSP web site.
Seems like the following are the differences between the 14x24.5 DC Flatwater Race Pro and the 14x25 DC Ocean Race Pro:
- Surprisingly, both boards seem to have very similar rocker lines, maybe a bit more rocker on the Ocean board, but not much.
- Ocean board has flat deck, Flatwater board has sunken deck with drain holes
- Flatwater board has a bit thicker nose (in terms of depth, not width)
- Flatwater board has a pin tail, Ocean board has a narrow but rounded tail
- Flatwater board has 267L volume, Ocean board has 290L. This was a bit surprising as the Flatwater board seems thicker overall and only a bit narrower. I guess the deck on the Flatwater board is quite thin.

If the rocker lines for both boards are indeed very similar, I'm assuming that there won't be too much of a speed compromise with the Ocean board vs the Flatwater. Can you confirm this?

I'm sure the Flatwater board would be faster in flat water (duh) but the flat deck on the Ocean board would be better to walk around on. I'm guessing the Flatwater would also likely be faster in mild to moderate (25mph) downwinders as long as the waves were not too disorganized. The Ocean board would be more fun on downwinders since you can surf it more easily. My Ace is the fastest board I've been on but it's hard to surf.

So overall, the Flatwater board is the one if you're looking for no-compromise speed in flat water or downwind. The Ocean board is only just a bit slower (since the rocker line is almost identical) but comes into its own as the wind gets to over 25mph and in rougher more confused conditions.

CMC, I'm just guessing here based on the photos of the shapes - please correct me where I'm wrong.

Thanks CMC!

Will these boards be hard to get here in Canada since they're Limited Editions?

Hey CMC, can you please comment on the DC Surf Race Pro for me. Is it just a shrunken down Ocean Race Pro or are then any significant design differences? It also appears that only one construction is available. I've never had a carbon board and am a little worried about the durability factor. Thanks.

petedorries said..

No board I've tried so far can catch bumps and glide like the Ace in small to moderate downwind conditions.

When you try the new FANATIC and the NSP then you will have. Good Luck

Got agree with Pete. The new Fanatic Falcon catches bumps like the ACE and is really stable. I was lucky enough to paddle a good downwinder with Dale on Trav's NSP DC 14 and it too catches bumps and glides beautifully.

CMC said..

Hi Baddog,

The Surf Race pro is definitely in the same family as the Ocean Race. It also has a rolled to vee bottom. I think Travis said it best with this board to say it was without doubt the fastest board he has used for anyone that has the balance to stay on it. It's made to go fast before any other consideration.

Not really a shrunken version but designed with many of the same features that Travis likes.

Tippy Ehhh? I guess I'll have to try the 27" or wait until you come up with a 12'6" Flatwater. Thanks.

NNSUP said..

petedorries said..

No board I've tried so far can catch bumps and glide like the Ace in small to moderate downwind conditions.

When you try the new FANATIC and the NSP then you will have. Good Luck

Got agree with Pete. The new Fanatic Falcon catches bumps like the ACE and is really stable. I was lucky enough to paddle a good downwinder with Dale on Trav's NSP DC 14 and it too catches bumps and glides beautifully.

What would you say are the differences between the 2014 Fanatic Falcon and the DC NSP 14? Which DC NSP 14 did you try on the downwinder? Lots of buzz on these boards.

baddog said..

CMC said..

Hi Baddog,

The Surf Race pro is definitely in the same family as the Ocean Race. It also has a rolled to vee bottom. I think Travis said it best with this board to say it was without doubt the fastest board he has used for anyone that has the balance to stay on it. It's made to go fast before any other consideration.

Not really a shrunken version but designed with many of the same features that Travis likes.

Tippy Ehhh? I guess I'll have to try the 27" or wait until you come up with a 12'6" Flatwater. Thanks.

Hey Baddog, it's tippy for normal people that try to take a full blown pro level board into the ocean. In a lake, river etc it's actually fine. Fast too....

Looking forward to the Ace 2015 "Ocean Edition" without the high side walls of the current Ace.

Is this true or a personal forecast?

baddog said..

Goochi said..

Looking forward to the Ace 2015 "Ocean Edition" without the high side walls of the current Ace.

Is this true or a personal forecast?

Guessing wishful thinking, but I did see this at the BOP:





It looked like a pintail "Turtle Bay" with a 2014 Allstar nose. One team rider advised me to stay away from the "Turtle Bay", saying they were very tippy:)

So that would be just like last year's Ace Pro.

Goochi said..

Looking forward to the Ace 2015 "Ocean Edition" without the high side walls of the current Ace.

Is this true or a personal forecast?

Just my guess. But it makes sense, so hope it happens.