Here's a shot of the board in action in France on the weekend:
Curious to see how this board compares with the well proven Ace. No board I've tried so far can catch bumps and glide like the Ace in small to moderate downwind conditions.
The guy on the picture, Vincent, just said: it's crazy, I hardly had to paddle. It was a 25 knots DW.
Select to expand quote[quote/] No board I've tried so far can catch bumps and glide like the Ace in small to moderate downwind conditions.
When you try the new FANATIC and the NSP then you will have. Good Luck
Vincent was apparently more than a little surprised by the board, I heard he beat many guys in this race that he has never beaten before. He borrowed the board off Rico Leroy and it was his first paddle on it.
This board is quite different to the Ace but gets compared due to the deck shape, even this is quite different to an Ace. If you look at the rest of the board however it is almost opposite to an Ace. The Ace is hard edged and concave for example, this board is soft edged and rolled bottom. The rocker is also very different. Travis, Alain and Dale designed this board based more on inspration of OC1 or surf ski's rather than prone paddle boards or windsurf designs.
The Ace is a great board without doubt but evolution is what it is, people are faster now than they were a couple of years ago.
It's the same board Travis won the BOP long distance on also.
Select to expand quotepetedorries said.. No board I've tried so far can catch bumps and glide like the Ace in small to moderate downwind conditions.
When you try the new FANATIC and the NSP then you will have. Good Luck
The new falcon IS good. I can actually see good paddlers ahead now after 15km DW : )
When will this sunken deck NSP/DC board be available to the public to buy?
On the company web site, I don't see this board. The closest ones I see are:
shop.surfindustries.com/us/sup-type/all-rounder/
and
www.surfindustries.com/surfboards/nsp_dc_oceanRacePro_sup_bc.php
Would the 14x25 Ocean Race Pro be the board most like the 2014 Fanatic Falcon 14x24.75?
Thanks CMC. Nice pics on the NSP web site.
Seems like the following are the differences between the 14x24.5 DC Flatwater Race Pro and the 14x25 DC Ocean Race Pro:
- Surprisingly, both boards seem to have very similar rocker lines, maybe a bit more rocker on the Ocean board, but not much.
- Ocean board has flat deck, Flatwater board has sunken deck with drain holes
- Flatwater board has a bit thicker nose (in terms of depth, not width)
- Flatwater board has a pin tail, Ocean board has a narrow but rounded tail
- Flatwater board has 267L volume, Ocean board has 290L. This was a bit surprising as the Flatwater board seems thicker overall and only a bit narrower. I guess the deck on the Flatwater board is quite thin.
If the rocker lines for both boards are indeed very similar, I'm assuming that there won't be too much of a speed compromise with the Ocean board vs the Flatwater. Can you confirm this?
I'm sure the Flatwater board would be faster in flat water (duh) but the flat deck on the Ocean board would be better to walk around on. I'm guessing the Flatwater would also likely be faster in mild to moderate (25mph) downwinders as long as the waves were not too disorganized. The Ocean board would be more fun on downwinders since you can surf it more easily. My Ace is the fastest board I've been on but it's hard to surf.
So overall, the Flatwater board is the one if you're looking for no-compromise speed in flat water or downwind. The Ocean board is only just a bit slower (since the rocker line is almost identical) but comes into its own as the wind gets to over 25mph and in rougher more confused conditions.
CMC, I'm just guessing here based on the photos of the shapes - please correct me where I'm wrong.
Argosi,
Your observations are pretty much bang on.
These boards were designed by Travis Grant, he has both as a quiver. He uses the Ocean Race Pro in big downwind, saying that though he won both The Doctor in WA and the King of the Harbour in flat conditions on this board. On the other hand he used the Flatwater Race Pro to win the NSW Titles in ocean downwind conditions, the BOP distance race and also came 3rd on a lake in Germany on that board. The Flatwater is perfect as a flat to mild conditions and freaks like Travis have used it in heavy seas as well. He's now living in Hawaii and says that on good downwind runs over there they are both doing well.
You're pretty much correct on all counts, they are almost the same board, with almost the same rocker. The main difference is that the Flatwater Pro is narrower and also has a more rounded bottom with some other small tweaks to nose volume etc. This made it tippier, the solution was to lower the deck and center of gravity, this then meant it needed higher rails hence creating the dugout style deck. They are very similar for sure, the Flatwater has proven to be quicker on the dead flat but not by too much, in small bumps they are pretty similar. In big bumps you'd do better on the Ocean Race.
Volume is lower due to all of the scooped out volume in the deck. Hope that makes sense.
Thanks CMC!
Will these boards be hard to get here in Canada since they're Limited Editions?
Select to expand quoteArgosi said..
Thanks CMC!
Will these boards be hard to get here in Canada since they're Limited Editions?
Will depend upon your retailers... They will be available on the East and West Coast USA so would depend if they order and ship them up....
Hey CMC, can you please comment on the DC Surf Race Pro for me. Is it just a shrunken down Ocean Race Pro or are then any significant design differences? It also appears that only one construction is available. I've never had a carbon board and am a little worried about the durability factor. Thanks.
Hi Baddog,
The Surf Race pro is definitely in the same family as the Ocean Race. It also has a rolled to vee bottom. I think Travis said it best with this board to say it was without doubt the fastest board he has used for anyone that has the balance to stay on it. It's made to go fast before any other consideration.
Not really a shrunken version but designed with many of the same features that Travis likes.
Select to expand quotepetedorries said.. No board I've tried so far can catch bumps and glide like the Ace in small to moderate downwind conditions.
When you try the new FANATIC and the NSP then you will have. Good Luck
Got agree with Pete. The new Fanatic Falcon catches bumps like the ACE and is really stable. I was lucky enough to paddle a good downwinder with Dale on Trav's NSP DC 14 and it too catches bumps and glides beautifully.
Like seen in the progression years of other water sports such surfing and windsurfing boards it appears SUP race board designs are heading in a similar direction.
(E.g.Starboard, DC and Fanatic)
The design looking the most different at the moment are the Nash LE.
Interesting times.
Select to expand quoteCMC said..
Hi Baddog,
The Surf Race pro is definitely in the same family as the Ocean Race. It also has a rolled to vee bottom. I think Travis said it best with this board to say it was without doubt the fastest board he has used for anyone that has the balance to stay on it. It's made to go fast before any other consideration.
Not really a shrunken version but designed with many of the same features that Travis likes.
Tippy Ehhh? I guess I'll have to try the 27" or wait until you come up with a 12'6" Flatwater. Thanks.
Select to expand quoteScotty Mac said..
Like seen in the progression years of other water sports such surfing and windsurfing boards it appears SUP race board designs are heading in a similar direction.
(E.g.Starboard, DC and Fanatic)
The design looking the most different at the moment are the Nash LE.
Interesting times.
Looking forward to the Ace 2015 "Ocean Edition" without the high side walls of the current Ace.
Select to expand quoteNNSUP said..petedorries said.. No board I've tried so far can catch bumps and glide like the Ace in small to moderate downwind conditions.
When you try the new FANATIC and the NSP then you will have. Good Luck
Got agree with Pete. The new Fanatic Falcon catches bumps like the ACE and is really stable. I was lucky enough to paddle a good downwinder with Dale on Trav's NSP DC 14 and it too catches bumps and glides beautifully.
What would you say are the differences between the 2014 Fanatic Falcon and the DC NSP 14? Which DC NSP 14 did you try on the downwinder? Lots of buzz on these boards.
Select to expand quoteScotty Mac said..
Like seen in the progression years of other water sports such surfing and windsurfing boards it appears SUP race board designs are heading in a similar direction.
(E.g.Starboard, DC and Fanatic)
The design looking the most different at the moment are the Nash LE.
Interesting times.
Ya, gotta give credit to Brian Syzmanski for his original Ace design (which was called the NEW) based on his prone paddleboard designs. He definitely hit on something that worked. Interesting to see that this design is the one that has stuck around in Starboard's race lineup over the years as other designs have come and gone.
Select to expand quotebaddog said..CMC said..
Hi Baddog,
The Surf Race pro is definitely in the same family as the Ocean Race. It also has a rolled to vee bottom. I think Travis said it best with this board to say it was without doubt the fastest board he has used for anyone that has the balance to stay on it. It's made to go fast before any other consideration.
Not really a shrunken version but designed with many of the same features that Travis likes.
Tippy Ehhh? I guess I'll have to try the 27" or wait until you come up with a 12'6" Flatwater. Thanks.
Hey Baddog, it's tippy for normal people that try to take a full blown pro level board into the ocean. In a lake, river etc it's actually fine. Fast too....
Select to expand quoteArgosi said..NNSUP said..petedorries said.. No board I've tried so far can catch bumps and glide like the Ace in small to moderate downwind conditions.
When you try the new FANATIC and the NSP then you will have. Good Luck
Got agree with Pete. The new Fanatic Falcon catches bumps like the ACE and is really stable. I was lucky enough to paddle a good downwinder with Dale on Trav's NSP DC 14 and it too catches bumps and glides beautifully.
What would you say are the differences between the 2014 Fanatic Falcon and the DC NSP 14? Which DC NSP 14 did you try on the downwinder? Lots of buzz on these boards.
Hi Argosi,
I used the board Travis took to Europe. Can't remember alot about the dimensions as we were all really pretty focused on getting a run in before we drove back to Sydney. Both boards felt fairly similar with the DC being slightly wider in the tail which certainly helped downwinding. I've now ridden the Falcon alot more downwind (mainly the 24.75) and it's very stable and picks up the runs very easily. I'm now trying to compare the wider Falcon to see if it's like the ACE where alot of guys like to ride the wider ACE in downwind conditions.
My advice would be to demo both boards if you can. Either way you'll be happy.
Select to expand quote Looking forward to the Ace 2015 "Ocean Edition" without the high side walls of the current Ace.
Is this true or a personal forecast?
Select to expand quoteGoochi said.. Looking forward to the Ace 2015 "Ocean Edition" without the high side walls of the current Ace.
Is this true or a personal forecast?
Guessing wishful thinking, but I did see this at the BOP:
It looked like a pintail "Turtle Bay" with a 2014 Allstar nose. One team rider advised me to stay away from the "Turtle Bay", saying they were very tippy:)
Select to expand quotebaddog said..Goochi said.. Looking forward to the Ace 2015 "Ocean Edition" without the high side walls of the current Ace.
Is this true or a personal forecast?
Guessing wishful thinking, but I did see this at the BOP:
It looked like a pintail "Turtle Bay" with a 2014 Allstar nose. One team rider advised me to stay away from the "Turtle Bay", saying they were very tippy:)
So that would be just like last year's Ace Pro.
What r the prices on some of these down wind race boards? I didn't see the Naish glide mentioned how does it compare? I'm after a downwind board myself
Select to expand quoteGoochi said.. Looking forward to the Ace 2015 "Ocean Edition" without the high side walls of the current Ace.
Is this true or a personal forecast?
Just my guess. But it makes sense, so hope it happens.
