Here Eifel is paddling past Victory Chimes, the beautiful schooner at anchor off Stonington, Me.
We had super calm and foggy conditions for our morning paddle.
Click on the image for a higher resolution version.
Our company (family) had the opportunity to take a long road trip up to the coast of Maine. My goal was to test out our newly finished carbon board. We took both the all glass Sea State 12 Sup and the Carbon 12 Sup.
On the trip, we stopped to visit family in central Pennsylvania and we took a 8 mile float trip on Bald Eagle creek. This is a scenic tributary to the Susquehanna river.
The creek is very shallow in places. Sups often have troubles with shallow rivers because of the fin.
Fin boxes or the fin themselves will break. Also when a fin touches bottom, it is very likely you will tumble.
Our boards worked unbelievably well in this environment! Our board is a hybrid of a displacement hull form but with rocker.
It might look a little odd to some but it has several advantages.
Upon approaching shallows, the rider gets on his or her knees toward the front of the pad. This kants the board forward on its rocker profile. The bow now sits in good trim and the back of the board is lifted about 3 or 4 inches out of the water. It also pivots the attack of the fin so that when it hits any rocks it rolls over them.
It helps that our fin boxes are laminated in with a strong lamination of carbon fiber.
In the following video you will see this design feature in action.
Both boards are fitted with rigid 9 inch fins. Not short rubber fins. In the standing position, they provide great directional control.
