SoCalGremmy said..
STC,
Awesome R&D you've done on the Creek. And great followup vids and descriptions onfthe performance.
I am 66, 5'10", 84kg (naked), intermediate SoCal beachbreak (1 to 6') surfer, member of Stand Up Zone. I like to plant my feet and surf from 1 spot.
I've been surfing a 8'8" Naish XL32 for about 3 years. I really enjoy it when conditions are glassy, but still find myself struggling when it gets choppy, especially side chop. I miss alot of waves when I lose balance at the last minute. Also the XL32 is slow to paddle, hard to paddle straight, and difficult to catch waves in strong offshore winds.
I'm looking for my next board to be more stable, turn as well, or better, paddle faster, track straighter and improve my wave count.
The Creek looks like an awesome board!
Your advice?
Thanks,
Bob
Hi Bob,
Interesting challenge, since the 32LE was designed as a stability board... keeping all sizes at 32" wide.
I will break it down into pieces.
1st off:
The Creek is not a stability board.
I designed one board, for big old me in winter... so my 9'4 x 32"
is a very stable, full on performance board.
As the Creek sizes down, it is close to pro level dims...
It is a high performance board, with "stability tools" built in. (more on this later)
My goal with this design was to give me the performance I had come to expect from my Acid, in a board I could ride in restrictive winter gear
Once winter comes, and I stuff myself into a full wetsuit, even my big 9'4 Acid becomes way too challenging for me.
The very thin, pointy nose and thin tail of the Acid were the issue.
The lack of muscularity in my legs isn't sufficient to recover from sharp dips... front or back.
To mitigate this, I designed the 9'4 Creek with some "stability tools"
I chose the wider nose and outline of the 9'2 Skate and the exact tail
and tail rocker of the 9'2 Speeed.
Then I stretched it 2" to get the desired 148 liters.
I asked Bert to blend the Speeed tail rocker into the performance rocker of the Acid 9'4
The result is a full on performance board with a
more forgiving stability than the average pro level design.
===============================
Your issues with your 8'8 32LE:
On paper, at your height and weight, the numbers on your 8'8 x 32 at 141 liters look like it should provide reasonable stability, but what you may be experiencing is the very pointy nose on the 32LE, combined with the very curvy outline.
I surfed the 8'8 32LE a few years ago.
I found it stable, but tricky to paddle, because of the very curvy outline.
As I remember, the rails were pretty well foiled, so it didn't feel corky.
It may be the pointy nose dipping, just as you spin for a wave..... like the Acid does to me.
Your wish list:
plant your feet and surf from one spot.
paddle straighter, with more glide and have more speed down the line.
more stability in chop.
I'd suggest, that you go up in size.
here is where it gets interesting.
The numbers on the 9'1 Creek are
reasonably similar to your 8'8
7/8" narrower, and 5 liters less.... but....5 " longer.
The numbers put it solidly in the "intermediate" range at 1.5 times your weight in volume. (84 x 1.5 = 126 L)
The fuller nose and outline may keep the "side to side" stability about the same, but the added length and much improved paddling qualities, should give you more "fore and aft" control in challenging conditions.
(I believe the deep Speeed "channels" give added stability by slowing water flow in a side to side roll)
I am confident that you would be quite pleased with the increased performance in all areas.
The Creek is extremely user friendly, with no quirks.
My vids have shown that I can keep my feet planted, more often on the Creek ( pic 2)
I superimposed a 9'1 Creek over and 8'8 32LE to illustrate where the narrower Creek may actually be more stable....
but I have never done an actual side by side comp, so it's just my best guess.
I hope this long assessment helps you, and others, to pick the right size Creek!
Peace
Rick
