I am very happy to have Airboard as one of the sponsors for SUP My Race and this is the review of their ultra-light race SUP, the Rocket Light.
About Airboard
Airboard started in the inflatable business back in the 1990’s making snow bodyboards, also known as a SnowGlide. If, like me, you have no idea what a snow bodyboard looks like then pop over to their website and be amazed!
In 2010 Airboard moved into the SUP market and today they have a range of inflatable boards for everyone. The Rocket is one of their SUP race board range and comes in two versions, the Rocket and Rocket Light. Both are 14’ long and sit in the Race range alongside the 12’6” Strider Ultralight board and the prone/SUP hybrid board.
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| The Airboard Rocket Light at rest |
The Rocket Light Race SUP
This is an unusual board in several ways but I’ll get to that later, I will start with the tech details from their website - The Rocket Light
The board is described as ‘the fastest race SUP’ with a dolphin nose, standard US fin box and made from double-layer, fusion technology. I will unpick all of that soon!
The numbers from the website are
Length | 14’ / 427 cm |
Width | 28” / 71cm |
Volume | 306l |
Weight | 8.3 kg |
Max Load | 160 kg |
This is my second SUP from Airboard, my first one was an Expedition demo board from Thomas to see which board best fitted my needs. After playing the Expedition model through the end of the Swedish winter, we decided that the Rocket was a better fit for me and the Rocket Light was the board I should be using for my mini-adventures here in Sweden. The best way to get it to me was for Thomas to visit me in Sweden, which I think was his plan all along, bringing the Rocket Light with him and taking the Expedition board back to Switzerland, a great plan!
Flights were booked and I picked up Thomas from the local airport with my new (for me) Airboard and we went straight to downtown Kungsbacka for a paddle!
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| A pair of Airboards, the Expedition and Rocket Light |
Not Unboxing The Rocket Light
Because Thomas was flying the board and his luggage was packed into the Airboard backpack, no unboxing video from me! If I had a box then I would be able to tell you that Airboard use 100% recycled paper instead of plastic packaging material, a good thing.
The Rocket is usually supplied (in a box) with a leash, quick-fit fin, a dual action high-pressure pump (inflate and deflate) and a very nice 40L dry bag with detachable backpack straps. With my other Airboard, I also found a phone case in the box along with information about the board and paddle spots in Switzerland. Useful stuff.
The Rocket Light
This is an interesting board, let’s start with the outline
Airboard describes the nose as ‘Dolphin-like’ and that is the feature that most people comment on, as far as I know, there are no other boards that look like this on the market. The shape is for a good reason, Airboard designed this to work like a displacement nose on a hardboard without increasing the weight by adding a solid cone or extra layers of material to build a more ‘traditional’ nose shape.
And it works, this is the fastest inflatable SUP I have ever paddled. And this seems like a good place to divert to the point of a race SUP, speed.
Rocket Speed
Paddlers get a race board because they want to go faster making this the most important part of my test and … the Rocket Light is fast! Unlike many SUP sites you do not need to take my word for this, unlike them, I have data to back up my claim.
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| Rocket Light 5km Time Trial |
My usual test for speed is the SUP My Race Time Trial, 5km with the start and finish at the same spot, a great test for board and paddler.
My first attempt at the 5km race of truth on the Airboard Rocket Light resulted in a time of 34 minutes 23 seconds, an average speed of 8.73km/h.
And this Rocket test was not a perfect run, if such a thing exists, and I am sure this board (and paddler) can get under 34 minutes, maybe with a racier fin and an increase in pressure from the recommended 18 PSI to the maximum of 22 PSI.
That average speed is excellent for an iSUP and, more importantly, it was over 4 minutes 30 seconds faster than my last iSUP TT set 2 years previously. Obviously, in those 2 years, I have done quite a lot of training but, as a comparison, my hardboard time over the same distance has improved by about 2 minutes. The much bigger difference in iSUP times is a testament to the speedy design that Thomas and the team at Airboard have created.
For all my paddling on the Rocket Light, so far, I have been inflating it to 18 PSI and using the supplied fin. For reference, I am a 193cm tall, 98kg paddler who often paddles with a few kg of extra weight in a dry bag on the deck.
Rocket Design
After the interesting nose, the Rocket Light reaches a maximum width of 28”, this might seem wide for a race board but that figure is slightly misleading, it is only that wide where you stand and tapers to an almost swallow-tail at the stern. This is a sleek board.
I had to ask Thomas about the tail, why make it more complicated to manufacture and not use a simpler shape. The answer was speed, of course. The swallowtail is used to get a cleaner break at the tail and to influence the flow of water.
The shape does take some getting used to, partly because it looks so different to any other inflatable you will see and partly because the shape requires some adjustment to the way you think about paddling. Let me explain by starting in the middle
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| Not in TT mode, exploring some very shallow waters near Marstrand |
The middle
The middle of the Rocket is not where you think it is. On most boards, the handle is in the middle and when you paddle your feet will usually be on either side of the handle, it is automatic when you get on a board.
But not on the Rocket. Because the front of the board has less material, the centre of the board’s weight is further back than the middle and Airboard have put the handle where it needs to be to carry the board and keep it level. This means that if you use the handle as the reference point for placing your feet when paddling you will be standing too far back, something I hadn’t realised until Thomas pointed it out to me, you need to stand further forward, in the middle, to be in the right place for the hull to work properly.
Rocket Nose
The dolphin shape is there for one reason, speed. The design aim was to make the front of the Rocket behave more like a hardboard and help cut through the water, not float about over it. And you already know from my speed test that the design does that very well.
The dolphin nose also means that this board handles small waves and chop with aplomb and from almost any positive angle, the nose just punches through head-on waves and handles side chop very, very well. As waves get bigger then moving back a little lifts the nose slightly improving the manners in less forgiving water conditions.
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| In the calm water of the Kattegat on the Swedish coast |
Rocket Stability
After the nose shape the next most asked questions about the Rocket Light have been about stability, does the shape reduce stability?
My experience so far is that the answer is ‘no’ and I have happily used the Rocket on lakes, my local river and the sheltered sea areas where I usually paddle. That doesn’t mean I have not had a swim from the Rocket, of course I have! That is part of testing and getting back on is very easy too.
Would I use this board for a downwinder? No, but it was not designed as a downwind board. However, I would take it for a downbreezer, in lighter winds or when transport options were limited It would be fun!
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| Thomas from Airbaord on a Swedish lake |
Rocket Construction
The Airboard Rocket Light is a very light double-layer board and the design means it is comfortably under 10kg. The narrow nose and tail need less material reducing weight, there is only one handle and no extra mounts for accessories, again saving weight. There is a PVC stringer on the top and the bottom of the board that extend from the nose to near the tail, increasing rigidity.
An important figure for an iSUP is the max pressure the manufacturer gives, for the Rocket Light Airboard recommends 18 PSI with a Max of 22 PSI.
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| The Swallow-tail stern, leash point, kickpad and deckpad. |
The good-looking deckpad extends to the tail where you will find a kick pad and is grippy and comfortable with bare feet. The only luxury is the small bungee for storage on the deck. The design is almost Nordic. Minimal. Light.
When you flip the board over you will find a slim US fin box, allowing the use of a huge range of fins.
Another important bit of information about the construction is the covering applied to the drop-stitch, best described by Airboard who have this on their website
Another innovation is the use of new textures on the top and bottom layers. With the application of different structures, the resulting swirls improve the gliding performance
This claim is very hard to test but this board moves effortlessly through the water and has good glide for an inflatable so I think it works. Again my speed data backs this up.
Rocket Weight
The claimed weight is 8.3kg, this figure I have had to check with Thomas because it is so light! That then led to a revelation, for me… inflatable boards are lighter with they are deflated. This is something that never occurred to me when weighing a board but it makes sense and for a 14’ board, the volume of air in it when inflated adds around 0.5kg to the weight. Airboard states the weight of the deflated board on their website which also makes sense, one of the reasons for getting an iSUP is to make travel easier and a lighter board makes transport, especially flying, easier.
My board comes in a little over this at 8.7kg, deflated. This is well within the 15% allowance Airboard give to allow for differences in the coating on the drop stitch material, the weight inflated is 9.1kg. This is with the deck bungee in place but no fin or leash.
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| Tool-free quick-fit fin and perfectly aligned US fin box |
Rocket Fin, pump, leash and bag
In the (virtual) box with the board are an Airboard fin, pump and leash. The fin is a tool-free design but you can add a fin screw if you desire, I have found no need to use one yet. The pump is a fairly standard double-action high-volume pump that allows you to draw air from the board if you swap the hose from one side to the other and the leash is a no-nonsense plain ankle leash, my preference is for a calf or waist leash so I swapped that out immediately.
The orange drybag is very light and comes with some useful backpack straps, if you need them clip them on. It is a big bag and useful for long days on the water or as part of your overnight adventure set up, more on that to come.
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| Rocket Man |
Rocket Conclusions
Airboard set out to create the fastest inflatable race SUP they could make and, given my speed tests on this Rocket Light, I can confirm that they have made a very fast board.
Is it the fastest? That really depends on the paddler but if you were racing on the Rocket Light then you will have no excuses for going slowly.
The Rocket Light is a well-designed, fast, versatile inflatable SUP board, it appears to be well-made with a design that is functional and good-looking. I am certainly looking forward to using it in all the places where I do not want to take a carbon board and for some sleep-on-a-small-island trips in the near future. And that, for me, is the main attraction for a fast iSUP, you can use them for anything.
The Rocket Light SUP is available from Airboard through their website here and at the time of writing costs €1380.
SUP My Race
SUP My Race is the longest-running virtual SUP Distance challenge in the world and you can find the group on Facebook here.
Airboard are one of the group sponsors alongside Booth Training and EO SUP. You can keep up with my progress on the Rocket Light and my race hardboard from EO SUP through my regular training blogs which you can find here
See you on the water!