A Sandwich Island Composite F20 / SIC-F20.www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=137379192986488&set=a.137376459653428.24577.100001432241239&theaterhttp://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=137379226319818&set=a.137376459653428.24577.100001432241239&theater
Definitely a Sic looking board,but can't see it working in Aus , we don't have the depth in our ocean runs for our swell period to separate for a 20 footer it's too short ,that's why our 14's are doing so well in our races here.
Sorry but I don't agree.
I think that's the way to go even around here. If 14' was so good and so fast why the ocean racing skis would be more than 20' long?
Sunday I went for a downwind on my 17' and had a blast. The only thing that was coming to my mind was "how would it work with 3' more?" and certainly not "I would be better off with 3' less!!"
I agree with you too Al. Circa 17 feet is very fast, and usually gets onto little runners more easily, and stays on them longer.... especially for heavier paddlers (people who aren't light weight power houses). Lighter paddlers probably do OK on 14's. But in certain conditions, 20 feet will be a touch long!
I know, 20' long will often be a problem. To go through the shore break for example...Sometime I take my 12'6 instead of the 17' just because it's easier to use and get in and out the beach.
20' might not be the most fun either. But I would love to paddle one to get the feeling because I am convinced that at the end of day if the conditions are mild the board would be in front.
If one day the guys from the surf club allow me to swap my surfski spot for a longdistance SUP (wich is not in the cards...) I would consider going 20' as there would be no transport issue either!
That second shot is insane beautiful looking board are there any videos on it. C'mon Alain put your money where you mouth is build a 22 footer
I still reckon it's too big but would love to have a go on it. If you scale that photo that guy is apx 6'4" ??? does'nt seem right.
Maybe Photographer Phill (OG SUP) can answer the scale question....
But if the Camera Lens is 30 feet away from the board, and positioned 5 foot off the ground, then the nose is actually 33.5 feet away from the lens, and the tail is 30.4 feet away from the lens.... Not sure if that has anything to do with it....
Remember an ocean ski is only 17 in wide (approx) and still needs to float its own weight and paddler (80-90 kg approx but more for me 
) so it needs to be substantially longer, there is nothing funnier to me seeing long SUP "race" boards with a metre of nose (massive rocker) not even needed for bouyancy. 
I did not say I liked the massive rocker...I totally agree with latman I don't like these kind of rockers on any long distance SUP anyway.
But longer could mean narrower...
I am not sure if 20' is too big but if I was to sell my actual 17' it would only be to go longer...if I was sure it would not end up to heavy or fragile because that starts to be a real problem to deal with.
20 long or bigger sheez what a pain in the arse to carry around , nightmare coming in through the shorebreak even a small one , or going out through one , snap 
.
i think the trend will be 14' or 15'. for my money a long board is only really good when everything is perfect. short, bumpy, sidewind, side chop- too hard
i've borrowed kelly's dc 15 footer x 26.5'' for a couple of days. it has some rocker. i haven't been on anything faster and literally takes of on a ripple - a remarkable board and a paddlers dream
cheers
ps kelly rides for lahui kai now
If I was on the beach, and had the choice between a 12'6 & and a 20 footer, for a Downwinder.... No brainer... 20 feet of fun !! 
Sure not everyone's cup of tea, but that's what I would choose !!
If I had the choice between a S.I.C. F16, and F18, and F20, I would still go the F20! On the basis that I have paddled an F18, and I know I will get a go on an F16 soon enough, as they are almost a dime a dozen now..... But the F20 is rare girl !!
From my limited experience with boards over 14' I'd agree with Piros - I have 17' Naish and 14' Naish and the 14' is a fair bit faster in our conditions. To avoid the nose of the 17 digging in you have to step so far back that you can't really get onto the run. The nose doesn't necessarily pearl - it just penetrates wave in front and slows you right down - to a point where I nearly stumble over forwards as I'm not used to it from the 14'.
If you have a sidewind the steering however is the biscuit - but we're talking pure downwind here. I think you'd have to design much more volume into the nose to get the volume and surface area to lift nose up on longer boards for shorter period swell conditions.
The surfskis are around 20ft but as someone mentioned much narrower - half their tails are out of the water when they are on the runs, so they are planing on the mid-area of the boat where we ride off the tails of our boards. I'm not sure if we could control our boards without a rudder if we were riding the middle area only. Keen to see how it develops
PeterP, you have to walk the 17's. Paddle from the middle to get onto runners, but walk back at the right time, to stop the nose from diving.
DW on a 12 is fun, on a 14 is more fun, on a 16 it is a blast and on an 18 it is a fantastic wild ride. on a 20, ?????????????????? I would love to try it
I used to row and sweep surf boats, 26 foot long with 5 people on board. Now that is a serious kick in the pants when on a wave or catching runners. In my opinion the bigger the craft, the trickier, more challenging and more fun
dave
Perhaps the basic design limitation with a stand up board actually being as fast as the other craft is the fact that it needs to be wide enough and flat bottomed to actually stand on. Especially with the single bladed paddle.
As Mark says above, it will be very interesting to see where design goes in the future.
i was looking at alains big dihedral 17 the other day. i made the comment to dale it didn't go far enough even though it it's a lot different to anything else and by all reports in a pure dw conditions it really wants to go. but why not really make it's nose really tall and skinny . with the pulled back wide point centre i was thinking you could get it back to a standing width. you would have to steer it when the nose was out of the water and hang on and keep it straight for the rest of the time. it would be a radical looking board
anyone got some spare money floating around
Lacey, are you saying that you would paddle this new beast for about 1/3 off the tail (or 2/3 off the nose)?
Yeah, the S.I.C. Twin Hull "Stand-amaran" is for sale (USD$3,000 - so not a desperate sale!). It was never going to be popular.... Twin hulls would be a bugger to turn ! Unless you had a second rudder control and further back, so you could steer with the nose out of the water... But "the market" is look for boards, not catamarans.... !!
10/10 for giving it a crack though ! Well done S.I.C.
I'm guessing if "The Catamaran" actually won a race, the design would get banned anyway !!?? It's a different class.... In sailing, Cat's are always off on their own.... I'm a big fan of Sailing Cat's, but no for SUP (note, I haven't paddled the SIC Cat, and have absolutely no desire).
so I went soft a bit!
so I went soft a bit!
I like the idea of a planning hull with nose rocker (even if it does stick up out of the water) so you can surf it without it catching like a low piercing nose can.. and a very pointy nose so that when you do pearl it pierces without slowing the board down too much.. and enough thickness in the nose area so that the buoyancy in the thick nose helps to prevent nose diving and brings the nose back up quickly when it does go under.. and also a reverse hull design that cuts through the water when it rises shedding water and also helping to make the board stronger.. and stiffer.
Pretty much what Naish are doing..
DJ
Well just to confuse you all even more,
3 days ago we had EPIC downwind conditions here on the Goldie. 35knots and swell running too.
I did a run on the 12'6 SIC, l believe i was faster on the 12'6 sic then what i usually would be on my naish 14ft glide.
The 12'6 sat sweet inbetween every runner!!
This was the first time i'd ever done a super high wind downwinder on a 12'6 sup, usually i'm on my 14ft glide.
I find a 17ft stupidly to big for me to handle, and not to mention i'm way slower on a 17ft board.
Crazy i know!!
Don't get me wrong, l love downwinding on 14ft glide but it has to be WINDY and plently of bumps to ride.
12'6 SIC completely took me by surprise, as jacko said it would.
I can't see myself ever having anything bigger then approx 15.5ft downwind sup. For me l think's my magic number without going to big.
XX angie
Hey Angie, same thing happened when we did that DWer a couple of weeks ago here in Sydney in 35+. Kissa smashed it on the Fanatic 12'6", keeping up with Andy on his 17'. The boys all reckoned the shorter boards were the ticket in those conditions.
i think the next step is the big boards that will cut or ride through or over the bumps. until that happens i think about 15 ' ish and less is good enough in oz.
so we are talking the surfing style dw ing and a ski or oc1 ride style
I agree angie, for lightweights 12'6 is very fast. I've got the Starboard Surf Race twins the 12'6 and the 14, depending on the conditions of the day the 12'6 can certainly be faster. I really love the quickness of acceleration that you get with a light weight 12'6 with relatively low nose rocker, funny thing is that it also rocks in light wind swell.
Also love the Surf Race 14, K15 is a fast downwind sleeper, oh and F16's fly in big waves....and the Naish Glide 17 - so smooth, the F18 I borrowed for a Maliko run was awesome, that DC 17 I tried in Perth rocked.....
Worth a perv though !! 
