I finally bit the bullet and laid down some coin on a new board from Ocean Addicts. I was very happy with the Ace in flat water, but my lack of skill made it unpleasant in the ocean. Without testing I bought a 14 x 27.5 Carbon Falcon.
So far I have only had the Falcon in flat water. I'm 6'3 100kg and have ok balance, but not great.
I do a regular 9.2km river loop, so have a few times to compare.
First up the Falcon felt a little rolly when I first jumped on. I had been on a 12'6 x 25 falcon for the last few days and the initial roll, whilst not as severe as the 25 was still similar. It was fine through a wakeboard boats wash, so it appears to be just a primary stability roll.
The Falcon seems to glide between strokes better.... I am still not sure exactly where to have my feet to get the most efficient glide (first paddle and all) but it felt very nice and tracked nicely.
I rounded the halfway mark (4.6km) having gone into a current in 36 minute... very similar to the ACE... but I ran out of steam...or so I thought.
went a little into cruise mode and then found i was actually running a quick pace so stepped it up again. short of the long...new pb of 1:05.15, best on the ACE was 1:06.57.
Now to me that's not far off a tie, as there may have been a little more headwind, or different current or something, but my goal when going to the Falcon was to get a flat deck for ocean work and waves (as I did SOOOO much swimming on the ACE due to my poor balance
) without sacrificing flat water speed. TICK.
I'm looking forward to testing it in the ocean and waves, and sprint training..... So far so good.
Hey skebstebamal,
The trimming or foot position on the Falcon depends on your speed. I find that heels in line with the rear of the handle is a good start for flat water. Allow the nose to sit proud of the water. Trim changes with speed, so if you are going flat out, I normally go a few more inches forward to keep the board more horizontal and ease up any wake off the tail. I find if the board is ejecting spray perpendicular to the boards centerline and about 14 inches from the nose, it seems to be about fastest there.
For downwinding, hang your toes over the raised bit of the deck grip to get onto the runners, and step back to the back of the raised section. Shere should be no real reason to go much further back than that unless you really drop into a big trough.
I find in cross winds, it's better to stand slightly aft of the handle to allow the nose to raise up above the slap of the waves. It's then heaps easier to keep on track cross wind.
DM
Sweet. Thanks for the tips. I also found on the 12'6 I needed to move forward a bit when flat out to stop nose rise... Cool I'll try it all out. Thanks!
On Maroochy... bli bli boat ramp up and around the second island.. about 9.2 clicks.
Ive had it out in small BOP type conditions in the last week. Really good fun. Can be surfed quite easily and pivot turned.... its a blast.
next on the agenda is a decent DW.... hopefully this week geroa to heads, or on central coast with the ESS boys. . . will update
So far I think the Falcon seems comparable to the Ace. Like you, I've now done some PBs on my Falcon, though I was comparing the 14 x 25 Fanatic and the 14 x 25 Ace. The guys I normally paddle with when we are all on Aces are no faster when I'm on the Falcon so I think they're comparable.
Having said that there is a huge difference in stability between the 25 and 27.5 Falcon. In flat water the 25 is certainly faster but in extreme chop I'm faster on the 27.5 just because I remain upright.
Really experienced paddlers and light weights seem to do well on the 14 x 25 Falcon.
