The Baron project.

[Roy Stewart]

This one's to a favourite design frst built in 2003. She's 12 feet by 27 inches wide by 2.5 inches thick, with a roundtail, an 8 inch tunnel and a bulb tipped flex fin.

http://olosurfer-woodensurfboardsatpipeline.blogspot.com/2009/10/baron-project.html

The Baron was designed prior to the SUP craze, and as far as I know was one of the first longboard designs to take advantage of widths in the 27 inch range. The widest longboards at the time were no wider than 25 inches and the majority were 21 or 22 inches. Some might call it cheating to make such an incredible wave catcher, but we don't mind ! The board is a prone paddling surfboard which will roast the tail feathers of any SUP, and can reach speeds of over 30mph with ease.

We'll be updating this thread daily as the construction progresses, there'll be step by step pictures and commentary.

[Hang11]

Look forward to seeing it Roy. How long will it take to complete?

One of the snowboard shops here in Queenstown has got a load of SUPs in stock, horrid pop out things, $1800 each. I don't really get the point of them, but the guy in the shop said they had been selling one a day for the last couple of weeks. It's beyond me what use anyone in Queenstown could have for one, apart from using it on Lake Wakatipu - maybe they're good for fishing?

[Roy Stewart]

Cheers Hang11, hopefully we'll get the board done within 4 to 5 weeks.

There's a fad for flat water SUP paddling, doing it one a pop out wouldn't do it for me though I'd prefer a slim wooden craft of some sort, maybe a sailng canoe, or pulling boat.

[Hang11]

So could you do a super stable SUP - something that would work for fly fishing on still water, and be hard to fall off?

[Roy Stewart]

Yes

[Hang11]

So what would you suggest in terms of design etc?

Christmas is coming

[Roy Stewart]

Are you thinking of a general purpose flat water SUP, or one which rides waves as well ?

Any of our wider planshaped boards ( like the Baron for example ) can be done as SUP's by increasing the volume and adjusting the rocker and rails. For flat water use only, a very long board with finer ends would be good, especially for longer distance paddling. For gunkholing and fishing without travelling far a shorter and wider board would be better as it is easier to turn.

We did a 9 foot board of SUP buoyancy back in 2003, but 12 to 17 feet would give better scope for an allrounder.

.

[Hang11]

I've got no wish to ride a SUP in waves, get to surf decent grunty waves in the catlins, with a long loved quiver of boards to do it.

Apart from surfing, I'm a keen fly fisho, and use a canadian style kayak for the lakes round here, but it's not stable enough to stand up on - due to the design being optimised for manouverability in fast flowing rivers etc - and the seated position severely limits fish sighting and casting. IMO using a boat with a motor, or made out of shiny aluminium scares the fish, so a SUP strikes me as potentially the best solution, but purely for flat water use, and stable enough not to be falling off and losing $2000 of fly rod, or freezing to death in the 10 degree water. Here's the kicker though, a lot of the lakes here down south are remote, and bush lined, so shore fishing is out, and tramping in with a 60kg canoe is too much for me, so a good SUP under the arm to walk in could be the ultimate solution, and on the occasions that $$ allow, it would fit under a heli for remote access.

I know it's not what you normally do, but if you could create something that was effectively a carryable stand up platform for still water, I'd be up for one, and probably quite a few others too.

[Roy Stewart]

A folding duckboat might be a better bet, they are very stable and lightweight enough to carry. I lug 20 to 30 kg boards up and down the beach and wouldn't consider tramping a long way through the bush with one. At 10kg it's feasible I've done 12k trips on foot with a 10 kg board carried on the head, but it's hard work. How about paddling longer distances and walking less ?

[esonscar]

I regulary walk 6 miles with an 8kg board - no worries ! (in wind too !).
I am stoopid though !

[pics on a webisie that might be advertised here soooon on receipt of a trade mark certificate - TM already accepted]