We were out paddling flatwater today, and got curious.

On the 2013 Naish Glide 14' standing more or less directly over the handle seemed to be about right as the tail rocker would be right at water level and I figured that would have to pose the least resistance. As for the nose it was always out of the water and the belly of the board just shoved it's way through the water and there was little you could do about that.

On my new 2014 Glide 14', if I
a) stand over the centre handle, the tail rocker line will be slightly below water level and the nose an inch or two out of the water.
b) If I stand further forward so that the drop nose is actually just slicing the water, the tail lifts and will be at water level or slightly above. On the face of it, this would seem to be the correct trim, but it also means that there is more of the belly of the board exposed to the water flow.

Both positions seemed fine in terms of feel but what would be the correct trim for most efficient paddling on the 2014 glide?

Flatwater you want to maximise the waterline length without ever submerging your tail. Submerging the tail is like a handbrake as you will be pulling water behind you. On both boards you want to be far enough forwards so that your tail, when stationery is about an inch above the water. As you gain speed the water will pull up and release cleanly off your tail.

The entry rocker on the new Glide allows you to make use of almost the entire 14ft, which is a lot more efficient than the older shape when paddling flatwater. On both Glide I have to stand well in front of handle.

Downwind you'll rarely be ahead of handle....

Hi, I am thinking of possibly getting a new Naish Glide 14, and had been wondering whether I would get a true 14' waterline, or end up with something less because of the rocker. I weigh 75 kg and paddle on flat water (inland). The only waves I get are from passing wakeboard boats and they are pretty much side on to my direction of travel. My main objective with paddling is maximum miles for minimum effort (ie cruising efficiency) and stability.

Thanks if you have any advice that may help.
Phil

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Phil999 said..

Hi, I am thinking of possibly getting a new Naish Glide 14, and had been wondering whether I would get a true 14' waterline, or end up with something less because of the rocker. I weigh 75 kg and paddle on flat water (inland). The only waves I get are from passing wakeboard boats and they are pretty much side on to my direction of travel. My main objective with paddling is maximum miles for minimum effort (ie cruising efficiency) and stability.

Thanks if you have any advice that may help.
Phil

The new Glide will give you virtually full 14' waterline and will be super stable at your weight. Ethan in this pic weighs 74kg and as you can see all but the last couple of inches is engaged. Imo the board has excellent glide, it holds its speed really well.

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Phil999 said...
Hi, I am thinking of possibly getting a new Naish Glide 14, and had been wondering whether I would get a true 14' waterline, or end up with something less because of the rocker. I weigh 75 kg and paddle on flat water (inland). The only waves I get are from passing wakeboard boats and they are pretty much side on to my direction of travel. My main objective with paddling is maximum miles for minimum effort (ie cruising efficiency) and stability.

Thanks if you have any advice that may help.
Phil

At your weight I think if you move slightly forward on the board you should be able to achieve 100% waterline for the whole 14'

After reading this post earlier today, I checked my Glide this afternoon.

I am 6'1" tall and weigh 85kg. If I stand at the hand hold there is no way any of my Glide s going to be under water. So I moved about half a metre to the rear and still no part underwater, though the tail obviously did sink a bit.

So I moved about 300mm forward and the nose dropped noticeably. IMHO there is about 1.00m of board that you can stand on and still achieve good glide. Though I am not an expert on this.

I tried square stance paddling and surfer stance paddling and I reckon the thing goes great no matter where you stand. This was in flatwater, boat chop, river mouth swell of about 2 foot. The more I paddle this thing the more I like it.

Yep I am having heaps of fun with this big yellow board.

ET.

Yeah, no doubt the board is pretty versatile and forgiving. I rarely paddle flat water, well... flat enough to discern the minute details of wake, etc., but when I was out yesterday it seemed standing forward as you suggest Peter, was a more logical trim, where the tail was either level or slightly free of the water and the waterline starts as close as possible to the tip of the nose.
The photo of Ethan is a good example and is typical of every shot I've seen of the glide being paddled regardless of rider size. Sure at 75Kg it would be pretty hard to get 280L volume nicely settled in the water, so what he's doing looks perfect, but even with way heavier riders, photos show the nose out of the water by an inch or two.
Just saying.

I initially thought staniding as far forward on the pad as possible would be the right thing, but then I took out my GPS mounted on the deck, and it turns out standing with my big toes in line with the vent plug is significantly faster.

I'm 6ft 88kg

That's interesting Chris - give us some details. I'm genuinely interested as it's impossible to judge without good data.

I took my GT-11 GPS, set to display instantaneous speed, which could be read whilst mounted on the deck.

I intially thought that like a yacht in light airs, it would be better to immerse the nose, and lift the tail of the board, it seems like the board pushes too much water when you have the nose in the water.

It was a morning training session with the crew down at Clontarf (Andy Davies, Sam Parker etc). We were doing interval sprints, and for each sprint I moved back a little, starting with my toes over hanging the deck pad. I can't remember the exact numbers, but intially I struggled to get 8 - 8.5 km an hour, but when I got my big toes in line with the vent plug, I briefly hit 10km during a couple of 45 second sprint intervals. Water condtions were glassy.

I haven't downloaded the track file for further analysis, but my JPP time trial improved significantly the following week. Glide seems so much easier and further at this position, needing less effort to keep the board at speed.

I'm only 3 - 4 months into SUP, so my paddling is improving all the time which will account for improvements at JPP etc. This position is working for me, but it may be different for others.

Ahh OK so still a fair way forward compared to my original position which was central over the handle. It seems the consensus is that forward of the handle is the go and above all make sure the tail isn't sinking into the water. thanks for the comments guys

Does this logic apply to surf?

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warwickl said..

Does this logic apply to surf?

Maybe only if paddling out against onshore chop - helps to keep the nose shuddering away as you hit each chop.
You have to be waaaaayyy back on the board once you're on a wave.

Don't be afraid to move forward on this board.. way forward.. see 3 min mark in the vid..