Day
1 – Sunset
Cliffs:
Conditions:
This morning I met John Ashley of www.paddlesurf.net at
Sunset Cliffs for a paddle/surf and the christening voyage of
my new
10' C4 Boardworks SUB. The water still had a bit of the south swell that's
been around for the last couple of days, but the tide was just a bit
too
high for the Cliffs. Nevertheless, there were a few crumbly lumps to
ride and we had a great time.
The
entry at cliffs starts with a trek down a winding ~ 100 step staircase
to
the rocks below that are more slippery than ice when beneath a bare
foot. The tide was a bit high, so the entry into the water is also
a
bit sketchy and you literally have to 'slide' off the rocks into the
water when there's a push. After the entry, it's smooth paddling out
to the breaks. As John Ashley wrote in one of his blogs, "the Cliffs
are an SUP'ers paradise" due to the endless channels (obviously
not needed on this trip, but definitely nice when the surf gets going). Equipment performance: Paddling:
Initially, the 10' was slightly less stable than my 10'6" Infinity,
but as soon as I found the sweet spot, it took right off and had decent
glide. The thing I noticed immediately was that the overall stability
curve falls off much steeper than the 10"6", i.e., once you
start to loose balance laterally, you need to recover much faster than
with the big board to stop yourself from falling off. This lends to
a great leg workout - just like when I first started SUP - and more
strength
that I look forward to having after a few weeks on it. Surfing:
As I said earlier, the waves were backing off a bit, but there were
still a few workable faces, and even some hollow sections. My
first wave
was very easy to catch. Equivalent to the effort I would use to get
my 10'6" into a similar wave. I stepped right back onto the tail
and over powered my first bottom turn, expecting that I'd have to do
a lot more work. This board turns with ease: it still likes to be powered,
but the rail is easier to get into the water. I also noticed that the
board felt much less than 6" shorter than my other board, and
in fact, I felt like I was on my 9' Stewart. My
next wave was a left (backside for me) with a nice workable face.
This board
just begs to be turned. The rails are absolutely perfect in
the fade from hard to soft; when I came off the top on one turn I thought
for sure I was going to dig a rail an eat it, but it slipped effortlessly
down the face and I easily regained control. A couple of the waves
I caught had some steep sections and the board hung right in the pocket
and had
plenty of drive. I can't wait to get
it out into some overhead juice and ‘put the petal to the metal’. Day 2 - Torrey Pines:
Conditions:
The tide was semi-high and coming in. When I first paddled out, the
outside was breaking nicely, with some head-high sets. There were some
very workable
faces, peeling into a very fast, steep inside section. Performance:
As I wrote in the first day’s session, the board paddles phenomenally
well. The first wave I took off on was probably the biggest set of
the day, just a bit overhead. It had a nice workable front side face
in front
of me and I was feeling aggressive so I went for some full power
turns. WOW! Talk about turning radius. This board turns on a dime
and holds
its speed. I was surfing this board with the same mentality that
I surf my short board with and it was reacting. No wonder Dave Parmenter
is
winning contests with it (besides the fact that he rips). When I
got
to the inside section I just kept going for it. I had great speed
and floated of the lip in the section in front of me, the board riding
like a Cadillac into the whitewater. Summary:
I love when I make a purchase like this and I find out that I got
what I paid for. The board paddles and glides well, is much more
stable
than I thought it would be, turns on a dime, and really just begs
to go fast and be turn hard. My first day on it in marginal conditions
was a blast, but the second day is probably one of my best SUP
sessions ever. Even though it's only 6" shorter than my
other board, it's physically much lighter and has the feel of
a much, much smaller
board.
This is the first pop-out I've ever had (besides windsurfers),
but it seems to be top quality. I was used to the smooth, thinner
decking
that Steve/Infinity were using at the beginning of the year, but
like the feeling and hold of the C4 decking a bit more. The tail
pad is
a must have. I had to put one my old board after a few months,
but this board comes stock with one. The last cool feature is
the leash
plugs built into the deck. They come with Velcro straps to hold
the paddle, but I could see my self using them with a strap to
haul the
board if I ever have to park a significant distance from the water. Great
job on designing a high performance - yet forgiving – board.
I highly recommend this board and purchased mine at Bob’s Mission
Beach Surf Shop. Bob has a huge selection of SUP boards and accessories,
but I have to say, I think the C4’s are going to steal the show. |
