Racer TL
This Racer is part of our “TL” (Tommy Lloy) signature series SUP’s and is collaboration between team rider Tommy Lloy and Steve Boehne. They’ve worked meticulously on speed rockers, water displacement, exit drag, and stability to make this SUP slippery fast and stable. Tommy’s signature raceboard offers a slightly wider template and shallower cockpit to aid in “gripping” with your toes in choppy open ocean conditions.The displacement bottom has a slightly wider underbelly to help the med – larger sized (180lbs +) paddler be stable and fast! Tommy is 200lbs and is lightning fast on his 12’6″ RacerTL. http://www.infinitysurf.com/permanent-site-content/boards-sup-models/the-racertl.html
The RacerTL
The CarverTL
This Carver is part of our “TL” (Tommy Lloy) signature series SUP’s. Team rider Tommy Lloy is regarded as one of the best SUP surfers on the planet. Infinity has developed a model based around Tommy’s needs in a high-performance SUP. This Carver is based off of our highly touted “Carver” performance SUP. Tommy’s version has a special rocker and fin placement for lightning speed and aggressive turns off the tail. The nose has a specific template to nose ride, which suits Tommy’s all around surfing approach. If you are serious about performance SUP surfing, there is no need to look anywhere else. Tommy is 200lbs and rides the CarverTL at 8’5″. http://www.infinitysurf.com/permanent-site-content/boards-sup-models/the-carvertl.html
It’s alive…. The first one is out of the mold. It’s crazy beautiful.
I paddled it yesterday and honestly, I can’t wrap my head around it. It’s 12’6″x 23″W x 9.5″. You stand 2 inches below the waterline. It’s an experimental/concept board, but I can’t really call it a board. It’s more like a K1 and paddles like an outrigger. You’re inside it rather than atop. It’s more like a Stand Up Boat. The SUB… Mike’s in love. From his OC/surfski background, he says it’s “exactly what paddling is supposed to feel like.” And it throws a wake like a boat.
It made me really uncomfortable at first, because I didn’t know what to make of it. The buoyancy is different. The primary stability is crazy, but the secondary is solid. My legs ached at first. After 20 minutes, my legs relaxed, my feet got lighter and things got fun. I’m not posting my Garmin data, but it’s the fastest I’ve paddled on a SUP. I still don’t know what to say. I saw Chupacabra and I lived to tell the tale.
The hollow construction made it super responsive. I can’t believe how the rails can yaw you into position.
It was the first time I’ve ever paddled ahead of Mike Owens. It was a new feeling. Like the whole world opened up. I’m so used to climbing his wash, but I just walked away from him. However, the conditions were bad for any kind of evaluation. 15mph winds moving in the opposite direction of a fast outgoing tide in a windy creek. For all you nerds, the p value was more about the bathroom at the diner after the paddle, than statistical significance.
I’ve paddled about 50 miles in 10 days and have felt normal soreness. But after the 3 mile paddle yesterday, I’m sore. In all the right places. I feel like I used all my muscle groups. The un-earthly, Hulk-like green was freaky in the overcast back creeks. It was nuclear.
I have more photos to follow… I just wanted to shoot this up there and let you all know what’s up with the mullet board.
The bottom line, we’re working on it. We’re pretty sure we’ve worked out the scupper issues. We’ve streamlined and reinforced the stringers. We’ve reduced the process to take less resin and be stronger thanks to a green ring an alien gave me when his space ship crashed in my back yard. (Why do they say crash landed when crashed says it all?)
This is not the board for everyone. It’s a concept board. We’ll be making and selling them as custom orders. In carbon, at 16-18 lbs or less, this is going to be deadly on flat water.
Chris had to de-ice his board before we paddled this morning. He set it up by his exhaust for a few minutes. It worked great. I don’t think the board suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning, because even when he isn’t paddling fast, he’s moving.
Ice built up on our bows. My feet went numb and my fingers ached from the cold. Gordon held up the rear, plowing through the loop on his tank.
By the end of the first loop, we were wishing we could do another, but it’s probably better to rest up before the race—not do too much. It was a great day to enjoy the sunrise. The wind wasn’t too harsh.
Water temps will be in the high 30s, low 40s for the race. This afternoon would be a good time to take a loop. It’ll warm up. Wind won’t be bad. And the cold front isn’t moving in until Friday, so get some of this tropical weather while it lasts.
I can’t wait to see some of those race boards at Sidearm today. I hear they are breath-takingly cool.
It’s apparently colder here than it is in NY. The world has turned up-side-down. I’ll be driving UP to Florida for the surf expo.
These are small tips, not huge tips. I’m not a pro, but I’ve been listening and living and showing up to races and breaks. If just one of you gets stoked on the sport without pissing off the entire surfing world, then happy, happy.
Here you go:
1. If you’ve never surfed, learn the etiquette, the rules that apply to surfers.
When you enter a lineup (the area where a group of surfers ride waves), there are rules that apply to everyone. They were established in different ways, in different places, to keep people safe and having fun. Nothing gives SUP a worse name than people who paddle out and break these rules. It’s like someone buying a car and ignoring traffic laws. People can get angry, hurt, or worse. Here is a link to a forum post. Ask questions there and people will try to answer them.
It’s 6:15 am. Chris, Jason and Gordon are at the dock. I’m fumbling with my wetsuit gloves. They start without me. I have 100 yards to make up already and it’s just the start. I won’t be able to draft. I’m on my own.
This is Gordon’s first time on this route and he has a huge SUP surf board. He’s just paddling to paddle. Jason and Chris are paddling to kick each other’s asses.
They pass the drawbridge, with the incoming current and I feel like I’m making up some ground. If they don’t kill me at the start, they kill me later. I can count on that.
The cold air this morning made it easy to lose focus. My mind wanders. My breathing becomes irregular. I’m holding my breath when I take deep strikes at the water. Voices tell me to stop at one lap. I imagine falling and and becoming a human popsicle. I see myself coming in dead last in the race next weekend, getting passed by a ginger dwarf paddling Bertha with a broom, dragging the Coastal Urge chase boat. My pad comes off. An oyster bed rips my fin off. I just tell myself to just finish the lap.
But I’m still digging. I’m not catching anyone, but I’m still digging. I’m ignoring the “just make it to the dock” voices. I resist the “just finish the lap and getting in the car with the heat cranked.”
I hit the Gut Buster and things turn south. The wind slaps me sideways and the chop buckles my knees. I’m pulling sand. 10-ton piles of sand and the wind is laughing at me. I can’t even see Jason and Chris at this point. They’re probably at Sea Path by now. I feel heavy. My board feels like a barge.
I can’t feel my fingers. I can’t feel my toes. Then, I start getting pissed off. Prick bastard voices. I’m not schizophrenic. I’m not slowing down. If I do, and those guys lap me? I’ll never live it down.
I make the corner and they’re about 3 minutes ahead of me. A huge gap, but there’s still 4+ miles to go. I’m overheating. I’m smothered in layers. There’s the dock and I’m through. I push the last half mile like it’s some imaginary finish, silencing the “just take it easy and finish” and then realize I’m giving up at one lap.
There’s no way. I take off my unnecessary layers and my gloves and start lap two. I feel light. I’m cold, but it’s bearable. After stopping at the dock, I have no shot at Jason and Chris, not that I had one to begin with. But I feel good. The closer you get to finishing your goals, the less power your negative thoughts have. And breathing drwons out the voices even more. You pull yourself back into the moment, back into focus, to technique, to cadence, to your line. The Gut buster part 2 is ahead and I know this is going to suck, but now I can stop at the end. I can get in the car and I’ve endured the winter bullshit. I’m not going to set any records, but I did it.
I get back to the dock, around a Yankee snow bird yacht and there’s Chris laughing at me for stripping down to a Bibjohn wetsuit and no gloves. This is the last real paddle before next week’s race. I’m hoping to do well, which for me means not last in the elite race. What it will come down to is silencing the voices and paddling my ass off. Stick to the plan, shut up and go.
Gordon, who I assumed had gotten out after a lap walks up about 20 minutes later. “Damn, that was a bitch.” We were all surprised. We didn’t know he was still out there and we were stoked for him. For a first time out there, in these conditions, he didn’t back down. He just paddled his ass off, enjoyed the morning, and did what he came to do. Business as usual. That made my morning. That and the cranked-up heat in my car.
This is the housing and mount for GoPro cameras. I got the HD version a few weeks before Christmas and was fortunate enough to have MacGyver as a friend.
It uses the GoPro mount and has a leash to attach to your wetsuit. It works well. You have to find the right angle to capture the scene, but this works great.
Keep in mind, this is a first-generation prototype. The next version will be more polished and we’ll work through some initial weight, leash, and fit issues.
A Distressed Mullet version will be available for sale in a few weeks. Let me know if you are interested. john@distressedmullet.com
Photos of the new and improved visor cam will be up as soon as we build it and get it production-ready.
Naish Stand Up Paddle Board Instruction: Lesson 07 – Coming In/Getting Off
How to stand up paddle board. A SUP instructional. Coming in and getting off of your stand up paddle board. Check out all of the SUP instructional videos at: www.naishsurfing.com Join us on Face…
From Naishinternational on Youtube
All Racer’s must have a USCG Approved PFD with them to race. You do not have to wear it, but must have it on your board or body to comply with State and Federal laws please.
They are small, can be attached to your board, or worn as a fanny pack. They’re inflated with a CO2 cartridge. Really simple. You can’t race without one.
Seven of us left Surf and Adventure, paddled out through a beautiful tunnel of fall colors, eventually ending up at the opening of Hell’s Creek and turning straight east/down-wind for a 2 mile zipper run where we ended up in my back yard.
Got some great shots on the way out but it was game on once we headed down wind, so all you get is the nice back-lit shot before we paddled out into the melee.
Excellent paddle followed by killer fish tacos at S&A.
Anyone in Virginia:
20 – 30 MPH out of the NW…we are going!
See you in the Surf and Adventure parking lot at 1000.
We will work out the logistics and shove off.
Call Bill “Dukey” Gassett
757-493-1253
yldbill@cox.net
I don’t know if anyone’s been paying attention, but Michael Owens sent one of his custom hollow-hull boards—the same model as the one he used while sweeping every event in this area—to Sidearm. I think it’s around $1550, but holy crap, someone better jump on this if they want to compete locally. It’s fast, it surfs, and on downwinders, you’re not going to find a faster 12’6″ and under. I was shocked to see it on the rack when I stopped by this afternoon. Seriously: Sidearm: 910-686-2969
If you really want to get in the game, this is the board.
Is anyone interested in doing some more organized, perhaps higher intensity training for the next few weeks in preparation for the SE Championships and the Run What Ya Brung races?
We have NE winds at 10-15 in the mornings beginning on Tuesday. It should last for a few days. We could do some decent downwinders.
Also, some interval training between bridges, etc. could be good.
If anyone’s interested, we could meet at WB, by the Blockade Runner early mornings.
Mike Owens is still patching up my Hobie, so I took out my 10’6″ C4 for a little distance run. I got dropped off at the Silvagni Contest in CB, paddled to CB inlet, to the ICWW, and to WB and Dockside.
15 miles in 4 hours. Tough paddling even with the wind. I was on the ocean for the first part, but the wind turned east and I headed to the waterway. I had hoped to make it to figure 8, but against that current on the C4 wasn’t doing it.
People drive their boats like they’re on the New Jersey Turnpike. Fucking idiots.
Here’s the route:
Here’s the reward: It was soooo goood. Holy crap.
Then, I got pulled by wildlife. He had the lights going and hit the horn. I turned and waited for him. “I was swerving wasn’t I?” I said. “I was definitely swerving.” “Do you have a life jacket I can see?” He said. “Not unless you have x-ray vision. It’s in my backpack.” “Can you pull it out so I can see it?” “I hope you mean the pfd, because otherwise, I’m kind of uncomfortable. This may be a rest stop for me, but I’m no congressman.” I took out the pdf and held it up like a dead fish I’d caught. “Cool. Thanks. have a safe day.” He took off after some obvious terrorists—a gaggle of high-school kids drinking beer.
Going on another long paddle tomorrow. Maybe Time Bandit will lend me a big board. Maybe Cupcake will join us.
