Seems like there's quite a bit of interest and activity around prone paddleboarding around here lately, but not necessarily one thread for everything paddleboard related: design, reports, techniques & tips, meet ups, etc. There's some good information that pops up in the search (mostly in the Classifieds) but I thought the Design forum deserved it's own thread away from the chaos of the Surfer Discussion...
Mainly thanks to 20W's contagious stock and inspiration (and other posters too!) as well as a wave-starved season, I decided to YOLO a 12' Bark Commander (Surftech Fusion V-Tech).
Fugging stoxked!!! Thing just glides... did about 5 miles yesterday for a first session, absolute sheet glass and dreamy weather, overcast, really soft light all in shades of grays and blues, with a big whiteout downpour to finish it off. And then another 4 miles today, half upwind and then back downwind, just some really short period micro bumps but I could already feel the board tapping into the chop's energy and surfing along. Can't wait to get into some real downwind conditions!
Relieved the board is not as tippy as I had anticipated it might be. Tried knee paddling a few times and can go for a little while but it's definitely shaky and I didn't really feel I could generate as much power I'd expect to. Going to have to figure out proper placement and technique but doesn't seem like it's mission impossible. Riding it prone is just a joy so far. It's a whole other beast compared to the LB, night and day. Really feel like this is going to increase my time on the water a ton...
Board came with a 9" LB fin, which is definitely not ideal. I took the fin out at one point when going over some really shallow areas and the board worked pretty decently, which speaks to it's form (and fine ass tail!) I'm probably going to get the Futures Bark RFD 7", fin designed for the board, and all. Don't know if GG would approve of the surftech build, but hope he would at least be onboard with the fin...
Already have a sacrificial fin to rig into a water bottle holder... already thinking of which crossings I want to do... STOCKED!
Mainly thanks to 20W's contagious stock and inspiration (and other posters too!) as well as a wave-starved season, I decided to YOLO a 12' Bark Commander (Surftech Fusion V-Tech).
Fugging stoxked!!! Thing just glides... did about 5 miles yesterday for a first session, absolute sheet glass and dreamy weather, overcast, really soft light all in shades of grays and blues, with a big whiteout downpour to finish it off. And then another 4 miles today, half upwind and then back downwind, just some really short period micro bumps but I could already feel the board tapping into the chop's energy and surfing along. Can't wait to get into some real downwind conditions!
Relieved the board is not as tippy as I had anticipated it might be. Tried knee paddling a few times and can go for a little while but it's definitely shaky and I didn't really feel I could generate as much power I'd expect to. Going to have to figure out proper placement and technique but doesn't seem like it's mission impossible. Riding it prone is just a joy so far. It's a whole other beast compared to the LB, night and day. Really feel like this is going to increase my time on the water a ton...
Board came with a 9" LB fin, which is definitely not ideal. I took the fin out at one point when going over some really shallow areas and the board worked pretty decently, which speaks to it's form (and fine ass tail!) I'm probably going to get the Futures Bark RFD 7", fin designed for the board, and all. Don't know if GG would approve of the surftech build, but hope he would at least be onboard with the fin...
Already have a sacrificial fin to rig into a water bottle holder... already thinking of which crossings I want to do... STOCKED!