Red Paddle Co 12'6 Sport - Review

[@aviwittenberg9584]

Thank you for the great review! Is there a significant speed difference between the Sport 12'6 and the Voyager 13'2? The Voyager seems to be more feature rich but I wonder which is faster.

[@TheSUPCompany]

Hi Avi, thank you for watching and the question. Yes and no... while the Voyager 13'2 could be expected to be the quicker of the two due to its longer waterline length, it's twin US fin boxes create additional drag which reduces the overall speed of this board. This is not down to their being two but rather that they are toe'd into towards the centre line of the board to improve dragging. While dragging is indeed greatly improved its does come by the creation of a braking moment that results from the two fins angles cancelling each other out (also worth noting the V hull also aids tracking on this board). The Sport only has a single US fin box and has not such issues re additional drag. For us it very much comes down to 'horses for courses'; if we were looking to carry a gear or paddle in conditions that demanded better sea keeping and tracking then the Voyager would be our choice. If were wanting an efficient tourer with similar speeds to that of the 13ft2 Voyager then the 12ft6 Sport would be a good option within the Red Paddle Co range.

[@nigelhough7856]

Thanks for the informative reviews. Would this board cope with swell and chop when compared to the 11’4’’. Do you have these two boards on your test fleet? Thanks

[@TheSUPCompany]

Hi Nigel, thank you for the message. We have both models in our test centre. The 11'3 Sport is without doubt the more stable of the two due to its wider width (2" more) and its thinner profile of 4'75 inches compared the 6" of the 12'6 Sport. Hope this helps.