Hello,
I have been paddling in an iSUP for two years now and I want to switch to a rigid board. I weight 100Kg (I am overweight. The idea is to lose weight until 90Kg or less). I want an allround board mainly for touring, but also for surfing small waves and occasional downwinding. I can't store a board longer than 12'6'' so I was thinking of getting a SIC Bullet 12'6''x30'' or the new Starboard Generation 12'6''x28''. I am afraid the Generation wouldn't be stable enough. What do you think about it? I prefer the Starboard because the price (Lite Tech) and because I suppose it will be faster than the bullet, but probably the Bullet will be more stable. I like to paddle in open water where conditions aren't always good so stability is a good thing to have.
Any other recommendations are welcome.
Thanks in advance
I have checked out the SB Generation in a shop, but haven't been able to paddle one yet. One thing to keep in mind is the Generation is fairly low volume, and while it checks the boxes for a surfing 12'6", at 100kg, it might sit a smidge lower in the water than you would want for touring and DW. It would be good to try out first if you can.
The new version of the Bullet 12'6" x 28.5" has an uptick in volume to 266L compared to 237L for the previous model, so you may want to have a go on the 28.5" Bullet as well because it looks good on paper. I had the previous version Bullet at 12'6" x 28" weighing 98-100kgs, and it was ok casual touring in flat water, but it sat too low in the water for DW, and rough conditions. Doable, but not optimum at my weight.
I typically gain a lot of weight in winter myself, and it makes a huge difference for paddling performance on a wider variety of boards when I get down below 95kgs. In that 90kg range, you are very likely going to get much better performance out of boards in that 28" wide range like the Generation and Bullet. The 30" wide Bullet is likely very stable and I'm interested in getting a 12'6" Bullet myself.
A two piece could be an option of you still want 14 foot . Sunova do these .
If you want it more for small waves or flat water maybe better to do go for something like a Sunova Search (12 foot or two piece at 14 foot). I have an Atlantis Venom 12 foot and it is great in small waves and as a paddler but I am 60kg dry .
If you want to downwind I reckon you need a specific 14 footer as mentioned above
I looked at all these options for a flat water cruiser that would let me catch smaller waves as well. I settled on the Sunova point break at 12'.
It's not the fastest board on the water but it ticked all the boxes for me. Its also a really solid board as well and will outlast most fragile race boards.