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Piros said...
You can now get Sup's as light as you want them but at around 4 inches thick these light boards are like corks making them unsettled in the chop.I think too much empashisis is getting put on floatation and you can't sink the board to get it on it's rail. People are scared with on water on the deck when you are paddling and get extra thickess put in to fatten up for the float.
Hey Rob, totally agree although I think it is important how the volume is distributed. My latest that Dan made me, is 4 1/2 inches thick but with a domed deck running into low volume rails. Like wise the width/volume of the tail is low making it easy to sink when needed.
The volume in the middle provides enough volume so I'm not completely underwater although the rails are. I agree that this is less unstable than a SUP with high volume rails that seem to bounch you around in chop.
I think its interesting that some of the larger manufactures seem to base their (high performance) designs on the theory that you need high volume rails for stability.
Another interesting thing about the lower volume boards is that because the board is sitting lower in the water your center of gravity is lower as well - similar to the effect of the concave decks.