While not being able to compete in a 2020 race season head to head, austrias fastest paddler Chris Diver started an online Competition with the Corona SUP Timetrial Challenge to stay motivated and compete at online challenges, ranging from 10km, 5km, 1km-races and last but not least a 200m sprint time trial.
Also a great opportunity to compare my raceboards at race distances 😉
1:10:25 vs 1:08:28
The first challenge was a 10k time trial, I did with the board I felt most comfortable paddling longer distances. As I paddled nearly 400km with the SIC RS, I thought it was a good idea to start with this board and had a great run with near perfect conditions at the traun.
I started 5km down the river with minor current and only slight headwind, one turn and back to the starting point. The RS felt very familiar, was easy to track and saved a lot of energy in the lower body, but it likes to be paddled in less than ideal conditions. The last km was a little hard for me, as sun came out and led to sous vide cooking me in my drysuit 😀
Second attempt- Fanatic Strike 14×21,5
At the end of this challenge a second 10k time trial should have been done at the same spot with hopefully comparable conditions. This time I chose the Fanatic Strike 2019 and while lending my favorite fin to a sup buddy, I had to use the stock fanatic fin I feel less than comfortable with. With some stability and tracking issues but equipped with a new larger paddle, the fantastic Quickblade Trifecta 96, I was able to finish 2min faster than the first time. The first kilometers I was facing much stronger headwind than in the first run and had to deal with slight choppy water. Nevertheless I could hold the pace until the end of the run while not being totally wasted.
5k – 33:29
So there is only one run left to tell you which board is fastest at this particular spot.
Stay tuned to find out if I’m able to double the time I was able to do with the Allstar at the 5k time trial. This was at a different spot with much more current and of course half the distance, so I’m really excited to find out what’s possible with the Allstar.
Starboard Allstar 2019/2021
Right now it’d be a little unfair to post my results with the Allstar as my paddling technique improved by some margin. Therefore it’s clear that now I can manage to do the 10k easily at 8,7-8,8km/h.
There is a totally different feeling in how I can do those average speeds.
With the Starboard Allstar 2021 14×24,5 it takes a lot less energy to keep this board moving with good traveling speeds. The Fanatic Strike on the other hand needs a lot of power to get it up to good speeds, but saves you some energy when pushing it beyond 9km/h, where the Allstar can’t hide it’s still an allwater board.
During Races different things like drafting etc have to be considered when comparing raceboards and in this case both Allstar Models perform exceptionally well due to their rocker, nose shape and forgiving handling.
Hopefully I can do some more tests at the end of the season where new time trials have to be done.
Until then…stay tuned for some other stats and feel free to ask me whatever you want to know.