Hello All,

I'm new to Seabreeze forums, so excuse any amateur questions!

I've been in contact with a mate of mine, and we are very keen to enter the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic this year...and do it on a SUP! (I did the race on a kayak 10 years ago and had a blast).

With my limited experience (1 x 10 minute go of a board in the surf at Curl Curl five years ago), and the last minute nature of this venture - the goal would literally be to finish. And if not...at least we tried:)

To add to the challenge, I would like to build a ply stitch and glue board over 2-3 weekends. Largely to save money (looking to cap the budget at around $500).... but mostly because I just want to.

Whilst I've already learned a lot through browsing these forums (seems like a great community!), I thought I'd post a few of my remaining questions in the interest of landing on a few answers before (hopefully) buying starting to buy materials next weekend. So here goes:

1) Where would be a suitable fin supplier? Doesn't need to be an elite model, but good enough. I believe 9-10 inch would be the suitable length. Plastic / cheap is good.
2) Where would be a suitable fin box supplier?
3) Where would be a suitable leg rope plug supplier?
4) Where is a good (cheap) supplier of deck grip?
5) Regarding the design; I'm working on a flat bottom design, with minimal rocker for my weight. The flat bottom/ construction method is definitely sub-optimal but it will be quick to build, and I'm hoping to offset some of the compromises by making it as long as possible out of three sheets of ply (approx 15' 6"). Building a better displacement shape with more of a v-under the bow will be better but will probably double the design, and construction time, so I'm keen to just keep it simple - build it quick, and just try to finish (...however long it takes). It has also been interesting to observe that a lot of the flat water race boards I have seen online have a near flat bottom at any rate. Having said all of this (and bearing in mind my conservative goal), are there any major flaws in the flat bottom idea?

Thanks guys!

Cheers,
James

shapers.com.au/

Don't forget the .au for Down Under!