R38 Description

The R38 is a sup brought to you by Speedboard USA. Read R38 reviews or submit your own review to share with the paddling community. Check out a few other sup recommendations below or explore all sups to find the perfect one for you!

Speedboard USA
R38 Reviews

Read reviews for the R38 by Speedboard USA as submitted by your fellow paddlers. All of the reviews are created and written by paddlers like you, so be sure to submit your own review and be part of the community!

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5

This board is a thoroughbred…

Submitted by: guest-paddler on 11/21/2014

This board is a thoroughbred in the 12'6 race board category. A lot of it's design features come from yacht designer Zurn and the guys at Speedboard USA. The board's dimensions come it at 12'6 in length, 27 1/4" width, with a 14" square tail and 260L volume. It weighs in at just under 20 lbs. This is a full carbon board with recessed deck for stability, leash plug and gore vent. Has a piercing nose with 9" of rise through the nose to shed the water. The bottom has a double concave under your feet and runs into a slight V in the tail. Those yacht guys know a thing or too about going fast in the water.

Pros
This board is super fast when it get up to speed which is very quickly. The piercing nose is almost mesmerizing as water comes off and over the nose, I have to remind myself to look up. Because of the design bottom water comes off the back very quiet and smooth. Good for you but not for anyone trying to draft off you :) The board is very light but also durable as I have had a number of bumps and such w/o any mishaps. The board is fairly stable for only 27" wide and an easy fix with Gladiator fin. This board tracks great and with my larger fin I can get 7-9 strokes per side. This by far is the fastest 12'6 RB I have ever owned.

Cons
Only a couple of things to mention. This board is not for a beginning racer, however they do make a wider version which would suit just about anyone. The handle is a little small for larger hands and the pad feels a little on the thin side on longer paddles.
Usage
The R38 is a great board for racing and flatwater training. If doing any type of ocean racing the wider version is the ticket. Remember this board was deigned by guys who know how to make fast boards.