Why are we slower than 1 man outriggers

I was flat water paddling again with outriggers today ,paddling my arse off to catch them .
i was using a naish GX carbon Javelin x28 .x14 285 litre.

why are we slower is it the length .?
the outriggers are 18 foot single man
is it because they are hollow ?
Is it because Im a **** paddler, don't answer that one .
is it because they float higher in the water and don't drag fins .
is it the rounded hull.

i could keep up with the kids just,but when the big boys are in them ... no way

last question is,there a board out there that can get close to their speed.?

It all comes down to drag and wetted area. The more contact you have with the water the more surface tension you have on the water. To keep it simple a Sup will have twice as much surface area on the water than an OC1 so that means twice as much drag plus it has far finer entry and release points.

If you could stand on a 12” wide Sup with the same entry and release points you might stand a chance. Jim Terrell has a video some where , where he stands up and paddles a K1 to prove the point. This when they were talking about regulating flat water Sup shapes.

If you are after speed and efficiency, don't paddle a SUP. Most other forms of watercraft appeared out of vessels that had a commercial (eg. travel, fishing) or other serious (eg. life-saving) purpose. SUP appeared out of surfing, which is done just for it's own reward. It's a really stoooopid way to paddle, if anything except having fun is your goal. Of course, if having fun is your goal, then you've hit the motherload...

9 years KI1/2/4 - flogg OC1
18 years OC - flogg SUP
6 months SUP , BUGGERED shoulder.
SUP are slow unless in the bumps !

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Tardy said...
its frustrating ,knowing you'll never beat them,I was just hoping there is a stand out board out there.
Maybe in the future,
we are pretty fast anyway,and pleasure paddling ,is cool ,3 years ago I would of been sitting on the beach .before i caught the bug

Im just wondering if the 17' would close the gap.
like the new NSP 17.1'

A longer board would close the gap a little. But then you'd have no excuse for being slower ;)

Their boards are narrower and their paddles are shorter. If you want to go a more similar pace then get a very long narrow board, kneel down on it, and use one of their paddles. Short of that, you are totally stuffed. Standing up is a silly way to paddle unless it's just for fun.

And yes, downwind we get much closer. This is why downwinding is really the sport that SUP was designed for IMO. Very small waves, downwind, and light touring/exploring. And maybe certain giant waves also. For everything else there are better crafts, really, if performance is your goal. But why should it be...?

Get an OC1 and join them

i paddled behind one for a bit today,

outriggers are lighter so it takes less to get them moving
less resistance due to surface area
more glide

you could in theory use a bigger sup, but the extra width compared to the oc1 just ads resistance and weight,once you get it moving it would be fast but you would have to keep it moving and when compared to an oc1, you would have to be a very good/fit paddler to keep up with a half decent paddler in an oc1 let alone beat them

Jarryd

I was in a race on the weekend on my ACE GT and was about mid-field with the OC-1's that were there - get smoked by the top guys over the (just under) 10k's but i could keep up with the weekend warriors pretty easily !!!

I had a go on an OC-1 a while back and really enjoyed it - would love to pick one up in the near future assuming i win a rather large sum of money...

Here is a good comparison to look at what different crafts can do.
You have some top ski, OC1, Prone and SUP paddlers in this race (Sup paddlers were on 14ft thru to 18ft boards)
In pretty much dead flat conditions with no wind or swell assistance.

www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=72077

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shi thouse said..

Having said that, paddling a SUP into the wind is a PITA where as sitting on your date on a OC or ski does not create as much drag.

Yeah, about the only time they are better and really, its the workout I am chasing so still prefer a sup, unless i cant get home

I come from a background of C1 Downriver (Wildwater) paddling where the boats are within a couple of centimetres length wise of a 14' SUP and the paddling style pretty much exactly the same other than a much shorter paddle length. The C1 is substantially faster largely due to being able to sit (kneel) much lower hence a substantially lower centre of gravity and as such the waterline width can be much narrower. A outrigger can be even narrower again and add in the extra length which generally has even more effect on speed than width and they end up even faster again although you can get some pretty long SUPs. I guess from that I would say the biggest factor making a SUP inherently slower is the fact that you have to stand on it rather than sit.

i have both SUP's and an OC1.

My OC1 is about 1km/h faster than my flat-water board in still conditions. Having said that I would rather stand than sit if I have the option, and downwinding nothing even comes close to how much more fun it is on a sup

Trav G held an OC clinic last year for us in the west and attributed his and others success in SUP to putting in time on an OC. And dialing in a crew in an OC6 is like being a V8 super car at full noise!!

G'day Tardy if you wanna paddle a SUP as fast as an OC1 you can do it on a Maliko Downwind Run very easy and unless the OC1 paddler is a real gun you will smash any OC1 paddler on a Maliko run, with ease.

Maliko was so Epic today just surfed the whole way "Yes Please Mr Wizard"

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Todzilla said..
I was in a race on the weekend on my ACE GT and was about mid-field with the OC-1's that were there - get smoked by the top guys over the (just under) 10k's but i could keep up with the weekend warriors pretty easily !!!

I had a go on an OC-1 a while back and really enjoyed it - would love to pick one up in the near future assuming i win a rather large sum of money...

Smoked by the top female on the day too - my first race in an OC1. Coming from SUP I find the OC1 much easier to apply power to and go faster. It was nice to be able to chase the top SUP paddlers down. Riding OC has also helped with my SUP technique, fitness and conditioning. Whatever it is it's great to be on the water and having fun ????