A testament to Dave Parmenter’s shaping ability, the C4 Waterman Subvector 9-3 is the only SUP board accepted in the category of Surfboard of the Year in the prestigous 2009 SIMA Image Awards. The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association Image Awards’ goal is to identify the surf industry’s most influential companies and recognize them for their efforts to advance and grow the industry over the past year.

View Board +

Specifications:

• Length: 9′3″
• Nose: 19 1/8″
• Width: 28 13/16″
• Tail: 19 1/4″
• Thickness: 4 1/4″
• Weight: 22.5 lbs
• Hard Diamond Tail
• Fin array: 2 X 1 or Quad (Five Boxes)
• Fins Included: SB1 350 Sidebites and 7″ Center Fin

We are nominating the C4 Waterman Subvector 9-3 stand up paddle board as the surfboard product of the year for three reasons: (1) it is without a doubt the most finely tuned and advanced short SUB on the market, (2) its Thermal Epoxy Compression molding construction is strong, light and eco-friendly, and (3) it is short enough to rip, stable enough for a beginner, and rides with a “feel” that is so important to good surfers.

Based on one of C4 shaper/designer Dave Parmenter’s most successful surfboard models, the ‘Stubb-Vector,’ this new model has a progressive rocker, flat bottom, firm edges, angular boxy rails, and double-barrel inverted vee panels, the “C4 Subvector” delivers sports-car-like speed and snappy handling characteristics. Its lightly concave deck carries out to a crisp, soaring deckline, providing the maximum of usable deck width and, thus, increased stability; the concave deck blends at the tail into innovative new foot wells, which lower the center of gravity and grant the rider’s back foot more leverage and grip in radical turns.

C4 Waterman is a company dedicated promoting the life of the waterman. Our goal is to bring products to market that bring out the hidden waterman in everyone.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Boards nominated are:

C4 Waterman Subvector 9-3 Stand Up Board by C4 Waterman/Boardworks
GTR by Rusty Surfboards
Proton by Channel Islands
Shane Beschen Rocket by …lost
Taj Pro Model by Firewire Surfboards

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony during SIMA Surf Summit 12 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, May 6-9, 2009. The awards ceremony will again feature a video component highlighting and introducing each nominee and winner.

Some say they are drawn in by the schools of grunion, others will tell you it’s the water content created by run-off from the nuclear power plant that sits perched atop the cliffs overlooking the popular surf spot. My personal hope is that it’s part of their plan to start thinning out the rapidly growing population of stand-up paddleboarders. Whatever the reason may be, great white sharks have been continually drawn in and attracted to the waters of San Onofre in Southern California, and they are once again turning heads and making their presence known.

“Over a one month period, ending with today February 1, 2009, I have had 3 encounters at the same location. The ocean floor at this location is primarily sand with a few scattered rocky areas. Only on one of occasion did we observe a seal swimming North about 100 yards offshore. It didn’t seem to be alarmed. In each case, we were paddling South toward the South end of the power plant. We were going to surf a beach break at that location. In each case, we saw the shark(s) at approximately the same location each time”

The month of January has been abnormally busy for white shark sightings in an area that is becoming known for it’s true resident locals…the kind that will eat you instead of just punching you out. While a few of the sightings have made headlines in area newspapers, a great place to keep tabs on the shark situation in San O’ and the rest of the Pacific Coast waters is Shark Research Committee. On top of documenting sightings and encounters without the hype that comes from trying to sell newspapers or drive traffic, there is all sorts of educational and informative content to be found there. The type of content that actually lets you know that while there have been many sightings in the area, the sharks who at times see fit to call San Onofre home have never bothered anyone. Do they make it a bit spooky at times? Definitely. Is it something to get worked up about? Nah, not really. And the numbers back me up on this. Just use caution my friends.