laceys lane said...

ok, the word is demo, demo, demo. well i would politely suggest you guys demo a longer board in the ocean. tell us what you think after that
with the doctor you guys could very well end up being the d/w capital of oz

Unfortunately due to our small population over here we don't have as great an option for boards as you have on the east coast. When I was looking for a downwind board there was only two I could find to demo they were the STB Pin or head down to Margs and try the JL. Both of these were 12'6 and there was nothing larger over here that was suitable for our conditions.
Realistically our downwinders are a WSW swell with S, SSE or SSW breeze. This means you tend to get slapped around a fair bit by cross chop. Having Rotto offshore is great but I am unsure if you would be allowed by the authorities to paddle back without a back up boat as you spend a fair distance in the shipping lanes. (and we are the Nanny state after all.)
As it is at the moment the group I paddle with are on 11"2s and I'm on a 12' Glide and the difference in speed is very noticable. I would only see them at the start and at the finish if I was to step up to a 17. Sure I would love to give the bigger board a run and no doubt I would enjoy it, but why step up when theres no-one to push or compete against. Half the funs paddling together talking s&%t, hooting and generally forgetting about whats back on the beach.
As the sport evolves over here and its happening real quick we will start to step up in board sizes. Also at the moment the three comps that have been run so far are mainly aimed at the 12'6 sized boards when it comes to prizes. Why be a hare when the tortise is going to get the prize???
At the moment its hard enough to get guys to try downwinders without scaring them off by thinking they need to outlay more cash for a larger board to be competitive.
No doubt it will happen over here(14',17's) but its going to take a lot longer as its going to take a while for second hand boards to filter through, as we dont have the same sized market as you do over there.

Unfortunately due to our small population over here we don't have as great an option for boards as you have on the east coast. When I was looking for a downwind board there was only two I could find to demo they were the STB Pin or head down to Margs and try the JL. Both of these were 12'6 and there was nothing larger over here that was suitable for our conditions.
Realistically our downwinders are a WSW swell with S, SSE or SSW breeze. This means you tend to get slapped around a fair bit by cross chop. Having Rotto offshore is great but I am unsure if you would be allowed by the authorities to paddle back without a back up boat as you spend a fair distance in the shipping lanes. (and we are the Nanny state after all.)
As it is at the moment the group I paddle with are on 11"2s and I'm on a 12' Glide and the difference in speed is very noticable. I would only see them at the start and at the finish if I was to step up to a 17. Sure I would love to give the bigger board a run and no doubt I would enjoy it, but why step up when theres no-one to push or compete against. Half the funs paddling together talking s&%t, hooting and generally forgetting about whats back on the beach.
As the sport evolves over here and its happening real quick we will start to step up in board sizes. Also at the moment the three comps that have been run so far are mainly aimed at the 12'6 sized boards when it comes to prizes. Why be a hare when the tortise is going to get the prize???
At the moment its hard enough to get guys to try downwinders without scaring them off by thinking they need to outlay more cash for a larger board to be competitive.
No doubt it will happen over here(14',17's) but its going to take a lot longer as its going to take a while for second hand boards to filter through, as we dont have the same sized market as you do over there.

Sorry, but I don't agree with you on a few things. Your small population etc should have nothing to do with it. We started out with only a few people doing downwinders over here. We started using short boards (like you) and quickly realised that the longer boards with rudders are the way to go. We did not wait for the market to drive things - we drove things ourselves and spent a lot of our money doing the r&d. You guys have the benifit of learning from what we have done and not having to go through the same learning curve that we went through. You don't need to wait for our second hand boards either as you should be custom building them to suit your conditions. If you don't have anyone over there who wants to do it get one of the many good custom guys over here to do it.

You guys have plenty of good DW options with your prevailing wind and swell conditions. Don't limit yourselves to the racing mindset only as there is a whole lot of fun to be had out there...

jed said...

don't worry about comps, lack of buddies, need to practice technique first etc etc. Just go unlimited. Once you go big, you will flip yo wig.

the ski and oc crew don't go out on 12'6 lenght craft.sure there is a place for 12'6,s. but guy's there is nothing like a big board taking off on a runner

Dont forget the river.

I have had some really fun downwinders up and down the swan. Not open ocean stuff but a lot easier to get to do without ferry tickets and mass transport issues.

Suppose it helps I live on the river.

Good one Lacey