Friday, May 22, 2009

Stable Standup Paddleboards: Laird 12'1" and Amundson 11'6"

I paddle board all winter. My rule is to go winter paddling when its above freezing and no ice forms on the deck of my standup paddle board. I also have one rule - DON'T FALL IN.

Actually, the chance that you could fall off your paddle board at any time is one of the things that makes stand up paddling challenging and exciting. When the water is cold you don't want to get wet, particularly when hypothermia is a factor. This is when a very stable stand up board is important. Also, the more weight you put on a paddle board the less stable it is.

Two outstanding boards for stability are the Laird 12'1"Stand up Paddle board and the Amundson Aquaglide 11'6".

The Laird SUP board, shaped by Ron House, comes in two versions: The Soft top and the Glossy (free deck pad included). Both have the same stability. The Aquaglide Amundson, shaped by John Amundson, comes in a Soft top and is priced very comparably with the Laird Softtop. Both boards are an excellent choice so which one for you?

A combination of design factors make a SUP paddle board what it is and it's the reason to value a good board shaper. The length, width and thickness are only a starting point when considering SUP surf board design. For example, the Amundson is 7" shorter than the Laird yet it has a lot more volume and flotation.

I've paddled both of them many times and here's what I think of the two SUP boards. I rate the Laird SUP board slightly more stable than the Amundson 11' 6" on side-to-side tippiness. I rate the Amundson SUP board a lot more stable on the fore and aft trim. Fore and aft stability is less sensitive to your stance position and better for extras on-board like kids, dogs and stuff.

The disadvantage of fore and aft stability is that doing hot dog maneuvers where you sink the nose or tail takes more weight.

Both stand up boards have excellent glide and tracking so check them out at www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com and buy one of these super stable stand up paddle boards -- you'll love being out on the water whatever the time of year.
Purchase your stand up paddleboard gear from us at www.StandUpPaddleFlatwater.com
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2 comments:

  1. The Amundson dude's first name is John. AKA: "The Natural" P. Diddy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for pointing out our error. Aloha!

    ReplyDelete