14 of the latest 14' boards.. 14 paddlers.. One winner..

Full results.. Pics.. and vids soon.

What a great day.. Perfect Melbourne Autumn weather.. 8am till 2pm of non stop board testing.

Thanks to everyone who helped to make today happen.

I'll sleep well tonight..

DJ

Cool , looking forward to reading the disection of the results and the thoughts of the paddlers on each board .

Good effort you lot , a worthwhile job well done .

Woody,
300m straight course, or 150m + 150m (1 turn)?

Yep, should have been 300m straight for 14's.... 12'6 Test is ok at 150 + 150.

But, I'll go out on a limb... Starby Pierce or Ace Pro as the winner? Flat conditions... Piercing front and pin tail rear... Should be fastest... But not the fastest on the turn... Should only loose 1-2 secs on the turn, and make it up on the flat... (Sharp pin tail must be slower to turn?... But no measurements on time taken to turn, other than gut feel, effort required...)...

Bark v Jamie should have been close today...

Naish Jav should have been quicker than the wider Naish Glide... on the flats...

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Having said all that, summer season is closing is a big hurry, Bells Easter Pro is just around the corner, and it's time to start watching the buoy readings again for the propper swells!

Another great RPS/SupVic initiative!

Thanks to all those that organised, helped and participated.

The 14 x 14 test was not just a case of sprints, but also endurance.

The way everyone backed up every run at near 100% was impressive.

The increase in wind and fatigue did eventually affect some runs, but the consistency of each paddler will ensure the results are accurate.

Big thanks to Stu who was supposed to paddle, but returned from OS last night crook, but ended up being official administrator/timekeeper.

Simondo said...

One of the other reasons I think any of the Starby Pins will go well... If you are standing back, the pins don't bog as much as some other square tails... But we probably shouldn't open that can of worms...

Hats off to Woody, DJ, and everyone who gave it a go... It's a big effort. Too easy for people to criticise, without thought for the effort required, hours put in, fun had on the day, etc... I know that the absolute bulk of the paddlers have no significant link to a particular brand... Nobody in Vicco SUP gets paid the big bucks to paddle a SUP! As far as I can tell, it's still Am / Pro Am down here!

It was a big undertaking today for sure, big ups to the paddlers who managed the day (on NO bacon and egg rolls or lattes - wassup with the Cafe being closed TODAY? )

Turn or no turn? Swings and roundabouts IMO. Straight line runs would have told us more about straight line speed alone but given that many of us race 14s in events with turns, the turn probably has a place in the tests (FWIW every local race this season, with the exception of the Torquay Marathon, has had at least one turn in it).

AND the turn captured upwind and downwind legs in the one run, with one timing point. Given the topography of the test venue and our limited timing equipment it would be harder to capture upwind and downwind runs with any reasonable accuracy, unless we got all fancy with transponders & such.

Perhaps not surprisingly the paddlers reported that some of the "fast" boards felt harder to turn, some of the "slower" boards were easier to turn. We'll have to wait the full results to see how meaningful that is in overall times. It'll also be very interesting to see what the results show about rider size vs board dims - we had 14 riders in the trial today ranging from 5'8"/57kg to 6'10/123kg.

Yeah just backing up what was said earlier - big thanks to Stu for coming down with his DC despite being in obvious discomfort, but still hanging in there to officiate the whole event.

Also, Warwick/RPS for sponsoring the event and bringing the bulk of the boards, and for allowing additional boards that RPS doesn't carry. I think from arrival to departure, Warwick was there for 7 hours, which is praise worthy given it's his day off.

Well done to all. This is great stuff but the suspense is killing me

More pics starting with a beautiful sunrise.



Half Moon Bay was glassy.

Hey Peter,

you're absolutely correct in saying that this test was a sprint.
With so many boards to put through their paces, it was always going to be a shorter format.

The main point of these tests is to not try and determine which one is the outright fastest [ though it is always interesting], but more of a way to inform and educate normal consumers which board maybe the best fit for them.

Our test crew consisted of a diverse line-up of paddlers with varying levels of experience, height, weight, age and so forth. Typically people that may consider buying this type of board, rather than having 14 gun paddlers having a clash of the titans.

The main criteria when selecting test paddlers is to get a posse that are prepared to put in run after run at close to 100% to maintain consistent results for each and every board they test.

Hope you enjoy reading the report which will come soon.
We also did a 12'6" test at the end of last year.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/SUP-VIC-RPS-126-Race-Board-Speed-Tests/?SearchTerms=12'6",board,test.

Jono here, without seeing the results i can only say what felt fast and what was the easiest /most comfortable to ride. In my opinion the ones that felt the fastest (in no particular order) : The naish javelin, The bark (which in all of my brilliance i managed to fall off, maybe had something to do with the great big bloody boat that cruised by), the JM, the fanatic fly open water, the starboard pierce touring. The easiest to ride (most stable) were the JM, sunnyking, and the naish glide. A great day, enjoyed by all (especially my parents as i was too knackered to 'entertain' (in my words) them.

Full results posted in the morning gents and ladies...

I think there might be a few surprises in the results!

The turn definately makes it interesting

Results??? My bet is DC winner....

Teeps said...

Full results posted in the morning gents and ladies...

Results! Results!