The Taal SUP (Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard plan) differs from most SUPs fusing simple plywood with stability and low drag shape more based around the numbers for a performance rowboat for easy travelling distances on river or sea.
First Taal Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard review at the Wooden Boat Show – Mystic Seaport.
Christophe a very experienced sailor took his wife’s Taal Touring SUP to the Woodenboat show 2017
Ok, the Taal SUP is a hit!
It’s a great SUP. Everyone that has used it has loved it. Stable, great tracking, dry, heavy payload. I took out the 12.6″ CLC SUP and it was FINE but I was pushing the weight at my “hefty” 160lbs and water sloshed over the deck if I rocked the boat, not so with the TAAL SUP.
And the CLC boat was maybe a pound, two pounds lighter. I would have had to go to a 14′ for me (for the CLC) which would obviously be heavier. All the women that used it loved it too. My brother loved it. Etc. it bashed through waves and stays solid.
It’s a beast to carry with its height and hard angles at the sheer and chine. I’m talking about 1/2 mile walks. I wish the shorter reach to the handle was preferred for right handed carry bow forward but that would mean swapping the centerline stringer to the other side.
That’s a smaaaaaal criticism.
A+!
Slideshow of building the Taal Stand Up Paddleboard.
Holiday review of Taal SUP from Germany
Build a wall rack when you have too many canoes, kayaks or SUPs
Why is the Taal SUP Different – Stability without being a flat slow plank.
The Taal Touring Stand Up Paddleboard is a beautiful thing that can be built lighter than the majority of SUPs. It is based on fast travel with much less effort on Lakes and Rivers by leveraging the best of Kayak and Rowing Skiff design.
Barely any wake or swirl in the water behind the board means much less lost paddling energy. As in this Video of Instructor Tono. Makes barely a ripple.
Video image can take a moment to load.
It also behaves nice at sea, but is not designed for surf riding – less drag at paddling speeds is always working in your favour. Catching lake and offshore waves is fine … and a recommended fun activity!
See our list of articles on the Taal Stand up Paddleboard SUP
Building a SUP in two and a half weeks for experienced builder
Hereis the finished board a year after building. We are also making SUP Paddles. Our SUP instructor friend Tono Legarda who provided guidance as to what instructors like consulted on the design of all components.
And did like both the paddles and the board a lot. “Fast”
I’ve had a couple of requests to make more boards from this Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan as interior decorations from people who have fallen in love with the look. A nice aspect from this new design from storerboatplans.com
But we will stick with boards that are meant to be used!
Our prototype build took two and a half weeks to build. We took – weekends off to go sailing and a two weeks away in Cebu to help organise and run a 11 boat Oz Goose sailboat build. I have posted the slideshow of the full build of the Taal Plywood SUP here.
The structure can mostly be cut out with a carpet/stanley knife. And we have eliminated a lot of the interior timberwork compared with some of the other DIY stand up Paddleboards.
The small amount of framing is to be a lighter timber such as Paulownia, Cedar or other.
We started work with Paulownia about 12 years ago.
Paulownia Framing for Lightweight Boats
Many SUP plans require a total build out of Paulownia. Then glassing inside and out. Few take advantage of the stiffness of the skin to reduce the number of frames inside the hull. All of that is labour and cost. Some of them do look beautiful, but they are a LOT of building.
We have a lot of experience with sailboats which are under much higher loads and have much less internal structure than many DIY SUPs. There are some interesting tricks in the plans to eliminate weak points in a lightweight structure that we have learned over decades.
All the timber pieces are so light and small. We can even use clothespins as clamps to glue the tiny pieces of timber to the structure.
SPECIFICATIONS – Taal Touring SUP
- Length – 12ft 6 inches
- Beam – 30 inches
- Weight – Developing countries – 12 to 14kg (likely with available materials)
- Weight – Developed countries – 8 to 11 kg (normal with quality materials)
- Crew capacity – 110 to 280lbs is normal. More is very likely to be OK looking at the way the prototype sits in the water. There is sufficient bow overhang and the stern shape is likely to produce much less drag than conventional boards with extra weight.
Buy Plans from our agents here for $80. Board is from 3 sheets of 3mm (1/8″) plywood, 4 to 6 litres of epoxy (1 to 1.5 US gallons and some rather small pieces of framing timber.
This Board was built in Germany – Read the Review
Why are most SUPS shaped like surfboards – is it a user friendly choice?
As a designer, I asked myself “why is a surfboard shape considered as the most common shape for a Stand Up Paddleboard”.
The surfboard shape has an advantage of being very stable in general and has predictable handling in surf waves.
But looking at how SUPs are really used, mostly in flat water or going places on the ocean. Their primary purpose is about as far from riding breaking waves as one can imagine.
RULE 1 – if you want to go surfing – use a surfboard shape.
The downside of the surfboard shape is that it is about the opposite of what we know are nice shapes for covering distance easily at speed. They are also about the worst shape for handling waves when lake, river or ocean water gets rough. Which is why racing boards are quite different shapes.
My idea was to make the Taal SUP efficient like the racing boards but retain beginner board level stability.
Are Kayak or Rowboat shapes a better fit for real SUP use patterns?
The big advantage of rowboats and kayaks is that there are three numbers critical to performance over distance.
Prismatic coefficient – Reduces Excessive drag excessive wave creation – efficient cruising speed range.
Prismatic Coefficient is the measure of how much volume is in the ends of the boat relative to the middle.
It is critical for design as every speed has a well documented prismatic coefficient that matches that speed. It is the main source of drag at faster speeds. If the board has to be paddled hard to match other boards or when heading a medium distance upwind in light winds, it is probably the Prismatic Coefficient that is out.
It defines how the waves around the board are developed as it moves.
Wrong Coefficient and the board wastes energy by making bigger waves and wake as it moves. Good Rowboats and kayaks are developed around that number. Racing Stand Up Paddleboards use those numbers too, but sacrifice stability by being narrow at the front and back. But that comes with a stability price unless you look at he detail design of the Taal Sup.
Pop a beginner SUP user on a racing board and its going to be more fun for the observers than the test pilot. I was very interested to see if there was a solution that fitted a Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan.
Correct prismatic and nice stability.
Wetted surface makes a SUP harder to paddle – so less surface for less drag please!
The amount of SUP board surface in contact with the water.
Wetted Surface is the main cause of drag at low speed, which is why the surfboard shapes feels less responsive. They don’t accelerate very well from lower speeds as the more refined shapes. It adds significant drag right through the speed range.
Just less in proportion as the wave and wake drag get larger at higher speeds.
Fast Kayaks and Rowboats, and the more refined SUPS reduce wetted surface. But this also means narrow ends, so they sacrifice stability at the altar of Wetted Surface as well.
My question – is there another way we could take the Taal SUP?
Length – more means the stand up paddle board has to be Narrower – so it loses stability
Most people have some sort of instinctive idea that boat (or board) length relates to speed. How it works is any set of waves on the water surface have a set speed relative to the distance between the wave peaks. This is an unalterable scientific fact. Discovered by Mr Froude.
The longer the distance between the wave peaks, the faster the waves will be going. So any type of boat will have its speed defined by its length.
When moving quickly it will have a wave peak at the front (bow wave) and then the second wave behind that will be at the right distance for the speed. And so on behind that.
As you go faster, the second wave peak increases its distance from the bow wave. When the second wave peak gets toward the back of the boat/board it means that the wave peaks are at the front and back of the board and the wave trough is between them.
The board has sunk down because the water is lower around the middle of the board that provides most of the flotation. That degree of sinking is what the prismatic coefficient attempts to control.
So as far as the water goes it is important to show the longest possible length to the water.
With this Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard plan full length of the board as the front is almost vertical and the tip of the back of the board just touches the surface. Make the best of the length that you have. Not possible with a surfboard shaped board that loses a lot of length at the front end. Which is why more performance oriented boards have a pointer front.
What this means in reality – you can judge the drag of a board by the wake it makes.
Every swirl or ripple in the water is wasted energy. With the Taal Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan Board move forward until the apex of the transom is just touching the water. At that point the wake turns into tiny waves following the board in a vee. They the apex vee where the transom touches the water.
The photo below shows the Taal SUP moving along at cruising speed. It is quickly overtaking the sailboat I am in which is travelling at 2.5knots in the light wind. Note that there is little wake and few waves around the board. Note the narrow vee shape of the wake at the back of the board – a big energy saving as the transom just kisses the water.
A note on concept of Speed for Stand Up Paddleboards and other human powered boats
Outright speed is for bragging rights. A big strong person paddling hard can keep the board going fast so it matches its prismatic coefficient and win races.
For most of us we just want to cover as much ground as possible without getting too tired. So this means a slightly different approach from boats designed around maximum speed.
A slightly lower prismatic coefficient consistent with a good steady cruising speed. Then let the numbers do their job to keep the bord going faster than a surfboard shape.
We also want the board/boat to be stable enough and easy to handle. If it can be pretty as well … that is a bonus.
Advantages of throwing away the need to surf at the beach – A much nicer board for distance paddling.
The first thing we threw out was the requirement for surfing waves at the beach.
This allows us to apply lessons from good rowing boats which are generally terrible in breaking surf. They are good with river and lake sized waves though – upwind and down.
The width that gives stability is moved above the water. Providing sharp lines for easy speed for distance work without the wobbles.
Here is a Whitehall type which were originally designed as a boat to hire for a few hours on the water. Many other rowboats such as whaleboats and gigs also have a similar cheat to get the numbers to go fast but be stable.
And here is our solution. Just the same idea, for exactly the same reason – easy fast cruising speed and stability when the board starts to heel.
With a range of weights aboard the bottom corner of the transom just touches or slightly immerses leaving a clean wake pattern. A clean wake implies little lost energy. Look behind the wide and flat stern of a normal surfboard derived Paddleboard. There are swirls and whorls in the water for the width of the board back. That’s all lost energy that could be moving the board forward. Your wasted sweat.
Advantages of throwing away the minimum weight requirement – towards the really light Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan
Everyone likes light things! The reason that most affordable SUPs are heavy is that they are built around a couple of hundred litres of foam. Foam dents easily, so then it has to be protected by thick skins. Fibreglass and plastic are not particularly light either.
The most highly developed home built plywood boats are the Moth Dinghies of Australia and the UK. They were able to achieve weights much less than carbon fibre can achieve. Fast sailing dinghies handle loads that far exceed anything a Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard would ever see. Here is one of the World Champions in Action.
Moths, at the peak of their development in plywood came in at around 17kg (38lbs) for a boat both double the width and double the thickness of a SUP.
If using the Moths structure fully – roll on toward a 6kg board at a fraction of a carbon board cost?
The plans cover a
- Standard build aiming at the Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan resulting in a board between 10 and 14kg.
- Methods to reach weights of around 8kg or less with good durability. These would require sourcing lighter ply and lighter timber. Also use building strategies to eliminate sources of failure as used by the much bigger and stronger but lighter by volume Moth Dinghies.
Building Lighter than the SUP Rules allow – If it doesn’t cost much to build light why is it banned?
In the Philippines, where we built the Taal Touring SUP prototype, there are only heavier hardwood timbers and heavier hardwood ply. But the prototype is about the same weight as standard boards a couple of feet shorter. Everything is a tiny scale making the work great fun – effort is light. All the frames can be cut with a stanley knife/box cutter. All the panels are held together with cable ties because the stresses are quite low.
In Western countries, built of 2mm gaboon plywood and using lighter softwoods then 10kg may be achievable. Lighter softwoods like cedar, fir, some of the lighter pines. Or the lightest and coolest of them all – Paulownia for framing . If you want to try these methods please contact me with the results. I will record them in a database for following builders to reference. We did the same with parts of my other designs and saw some of the weights tumble over time.
OK … building a super lightweight board cheaply from a Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan might be frowned on in racing events because of the minimum weights set by manufacturers, but:
- they will all be secretly jealous of your light board
- you will remember the light weight every time you load and unload your board and carry it down to the water.
- you pretend to be struggling with the weight they might never realise your board is so much lighter :P
Design Process and Inspiration for the Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan
The “Perfect Storm” that led to this design came from different directions.
- There is a SUP school running in the same place we teach sailing. I saw how people immediately fall in love with the idea of standing while paddling. It’s hard to know why, but it is true.
- I’ve become friends with the local SUP instructor as some groups like to sail and SUP in the one day. So there was a ready source of technical information plus
- I have the idea that lightweight structures often end up being the cheapest to make. Three sheets of thin plywood and tiny framing. I’m very influenced by Moth scows.
- These light plywood structures are also fun to build
- I had three sheets of 3mm marine ply from the sadly closed Tuffply a very nice thickness.
- I designed a racing windsurfer using similar structures a couple of decades ago and produced a board about 3kg (6.5lbs) lighter than the carbon fibre production boards of the time. It lasted a racing career spanning a decade before being burned in a busfire. Most of the carbon production boards from Mistral and others would have dents in the deck after a few weeks of racing.
The Following is a based on along thread on my Storer Boat Plans Group on Facebook
More on Inspiration – Here is the designer’s (my) internal dialogue
Stand Up Paddleboard Performance WITH Stability
Basically the Taal Touring SUP is hitting the technical numbers.
Prismatic coefficient – most SUPs would be quite out on this measure. The volume distribution toward the ends is around where a good rowboat would for normal cruising speed. So it is optimised for non surfing – just getting to where it has to go.
It has quite a bit less wetted surface because the corners of the board are out of the water. The racing boards basically do this too … but they do it by cutting away the corners. Here we lift them out of the water for a good prismatic coefficient for the likely cruising speeds and a reduction of wetted surface.
But we don’t get rid of the corners. That’s what we would do with a racing board, but corners make a really big difference to stability. By moving them up they will be there when the Taal Touring SUP heels. As the board heels they will meet the water and increase stability. This board will feel a bit more tender at small angles of heel but will still be able to push back on the foot with the highest pressure. A wobble is likely to be recovered – which is the experience of new paddlers using this Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan
Taal Touring SUP – It is not meant for big wave surfing, but will it catch waves when travelling?
Anything this flat will catch waves. It might be swings and roundabouts. It will be a little faster when not wave riding for the same effort and that slightly higher travelling speed might make it catch a few more small waves. When surging a bit on smaller waves I would not expect much difference in ability to stay on the wave. But where the Taal Touring SUP is really catching and running for distance on the waves it will have a slower top speed than a surfboard shaped board.
But maybe by catching more waves it will make up for it ????
Are “Displacement Boards” a real thing in Stand up Paddleboard Design and Physics?
I think maybe there is a loophole in the rule about “displacement” boards. If it is like the sailboard rule it is not at all objective as there is no such classification in science. Boards and boats form a continuum and there are no hard lines dividing “planing” from “displacing”.
I think the powers that be would see the flat conventional bottom section in the middle and feel it is not a member of the “displacement” idea of shape in their heads. But the idea is much more like a rowboat which is a truer idea of displacement – rather than the “rounded” shape they think displacement means.
A poor understanding of proven theory results in concepts being poorly articulated and understood. With the nice paddling of the Taal SUP it might be interesting to develop the ideas toward a more racing angle later.
The Philosophical Dead End of “making it stronger”
Weight was reduced. For example the missing bulkheads in the no stand areas. Everything else is pretty conservative based on previous experience.
Any experimentation on increasing strength is an intellectual dead end. If the previous structure was adequate, a stronger or heavier one will also be OK.
The real learning comes with making things lighter – then there is a test and a progression based on an accumulation of data.
Are Stand Up Paddleboards Silly?
I don’t get it. Seems to me SUP is a fad. A decent hull and double ended paddle, and I can go as fast and sit comfortably with less windage.
Alan Pickman – Storer Boat Plans Facebook Group
I didn’t get it either, paddling position and windage. But quite a few people I really respect do like it very much.
At the Ta’al Lake conservation centre we teach sailing in the oz geese. We work alongside filisup who teaches and runs SUP tours.
It’s really interesting to see how easily people approach using the SUPs. It’s fun and a bit crazy, provides great vewpoint for the tours. And it is only a little harder than it looks.
Unexpected is that a reasonable number of people coming for SUPs end up doing sailing lessons too.
Fad or not it’s an easy entry point. People have fun, then look to extend their boating activities.
Question – is the curve of the deck complicated in the Taal Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan?
The templates for the Taal SUP’s deck are sections of a circle, so any part of the template will work anywhere without having to worry about lining up a centreline.
Hard to draw in a workshop because the radii are so huge. Trivial to draw up and dimension in CAD. Then provide a drawing for a quick to make template from scrap plywood left from cutting the Plywood SUP components.
Camber template for Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard deck.
Can you go through the Resistance vs Stability argument?
Water Resistance sees a pintail – Water stability sees a wide flat stern
Simon Lew – Really cool and unusual looking transom for a plywood paddle board. Very curious to see how it goes.
It is like a pintail as far as the water goes. But will give stability when heeled – enough for beginners who have had just a couple of hours on more stable boards.
Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan – Taal Touring SUP has a bow profile to minimise the pitching rate when in waves – a smoother ride.
And it is what it needs to get the prismatic coefficient to reduce drag at the planned speed – 3 to 4 knots.
Should footsteer at lowish speeds too. Whether that is a bonus or a negative, we will find out.
That all makes sense. If I understand it correctly you are sacrificing a bit of initial stability to gain hull efficiency. Then relying on good secondary for the board to be beginner friendly.
Simon Lew – Storer Boat Plans Facebook Group
I’d express it a different way. I’ve gone all out with primary and secondary stability using principles of good rowboats. They operate at the same speed range. So I have repeated their low drag hullform as much as one can in something this flat. It has been an interesting experience to try and hit the right numbers. Also interesting how the shape ends up being a bit unconventional – if you are thinking surfboards. But if thinking traditional rowboats it is all kindof obvious.
Naming the SUP
Aaahhhaaaa! We have a name! “Ta’al Touring SUP” /// Nice.
Daniel Caselli – Storer Boat Plans Facebook Group.
For those who don’t know Ta’al Lake is where I sail usually. it is the large caldera of an active volcano. The data that allows the modelling of pyroclastic flow and surge was gathered in the ’60s from this volcano.
But main reason the boat was designed is I had access to Mr SUP of the Philippines (or at least one of the Mr SUPs) Tono Legarda. Having Tono provide initial thoughts about dimension and then apply my thinking about drag was a critical step. Then Tono acted as test pilot to see what he thought. Tono below using the Taal Sup to take 6 clients on a afternoon SUP experience.
Is it hard or easy to build this Plywood Stand Up Paddleboard Plan
Mick, my idea is to build it in the club’s workshop, where Mojiiito My Goat Island Skiff sleeps.
The idea is that club partners, friends, learn how to work with stick & glue, epoxy, etc, but with a relatively small project. What do you think? In addition, with a… storerboatplan ;-)
Daniel Caselli – Storer Boat Plans on Facebook
It is not the simplest of boats but not excessive . The plans cover the step by step but it really does touch on a large number of boatbuilding methods.
Hull is quite modern in construction, but the deck and subdeck is quite traditional. It took Job Ferranco 2 1/2 weeks to build.
Plans are for people with some boatbuilding experience – building a plywood boat with epoxy will equip you with the methods.
They assume some little experience of boatbuilding or model aircraft building.
Structural necessity for Epoxy and quality materials.
This boat MUST use epoxy. It is a higher specification build and Stitch and glue method that pushes materials closer to their limit than normal boat structures. Alternative glues will not cut it and are a substantial risk – forget Gorilla glue, Titebond, PL-Premium – only epoxy to be used. Polyester resin must not be used at any stage – it doesn’t stick to timber adequately for reliable failsafe strength.
This boat must use good quality materials. Builders will know that using low quality materials in a particularly sophisticated construction is folly.
Builders …
- will know that cleaning up as you go saves bucketloads of sanding later.
- must know how to setup the next phase of work with locations and any clamping worked out in advance by doing a dry run to make sure everything is organised BEFORE mixing epoxy. Epoxy can be quickly spread over the laid out surfaces and not left to heat up and go hot in a container.
- must be able to use fibreglass cloth and tape and keep surfaces smooth without adding too much resin.
- Builder must be self disciplined to keep weight out of the boat at every building stage. Heavy boats happen because builders decide that extra weight is warranted, usually for nebulous reasons or because they want to do something with extra epoxy. If building lightweight boats like this project, the best place for extra weight is the trash bin – Remember this at every stage.
