OG SUP said...

Hey guys I had my first run on a k15 tonight in 25+knts on Barwon River and quite frankly had a lot of fun. The board even with my wide ass on it picks up the tiniest ripples and takes off

Phill

Have to agree Phill, K15 is a class act and surprisingly good downwinder. One little tip is to use the 'reverse' steering - more weight on the left foot and it turns right etc . This can really help if you find it being steered by the wind and is a great way to steer it when you are on a wave, it will broach on a wave and the subtle use of the foot steering can save you once you get the hang of it. I used one year before last in the Doctor race and because of the light conditions it was good choice.

As far as the steering system goes, sorry no experience with that.

OG SUP said...



The k15 also has a spot for a centerfin has anyone used this, does it improve paddling into a head wind as i found the board wants to veer off course into the wind.


Phill

Not an expert but I had the pleasure of a K15 for a while and in the right conditions it was pretty sweet but I found it quite a handful in the wrong ones (I am waaay to heavy for it). I've spent a lot of time mucking about with ventral/forward fins over the last few months so I'll toss in $0.02.

The K15 centre fin is a high aspect ratio fin and pretty close to the balance point of the board and it's similar size or maybe a little bigger than the stock tail fin (?). Ventral fins need to be further forward, somewhere roughly corresponding to where the power phase of your stroke is, to assist with tracking and pointing upwind. They also need to be smaller than the tail fin so as to not overwhelm it (especially downwinding, I tried a relatively big ventral and relatively small tail fin on a downwinder a few weeks ago and it was horrible). Long base, very low aspect ratio fins well forward of the balance point seem to do the job better up front, contribute a little to primary stability and don't seem to interfere with turning when you step back a bit. The K15 centre fin would probably help a fair bit with lateral stability but not sure it would help much with tracking or pointing upwind under paddle. IIRC the older K15s have a mast track and the centre fin is there to work like a centre board?