Came across this on Instagram just now...I'm assuming it's not a pi55-take?? Anybody heard of this being done by a decent board maker with success?? I do recall a pretty crappy 3-piece SUP that was being sold via fleabay for a while but never got great reviews and the board maker didn't have a great rep....if SIC are now doing this (granted, this is a Custom, but if they've worked it out it could be a game changer for travel/storage issues...) it would be VERY high on my 'want/need' list...curious to find out how they've done the join...might need to sell a kidney to afford it though... ??
I don't remember if it was Morey or Pope but one of those guys was building 2 piece longboards a few years ago.
I've got a Pope Bisect longboard - a Harbour Banana. Have taken it all round the world and it's taken some beatings no problem. So two-piece boards are definitely possible. Unfortunately I heard that Karl Pope left his business in the hands of his son, and he wasn't so reliable a businessman, and the whole Pope Bisect thing went squirrely. Otherwise they'd be plenty around today because they were an amazing travel solution and the performance losses were very small because there was a long metal tube that ran down the middle of the board to connect them in addition to bolts and screws on the deck. In a really bad situation the bolts and tube were designed to give way to protect the board, and you'd just replace them. I got a lot of interest from people wherever I went, especially from apartment dwellers and in Hawaii. So if SIC have managed a reliable design they could be onto something here - although two six-foot pieces still takes some transporting. It might work better for surf SUPs - then you'd be able to get it in the trunk of your car. Well, if you have a big car, anyway. I used to have a Golf GTI Mk1 and took the back seats out so I could get the Pope Bisect in. Much better for fast dashes to the coast along motorways.
I did see those Pope SUP's around a while back (I think there are still some floating around on Fleabay) but I read quite a few scathing reviews about what must have been the son, and he'd allegedly been taking orders and not fulfilling them. That aside, I'm wondering if the 'torque' of a person paddling hard, and essentially standing right on (or at least very near) the join, would weaken the connections over time? I've no idea what system they're using to join the sections but would assume with SIC's reputation they've likely done some heavy research into it...
Point taken on the sections still being 6ft+ in length - still not ideal for travel but definitely easier than a 12'6 board!
The real attraction for me is, being an apartment dweller, the absolute limit I can currently fit into my storage is 10' in length, so any DW'er, Race or Tourer is out of the question. Obviously there's the iSUP option which are getting much better, but as mentioned earlier they're also increasing price-wise in line with technology and falling AUD.
God only knows what SIC would be asking for $-wise on this - it'd have to be on the way to $4k US...
