There are lots of conversations about what you cant do on 12'6 race boards and how they don't perform well on downwinders in the last few weeks.

Size and weight of the rider is obviously a factor but Kristi Page, Simondo Baum and Justin Ormonde have done several runs in extreme condition and had nothing but fun and the 12'6s do work in 35-45-50kn

This is a vid I posted a while back, vision is not great due to wind squalls and in a homer moment i forgot the tripod but you'll get the idea.

Good one Phill. Another good vid here for surf race beginners...

I love my 12'6er. At training it gives me an extra incentive to keep up and beat 14's and they are really fun to DW and after seeing how well some of the Goldie boys and girls surf them I'm looking forward to getting it in the waves.

RJK said...

just on this topic, jacko you smashed it at state titles on your 12'6, and as this thread suggests they are prety good downwinding too, do you think races will ever become just a single size class for the opens??

Wait a sec, just let me get some popcorn and a comfy chair... okay, I'm set.

The Fanatic Carbon 12'6 x 30 odd race board goes unreal downwind too. For 85-95kg, the "30 wide" version has a nice ratio of length, and width for planning area.

I had that thing planning heaps in 15 knots. You have to paddle hard. The harder you paddle, the more planning you do... and it sucks you in to paddle hard. That day we were edging right, so I was surfing little right handers when in the trough (froffin' in the troff!).

I love doing everything on my 12'6 :)

XX Angie

paul.j said...

12'6 boards are unreal in DW conditions!! even in light winds!

Easy to say when you are a whippet

100kg+ club not so much fun dw'ing in light wind but great in the surf

hilly said...

paul.j said...

12'6 boards are unreal in DW conditions!! even in light winds!

Easy to say when you are a whippet

100kg+ club not so much fun dw'ing in light wind but great in the surf

Is that still the case if u get a custom 12"6 with more volume to match you weight? I dont know much about board design but I reckon that should level the playing field?

dcc55 said...

How fragile are 12'6 and 14' raceboards in the surf?
Have there been any topics about breakages?
Its a lot of money to snap in a shorey.
But I'm looking at getting a 12'6 Bark later this year, mainly for the lake.

I ride mine in the surf all the time , apart from one time when the board smacked me in the noggin , id say they are pretty durable , you do have to be carefull though , beach breaks would be risky.

PeterP said...

Nothing wrong with 12'6's on downwinds or distance racing - they are just slower....

I suggest making away with classes, then everyone is free to ride what they want and if that happens to be a 12'6 - all good!

I used to favor a 14' class as a one-size board class allowing everyone to race on even terms - but it seems many want longer or shorter for all sorts of reasons - so lets drop the classifications - bring what you want, then the strongest paddler on the right board for the conditions wins and the rest will be happy they are on their favorite board anyway.....

Or the person with the most money to have a board for all conditions!!

Glad I didn't have anything smaller than my 14 out there today..

DJ

I had some the longest runners I have experienced in Port Phillip (not a) Bay today ... glad I was on my 14'er. [}:)]

I'm also not saying that a 12'6 is faster than a 17 as well but for the difference there is then most of the time I'm happy on my 12'6 but doing away with all classes would never work that's for sure!

The SA team came back wide-eyed telling us JM had 3 boards to choose from...pure hearsay so may be incorrect. The other event I referred to may have been a state champs - not sure, but he posted something where he described how he'd used this board for that discipline and that board for the downwind etc....

Point is no matter how we try and level the playing field it will never happen unless we introduce one-design which I think everyone will agree is not the way.

The 12'6 really is a bastard race class which came about by accident and although you can downwind and do whatever you want on it - will always be slower and favour small guys or ladies. But why sustain a class that does that when a 14' does pretty much everything better? Seems like the various camps of opinion are firmly entrenched but I just don't get why you'd want to be on a 12'6 if you are into racing - unless you are very light and want that advantage over the heavier guys....

PeterP said...

The SA team came back wide-eyed telling us JM had 3 boards to choose from...pure hearsay so may be incorrect. The other event I referred to may have been a state champs - not sure, but he posted something where he described how he'd used this board for that discipline and that board for the downwind etc....

Point is no matter how we try and level the playing field it will never happen unless we introduce one-design which I think everyone will agree is not the way.

The 12'6 really is a bastard race class which came about by accident and although you can downwind and do whatever you want on it - will always be slower and favour small guys or ladies. But why sustain a class that does that when a 14' does pretty much everything better? Seems like the various camps of opinion are firmly entrenched but I just don't get why you'd want to be on a 12'6 if you are into racing - unless you are very light and want that advantage over the heavier guys....

because that is the bop class, reason being easier to surf. i believe that it initially came about as that is the longest blank you could buy.

am i the only one that doesnt want to copy the starboard wagon and have 20 different boards for each condition??

RJK said...


am i the only one that doesnt want to copy the starboard wagon and have 20 different boards for each condition??

No you're not the only one. There's Jacko too.

Personally, I prefer not to play an entire round of golf with a 7 iron.