Race/long distance boards - 14' or 17' (or 12'6")?

Hi all,

Very new to this. Had my first race on the weekend and loved it. My main interest in SUP is in racing, fitness padlding, long-distance and touring (Probably that order). So, not really surfing but I'll pay in small surf on a board not covered here (11' NSP for now). 90% of paddling would be Port Phillip Bay, downwinders and some river/lake paddling.

So, my question is (without reference to specific brands at this stage) is what length of board to go for.

I'm 11'6"/180cm and around 85kg'd. Paddle a K1 so pretty good stability and not a complete novice to paddlesports.

I noticed the Port Phillip Cup was dominated by 17' boards in the top placers, but then a lot of 12'6" boards up there too, with a few 14' boards from 10th place onwards.

So, finally to the question...are 17' boards the way to go for endurance/race interest? What's the decision factor on 17' over 14' or 12'6" (I understand 12'6" is the class differentiator length)?

Essentially, I'm after opinions of the 99.9% of paddlers here more experienced than me on what board suits this type of paddling. Once I narrow down length, then I'll worry about volume, width, brand, fin setup, etc.

I'm also not worried about a board perhaps beyond my capabilities a bit, so happy to grow into something - thus width/stability not of immediate concern, just length differences.

My understanding is length should equal speed and perhaps ability to surf downwinders better? Is that essentially it?

Happy to hear all opinions/thoughts/criticisms/preferences.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Darren

It's a bit horses for course. At the Great Melbourne Paddle back in December, we had Jacko dominate the race on a 14' followed by Annabel on a 12'6" and then Rupert on his 17' in third. Last Saturday, we had Cam win the race on a 12'6".

On Australia Day, Rupert was the race favourite and probably would have won on a quick 14' board. The thing about the 17' Glide that Rupert races on is that it has a lot of rocker (the banana shape at the nose) which means that there is probably only about 14' of board in the water anyway. So that means if you can't take advantage of that rocker and board length courtesy of ocean swells, then you are just pushing around more weight for no purpose. I doubt that Rupert got any advantage over the 14' boards that day, he won because he's the best. But in my opinion, good flat 14' raceboard at least theoretically beats a 17' Naish Glide in most circumstances other than downwind.

Having said that, the other thing we find on our downwinders is that some days the conditions on the Bay really favour the 17' boards and some days the wave period and height seems to push the 14' boards better. So the length doesn't necessarily equal speed.

Regarding 12'6", as you noted, it's really a category and a race in its own right so the people entering on those boards are not often chasing outright race wins. Some races are restricted to 12'6" maximum. On the other hand, our Masters category allows paddlers open choice on board length so you may as well use a longer board to fight for wins in that category.

Looking at your list of SUP interests, especially the long-distance and touring, in my opinion, you don't really want to do that on a 12'6" race board. Much better on 14' and up. Fitness paddling is much of a muchness, you get out what you put in so board length is not relevant.

So if racing is the deciding factor, I'd be leaning towards 14' if I were you. There are more options available whereas in the 17' range, there's really only the Naish available in Victoria, or else you are arranging for something like an SIC or DC to be sent from interstate or overseas sight unseen.

14'

DJ

Picking up on PT's point a bit - the blokes who go well on the 17's down here ,Rupert, Christian, Bradtke, Bren, among others are all big strong units, sure the boards go well but they call for a big motor.

FWIW I think I prefer my Naish 17 over my 14 footer for long, steady tempo runs (15-20k). I reckon the 14' DC would be have to quicker but the 17 feels more cruisy relaxed over longer hauls...something a bit special about the feel of 'em. I don't have a 12'6.

I took the steering mech off the 17 and had a fixed fin box put in. I haven't got fins dialled yet but I'm liking the arrangement so far. I felt it was under-finned for me with the dinky little stock rudder. Now it feels more cruisy, more position/trim options and it's nice to step forward and stuff the pointy end into oncoming chop. Turning doesn't seem too compromised either. The arrangement might not be to everyone's taste but hey, it's my board, not yours