SUP Fishing

I thought Id share this just in case someone other than myself is interested in the speeder.
Today I had a conversation with one of my long time paddlesport heroes, Corran Addison.
His rep is as legendary as his paddling skills but I found him to be very pleasant, professional, and helpful.
Knowledgable goes without saying.
The version of the speeder with the controlable rudder system wont be available until 2012.
Its a very complicated and suseptable design and they want to make sure they get it right.
He said that the system will add 5-7#s to the board but with it already being 50#s it hopefully wont be that noticable.
I was concerned that the stem of the rudder where it comes out of the boat would be thin and easily busted off. He said that it was a concern of theirs as well and have made it strong and able to take those hits.
He explained how they made it stronger but that was during one of the moments that I was a little overhwelmed that I was talking to Corran Addison. kind of exciting for me.
He said that it can surf but dont expect to bottom turn. The speeder will also work in rivers but it will perform more like a racing boat than a runner or play boat.
The somewhat bad news was that the speeder wont be ready for market by my expected mid march date.
It wont be until April now but the "Wizard" will be available in march as expected. The Wizard is probably the board that will be interesting to the typical NCKA type since its already rigged for fishing and you can sit down when it suits you.
Ive seen a few different evolutions of the speeder.
The first had the hatches resembling the style of the Malibu boats and it had a thinner tail. The second had a wider flat tail and Wilderness systems style hatches. He assured me that the second board is what will be on the market.
My plan is to outfit the speeder to fish and of course document its evolution.
Again, just in case someone is interested, these products are constructed largely from recycled plastics and are reasonably priced.

here is the Wizard

^That looks cool, a lot like the Versa Board - a hybrid sit-down / stand-up.

Does the manufacturer have a website?

has anybody tested out  the diablo?? its a hybrid...was thinking of buying it to float down the river...

I have played with the Diablo and it is a nice platform. Very stable and versatile it was very wide for seated kayak paddling. And a lot slower than most paddleboards or the Nalu 12.5.

I like those boards spidey. The Wizard looks really fishy and like a nice paddling shape. Would be nice for them to offer the rudder as an option like a lot of kayaks are. Keep us updated.

Z

Doesn't look as good, but I like the cost.

Yesterday, I saw a guy crabbing out at Doran on one of these.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0046EB6LI?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1

Dunno if this is new or not but OK's Nalu 12 footer has a hatch and a mini tankwell. Pretty cool although the tribal art's totally bro-tastic. 

Z

I'm more interested on the longer, narrow boards that come with the hatches.....check out the "Adventure" / 16'x28"   and the "Offshore" 14'x 28".........


http://web.me.com/imaginesurf/eng/adventure.html

We looked at the offshore and adventure too but it seemed like they might be alot of board for the "hypothetical Mrs" to handle on her own. I also struggled with the concept of the nose of the boards directed down instead of the traditional upward angle. This is clearly a lack of education on my part and I need to do some more homework.  Any ideas Mooch?
We've found that the Imagine plastics are almost half the price that we were looking to spend on other SUPs we were considering. This will be even more crucial if we decide that we both need one instead of trading off between kayaks and SUP.

I wonder if the downward facing nose usues the same concept as the bulbous bows on ships.  They're supposed to reduce drag and make the hull more efficient, they also smooth out the ride as the bow will have the underwater fixture keeping it from bobbing all over the place. 


Also kust noticed that board has no rocker, I bet its a rocket on flat water.

I also struugled with the concept of the nose of the boards directed down instead of the traditional upward angle

That's a very interesting point - I didn't even notice that until you had mentioned it. A test paddle is definitely in order....now I'm curious as well. I've never seen a hull design like that.

...this is what I have wet dreams about    Not the best for fishing (it can be done) but I've demo-d one at the Surf Tech office in SC and it was a dream to paddle.

http://www.shop.standuppaddleflatwater.com/Joe-Bark-14-Dominator-Stand-Up-Paddle-Board-srtchBark14dom.htm