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Gear Previews Archive for the 'Gear Previews' Category
June 21st, 2009 by evan
Jim Hayes of Tropical Blends gave me a personal tour of the shop and introduced me to their new line of boards. The Luana 10′9”, designed by Jeff Bushman, was first up. Jim describes the Luana as ″ a good middle of the road board, a relatively quick paddler while still performing well on the waves.” He’s used the Luana on distance paddles from Hawaii Kai to Kaimana Beach (8.5 miles) catching waves at several of the breaks along the way. See what else Jim has to say about the Luana on the video clip provided.
Continue reading ‘Tropical Blends Luana 10′9″ SUP Board’
June 15th, 2009 by evan
I took the opportunity to capture some of Jim’s thoughts on video during a recent visit to his shop. We discussed Tropical Blend’s ’09 line of SUP boards and this video focuses on the Kai’e’e, a 10′6″ SUP shaped by Jeff Bushman.
(click thumbnail to launch video)
Continue reading ‘Tropical Blends Kai’e’e 10′6″ SUP Board’
June 12th, 2009 by evan
I used my first DaKine Hydration Pack so much that I gave it to my brother and got a new one. The good news is that the new version has a few additions that were missing in the first version.
Continue reading ‘DaKine Hydration Pack 2.0′
June 6th, 2009 by evan
Since there hasn’t been any wind, I’ve been SUP surfing a lot more. I also just got some new Future Fins to play with and finally had some time to test them. If anyone has had success using these fins, please comment below because I’m still trying to figure out which ones work best for different conditions.
Continue reading ‘Future Fins – Vector 3/2, 3/2/1, Scimitar and Gerry Lopez’
June 2nd, 2009 by evan
Mark Raaphorst told me about a tripod camera system he was making to record his downwind sessions. Very nice job Mark. Check out the video of the F-16 Version 2 in action.
(click thumbnail to launch video)
May 31st, 2009 by evan
Part of the reason that I love SUP is that I love gadgets and DaKine has some of the best gadgets around. I just got some DaKine tools and gear and wanted to show them here.
Continue reading ‘DaKine SUP Accessories’
May 11th, 2009 by evan
I had a chance to interview Joe Blair with his new production, the Blair 10′1″ SUP board.
Joe Blair inserting the fins with Dan Gavere looking in.
Continue reading ‘Blair Production 10′1″ SUP Board’
April 21st, 2009 by evan
I just got my new Vibram 5 Fingers KSO shoes that I use for stand up paddle surfing. This shoes help me a lot to avoid foot cramps and the grip is very good.
Continue reading ‘Vibram 5 Fingers KSO -video’
April 12th, 2009 by admin
This is the video that Starboard’s Ekolu Kalama sent us when he got his new 14′8″ The Point which is especially designed for downwind paddling.
It’s fresh from the box and he tried it at Puena Point with the whole Kalama family. They’ve got “kona” (leeward) winds blowing bringing some swells straight into the harbor so they were able to have some downwind glides.
Catch Ekolu with his family in this video doing some downwinder.
(click thumbnail to launch video)
March 28th, 2009 by clarise
Sandwich Island Composites gives us a preview of the 2nd generation F16 which is a proven point-to-point racing board by Mark Raaphorst. Check out what’s new with the new generation F16 .
The differences:
Rhino design and CNC cut (true curves, better symmetry)
More boxy rails. (dry feet)
Single concave with small hydro hull side panels (better stability)
Smaller pad (lighter weight)
Contoured deck (increase comfort and stability)
The board is even faster, planes out longer and is more stable
Future construction is autoclave.
Basically a lot of what is going on with the new F14.
Continue reading ‘Sandwich Island Composites 2nd Generation F16 by Mark Raaphorst’
March 22nd, 2009 by evan
I took this video last year during my trip to Bangkok, Thailand where I met with Starboard’s Svein Rasmussen and Margareta Engström at the Starboard HQ. While at the headquarters, Svein showed me the 9’8”x30 Tufskin Black Camo.
Continue reading ‘Starboard 9′8″ x 30″ Tufskin SUP Board’
March 10th, 2009 by clarise
We have asked Mark Jackson, to give us his views on the F18. Here is the review of his two F18 boards (flat water and a channel board) both of which he is extremely pleased.
With flat water club racing and both coastal and channel crossings becoming popular, stand up race boards are becoming more exotic and user specific. Both my F18’s were designed and shaped by Mark Raaphorst and built by the Sandwich Island Composites (S.I.C ) dream team.
Continue reading ‘Sandwich Island Composites (S.I.C.) New F-18 by Mark Raaphorst’
March 7th, 2009 by clarise
George Phiripes of Surftech, sent us these pictures of the new 8′11 Gerry Lopez Tuflite model while in action at Pleasure Point. This is just a preview at the new Gerry boards which are still in production but will soon be available during the summer… check out the other pictures to see more of this board.
Continue reading ‘Surftech’s 8′11 Gerry Lopez Tuflite Model in Action at Pleasure Point’
March 5th, 2009 by evan
I’ve actually had this board for a few weeks now but this post took a while to finish. I got lucky with this F-14 SUP race board. I tried Ray Shiraishi’s custom F-14 (no rudder) during a downwind run a while back in pure epic conditions. The wind was over 20 mph and was very consistent. The swell was going in the right direction. It was at least waist high on the swell and there was a good amount of bumps and wind and it was a super fun downwinder.
Continue reading ‘New F-14 S.I.C. Stand Up Paddle SUP Race Board’
