Funbox Pro 12' 6" x 29"
I’ve had a chance to have a play on a box fresh Redwood Paddle Funbox Pro 12’6” x 29” inflatable, here’s what I thought of it;
 |
| Redwood Paddle Funbox Pro 12'6" x 29" |
About Redwood Paddle
Redwood Paddle are a French SUP company created in 2007 initially with a range of paddles, this then expanded to include boards and now they have a huge range available, from entry level iSUPs to custom made hardboards and accessories. Whatever you’re after, they probably have it.
‘Funbox’ is the name Redwood Paddle give to all of their inflatable boards, the ‘Pro’ moniker is used for the 4 boards at the top end of the inflatable range, two 12’6” race boards, a 12’6” explorer board and the 14’ x 27” race board.
‘Funbox’ is the name Redwood Paddle give to all of their inflatable boards, the ‘Pro’ moniker is used for the 4 boards at the top end of the inflatable range, two 12’6” race boards, a 12’6” explorer board and the 14’ x 27” race board.
What’s in the box?
Along with the board was a decent wheeled bag, the ubiquitous HP2 double action pump, an inexpensive dolphin style fin with thumbscrew and an iSUP first aid kit in the usual orange canister.
About the board
The 2018 board is a good looking bit of kit in red and white with some simple but bold logo details to remind you about the brand. From the front there is a RWP skull and cross paddle / board logo proudly on the nose then two reminders of the length of the board and an asymmetrically logo’d white deck pad with RWP running down the right hand side. There are three good quality handles set into the deck pad, the two at the sides are offset towards the front of the board and are ideally placed for BOP style races where a bit of running with the board is called for. The deck also has a 4 point bungee for carrying kit and a good quality stainless steel D ring at the rear for your leash, not supplied. On the rails you’ll find the board dimensions and a little more branding.
The finish was excellent with no excess glue showing, even taping and no bubbles or bumps. On the scales she came in slightly above the 11.5kg quoted on the Redwood Paddle website, my scales showing 11.8kg for the board (with bungee cord) and fin.
On the water
The Funbox Pro paddles great. With the recommended 16 PSI in I expected it to flex a bit with me on it but it was absolutely fine, I’d probably stick a bit more air in there if it was mine but it belongs to a much lighter paddler so there’s no need to push that recommended limit. Tracking is good and it’s very easy to keep the board going in a straight line even with the jack of all trades fin in place. The benefit of a US fin box is that the fin can be tuned to paddler preference and there’s a bit of room to experiment with fin position too, good stuff. Stability is also good as you’d expect for a 29” wide board, this is relatively wide for a race board especially if you consider that pros are now charging around on 21” wide thoroughbreds, but that’s not what this board is about and the difference in speed between this and a 32” wide iSUP really is noticeable. I was quite happy maintaining just over 7 km/h and sprinting at just over 9 km/h. For reference I’m between 1 and 1.5 km/h faster on a well known solid race board with similar dimensions on the same stretch of water.
The nose has just the right amount of rocker to push through a little chop but I didn’t get the chance to paddle in any more challenging conditions.
The hard edge at the stern certainly makes a visual difference to the wake, the water has far less disturbance than the tail of a standard iSUP. If this makes any noticeable difference it’s hard to tell. I could feel no drawback from it and I think it looks good. The ability to get back and turn this board is flattering, so much so that I stayed dry despite my best attempts to get wet.
The hard edge at the stern certainly makes a visual difference to the wake, the water has far less disturbance than the tail of a standard iSUP. If this makes any noticeable difference it’s hard to tell. I could feel no drawback from it and I think it looks good. The ability to get back and turn this board is flattering, so much so that I stayed dry despite my best attempts to get wet.
Is it Fun?
Absolutely, this is a fun iSUP. Much more efficient than than an all-round shape and nearly as stable this board is putting a smile on the face of the owner, her first board. As a somewhat more experienced paddler I too found this board a lot of fun and would gladly take this out for longer paddles, however I suspect that getting it out of the hands of it’s new owner might be tricky.
