Jobe Angara and Parana speed test
I went to hold a funnel test day for the Mikkeli yacht club at their base in Ristisaari, Ristiina. There were five SUP boats, three inflatable (Jobe Yarra, Duna and Neva) and two hard-bodied (Jobe Parana and Angara). The weather was more on the cloudy side with southwest winds of 5-7m/s. Fortunately, there is a nice sheltered lagoon at the cross island, which was not affected by the southwest wind, so it was nice for first timers to test the boards.
After the test day, it was a good time to test the characteristics of the hard-bodied boards as the conditions were ideal for testing: the distance around the island is 2.6km and the wind, which is relatively strong for paddling, offered a headwind, crosswind, calm and headwind. Sports tracker on the neck, in the hand Jobe's lightweight and inflexible one-piece carbon fibre coil and a brisk jog around the island on both Parana and Angara. I've never measured the heart rate, so far I'm happy that the pump works at all!
Angara under first and a turn from the lagoon to the crosswind section. The south side of the lake is about a couple of kilometres on this side and in the crosswind you had to really work to stay on the board. Twice I was sure I was going to fall, but by some miracle I managed to save the day. It didn't matter, we were mentally and physically prepared: wetsuit and vest on and mobile phone. in a waterproof bag. Ideal for wetsuit for such a sweat run where there is a risk of falling in windy conditions of +18 degrees is in my opinion a 3/2mm suit. I keep my mobile phone close to my chest when swimming vest between the bib and the wetsuit, so it doesn't dangle unpleasantly free around your neck. After a side wind, the upwind and calm section went as usual and the rest of the way downwind I had to work again.
A short break at the dock, Parana underneath and on to the next round. The weather remained similar to the previous round. The crosswind section went without a single near miss, as did the upwind, calm and downwind sections. At the finish, it felt like the round took much longer than the Angara and was heavier.
I was quite surprised when I opened the sports tracker; for Angara the tracker showed the following: distance 2,61km, time 23min 38s and average speed 6,6km/h. Parana: 2,58km, time 25min 02s and average speed 6,2km/h. So the difference was only 0.4km/h - I was sure it would have been 100% more, about 1km/h.
After pondering the issue for a while while I was cooking sausages, I came to the conclusion that the demanding crosswind section was much more advantageous for Parana, because the side of the Parana is 1cm lower than the Angara and is rounded, so the crosswind catches the board much less than in Angara, where the edge of the board is almost vertical. The high side profile caused more wind collapse in Angara on the long crosswind section, which meant that the course had to be corrected more than on Parana, which also stayed upright more easily. On the other hand, a straight and higher side profile gives the board more stiffness and momentum, which is useful in non crosswind/wave conditions.
