I'm looking for a recretional downwind board mostly for my wife who normally paddles a flatwater racer Fanatic Strike 14x25. The use would be downwinding small but steep waves. Downwind ease is appreciated and also ability to survive some crosswinds. Some options so far are 2022 Starboard Generation 14x26 (or 14x28) and 2021 SIC Bullet 14x27. Any experience on the SIC especially? The Generation is cheaper but is it any worse?
I myself paddle a "jack of all trades" allwater board, NSP Carolina Pro 14x25, on both flats and downwinds. Would I enjoy the SIC more than my NSP dugout allwater raceboard when I go alone on a bit bigger days?
As a firm believer of deep dugout designs, I've also tried to find an NSP Sonic 14x24,25 but they seem to be hard to find.
I have the current model bullet and have had the old black one previously. The bullet is light, incredibly stable and so much fun downwinding. When the conditions start getting really rough the bullet remains very well behaved and inspires confidence. For regular paddling it actually ticks along quite nicely.
Overall I find mine a joy to paddle, and is a reliable trusted friend out on the ocean.
My wife and I both bought the 2021 14' Bullet to replace our older SIC F16s for downwinding on Maui. In the past we had also ridden the previous Bullet 14s, the Jimmy Lewis Maliko, a Fanatic Falcon, and we still own dedicated flat-water 14s. We could not be happier with the new Bullets; very stable, easy to catch bumps, and great at smoothly resurfacing the nose when you poke into the back of a bump. Now in our 70s, the new Bullets are keeping us excited about downwinding. Since we do a lot of SUP surfing on our shorter boards, it is important to us that our downwind boards have a surfy feeling when you get back on the tail and the new Bullets are great at this. When the surf is tiny (knee to thigh high), we have fun taking our Bullets to ride deserted outer reef breaks since they will actually make a decent bottom turn. If you are looking for the fastest board just to shoot straight downwind their would be other choices, but if you enjoy surfing left and right across the swells then the Bullet 14 is hard to beat.
On flat water, the new Bullet is much faster than the old F16, but not nearly as fast or with as much glide as our dedicated flat-water boards.
You asked about crosswinds. One of our favorite downwinders involves needing to make a 90-degree turn towards shore for a 300 meter paddle through an opening in the reefs. We chose to get the rudder option which makes it a piece of cake to paddle 90 degrees to a 30 mph wind for a few hundred yards. We also enjoy being able to give the rudder a quick nudge to lineup with the numerous cross-swells we experience during our runs. I realize that some people are very anti-rudder, but for us and our situations they are a huge plus on the Bullet 14.
Also worth considering is a Naish Maliko 14x26 or a Sunova Torpedo 14x27 or 14x25.5.
In steep chop, the nose of teh Maliko can go under and the board will just keep going so you can always drive it with almost full line in teh water without worrying that you will sink and crash (which would happen with a Bullet design). The Torpedo with its pintail and hard tail rails, allow you to sink the tail and not loose speed on short period steep chop. Either is a blast and can be taken in bigger conditions, no issue when you borrow the board.....
Both have design and nose that make crosswind and cross chop a breeze.
Select to expand quoteobijohn said..
My wife and I both bought the 2021 14' Bullet to replace our older SIC F16s for downwinding on Maui. In the past we had also ridden the previous Bullet 14s, the Jimmy Lewis Maliko, a Fanatic Falcon, and we still own dedicated flat-water 14s. We could not be happier with the new Bullets; very stable, easy to catch bumps, and great at smoothly resurfacing the nose when you poke into the back of a bump. Now in our 70s, the new Bullets are keeping us excited about downwinding. Since we do a lot of SUP surfing on our shorter boards, it is important to us that our downwind boards have a surfy feeling when you get back on the tail and the new Bullets are great at this. When the surf is tiny (knee to thigh high), we have fun taking our Bullets to ride deserted outer reef breaks since they will actually make a decent bottom turn. If you are looking for the fastest board just to shoot straight downwind their would be other choices, but if you enjoy surfing left and right across the swells then the Bullet 14 is hard to beat.
On flat water, the new Bullet is much faster than the old F16, but not nearly as fast or with as much glide as our dedicated flat-water boards.
You asked about crosswinds. One of our favorite downwinders involves needing to make a 90-degree turn towards shore for a 300 meter paddle through an opening in the reefs. We chose to get the rudder option which makes it a piece of cake to paddle 90 degrees to a 30 mph wind for a few hundred yards. We also enjoy being able to give the rudder a quick nudge to lineup with the numerous cross-swells we experience during our runs. I realize that some people are very anti-rudder, but for us and our situations they are a huge plus on the Bullet 14.
Good points. I see the rudder advantage but it seems they are not available here. I used to downwind some flat deck boards here in our steep windswell...maybe it was me but oftentimes there were waves coming from side and submerging the board making me miss a takeoff? Dugout board seems to prevent this a lot.
I think that the nose and rail volume of the latest generation of Bullet 14s would prevent that issue since it is more similar to a dugout than the older generations of flat deck boards with low volume noses and rails which could catch or bury easily. If your wife is new to downwinding, she might fall a bit at first and dugouts can be more challenging than flatter decked boards to climb back on. The Bullet does have a very slightly recessed deck, but certainly not like a dugout. I have no relationship to SIC so just sharing thoughts.
