Hey folks, what are your thoughts on 14ft inflatable race boards for flatwater Racing? One of the guys uses one for our 5km time trial and does pretty well. Thinking about getting one to let me travel and race a little bit.

Are they hopeless? Or do they work ok? I am never going to win any races, strictly middle of the pack kind of guy.

cheers,

Toby

As long as it is pure flatwater and you can pump it up over 15psi, and get one of the race-specific designs, then they aren't too bad. If you are happy being mid-pack and put convenience above everything else then they are worth a look IMO. The new superlight Mistral iSUPs look interesting but I've never tried one. At the weight of the new Mistrals (similar to a light construction carbon hard board) they start to make sense for travelling. An issue for me with inflatables is they've tended to be no lighter - or heavier- than hard board equivalents, which makes travelling with them still a palaver even of they do roll up.

I had an impromptu race on my naish one against a an Allstar(14') and blitzed it upwind with one foot swell and chop. They fare better upwind than hard race boards which seem to stall in chop . So I say yes go for it .by the way the guy I beat by about 50metres is slightly faster than me if we were on same boards .

Hmm...do you think that maybe your upwind technique is better than your mate's? Although shorter boards can be an advantage sometimes in difficult conditions, I'm finding it hard to believe that a 30" wide inflatable would be faster than a narrower hard board upwind. Especially the 2014 All Star which goes pretty well upwind.

We raced two days before on flat water and he beat me by about ten metres over the same distance , upwind still but not so choppy . I think maybe the race designs fare better in flatter conditions . Also the variable rocker(bounce) isups provide ,might fit into the contours of chop and swell better giving more glide where hard boards would be slamming and stalling .

We raced two days before on flat water and he beat me by about ten metres over the same distance , upwind still but not so choppy . I think maybe the race designs fare better in flatter conditions . Also the variable rocker(bounce) isups provide ,might fit into the contours of chop and swell better giving more glide where hard boards would be slamming and stalling .

The thick rounded rear tail rail of iSUPs also tend not to catch so much when the board pitches, as do the typically hard-railed rears of many hard raceboards. Once you shove a hard edge into the water it's gonna stop you like an anchor.

Yes I agree about the rails too. I think the Allstar and boards like it are still skewed towards flat water even though they seem to be marketed as all rounders , but that's for another thread .