Thought of a similar idea a while back... good to see there are people out there developing their ideas.

Funny, I started also a thread on another forum for developing this idea 2 years ago. I recall PonoBill was also experimenting with the idea at the time. I ended up designing a rope system to tow my 7'10" behind my 9'11"... which I never used, because with some practice you realize that you can paddle a 7'6" to go confortably to outer reefs about 1 mile offshore. Granted, you will arrive 10 minutes later, but you will not spend 10mn putting fins and anchoring the big board somewhere.

Corran system seems very well designed, however. And definitely interesting for longer distances.

62mac said..

Great idea however leg rope anybody

Colas is right, you can paddle any board pretty well to anywhere,using this what? You get there two minutes faster?? Then you've got the hassle of a board floating around, do you use a mini anchor? Don't get me wrong I love the idea, especially if your doing a long trip along a stretch of coast eg. Cape Otway over a couple of days. (Apparently Wayne Lynch did it on a Wind surfer 30 odd years ago towing a short board and wearing a water proof back pack.) I've always been interested in doing a similar thing. Not a bad idea for an adventure supping company, anyway this board looks ideal, if you added a couple of straps it would be parfect for luggage. For a short paddle though I'm with Colas.

Leroy13 said..
you can paddle any board pretty well to anywhere,using this what? You get there two minutes faster??

Well, as I see it, the advantage of a longer board is that if the wind picks ups, getting back from your outer reef can be extremely hard, and even dangerous, with a 7'6" compared to a 14' ...

Scotty Mac said...
How far would your 12'6" drift while your surfing? Needs an anchor!

Absolutely correct! Hey Colas have you tried to paddle a big board into wind? I'd take the smaller board because it doesn't catch the wind!! We get some very strong winds in Melbourne and my experiences with big boards into the wind (14 ft Fanatic red race carbon) are not good. They are for Downwinding not upwinding. I reckon tacking on the shorter board would be easier and safer, especially if you have to go prone or on knees to reduce wind resistance. Talking a couple of k's 5 tops, not 20 that's when this board (+anchor ) would come into its own.

Leroy13 said..

Absolutely correct! Hey Colas have you tried to paddle a big board into wind? I'd take the smaller board because it doesn't catch the wind!!

Well, my body catches the wind and slows the 6'8" to a crawl... and too slow and you get insane row.

Anyways, I think I would rather just then prone-paddle the board than having to deal with the logistics of 2 boards. Did it once when my paddle broke, it is actually quite doable by paddling 5 times with the right arm while resting the left arm straight ahead on the board and your cheek/chin on the pad (to rest neck/back muscles), and alternating. I wasn't able to prone-paddle more than 50 meters the normal way after a 5 hour SUP session, but this way I could paddle one mile in wind and chop without stopping, and felt as if I could still paddle for miles.