Tahoe SUP Rubicon SUP Review

Stand Up paddling has recently exploded in popularity. The sport began as an island activity, with a heavy focus on ocean travel (both touring and surfing). It has since evolved into an inland craze, making it’s way to rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams. SUP is so popular, because it can be done on any body of water.Whether it is a man made surf wave, The Grand Canyon, Lake Tahoe or the pond in your backyard, there is a board for you…guaranteed.

Tahoe SUP is a very innovative and progressive company. The Rubicon is a perfect example of a next generation SUP, that has many features that did not exist a year ago. It’s the 1st displacement hull SUP, ready for expeditionary paddling action at your favorite lake, ocean or river. Think of it as the Liquid Logic Remix XP10 of stand up boards. Check out the details.

Specs:

Pros:

• The Rubicon is 29″ wide and 12′ long(5″ thick). The design is pretty sleek, which makes it very fast and efficient. Many SUP’s are over 30″ wide, which makes them slower than the Rubicon(most others also do not have a displacement hull).
• The displacement hull gives the Rubicon lots of secondary stability(primary too), as well as great tracking and hull speed. Most SUP’s have good primary stability, but get really tippy when you edge them. The Tahoe is a little different. It has good primary stability, and when you lean on an edge, it becomes rock solid. Just like a sea kayak hull, you lean the opposite way that you want to turn. Edge a little bit, and the Tahoe will do the rest of the work for you.
  

  The displacement hull. Looks like a touring boat.

• There are lots of features on this SUP that make it a wonderful all day cruiser. It has an 8″ dry hatch for storage, bungees for tying down layers or a dry bag, an optional pad for your dog, and a super comfy carry handle that is balanced perfectly in the center of the board. One person can load and unload this 12 footer easily.
  

  Bungees for extended touring.

  

  Super comfy carry handle in the dead center of the board. Easy to transport.

  

  8.5" deck hatch for storage. Bring a cell phone, camera, gps, car keys...

  

  Deck Pad is comfy. If you are going to do kick turns, you may want to put one on the back too.

  

  Durable skeg

  

  Woof woof. Bring the pooch.

• Because the board is 12 feet long and 5″ thick, larger paddlers will love the Rubicon. I weigh just over 200 pounds and felt like the board was very buoyant, fast, stable and overall a good fit. The other test pilot (Earl) is well under 200 lbs. He was able to get the board up to speed quickly, and kick turn it with ease.

  Earl testing the Rubicon at Cottonwood lake.

• The Rubicon is constructed out of Carbonlite 2000 with an EPS foam core. This is a high performance co-extruded plastic laminate, which means that it performs like fiberglass, but is more durable. It is much more UV resistant (than fiberglass), and can take a beating. If it does damage, it’s pretty easy to repair. See the Tahoe SUP site for repair details.

Cons:

• The Rubicon is not a race board. If you are focused on racing, and going as fast or as far as possible (at a high rate of speed), look at getting a racing board like the SurfTech BARK, or C4 Vortice. If you want to spend the day on the water, and are looking for a great rec board, this is it (it is the Liquid Logic Remix XP10 of SUP’s).
• A 12 foot long SUP is not always easy to carry around. If you travel a lot, or live in a city and do not have much space, an inflatable SUP may be the way to go.
  

  12 Feet of fun

  
  

• If you are going to do Kick tuns and move around on the board, get a deck pad for the tail.

The Verdict:

The Tahoe SUP Rubicon has taken many features found only in touring and recreational kayaks, and put them on a stand up board. This is really cool. Being able to do an extended day trip on your SUP, and bring some gear with you will open up all kinds of new doors in the SUP world. The displacement (sea kayak) hull seems to work very well on an SUP. It’s steady, fast, does well in the chop, and holds a line in crosswind. People that are used to touring boats, but want a SUP instead, will love the feel. The construction is top notch too. The EPS foam core with Carbonlite 2000 is durable, light and built to perform. The Rubicon has set the bar pretty high. It will be fun to see what the competition comes up with.