Fool Moon Shaper Jaran Rodríguez talks up the Moonbow Race SUP

Fool Moon shaper Jaran Rodríguez has been working on board designs since 2014. Jaran based in Fueteventura talks to TotalSUP about his SUP life and passion for designing SUP boards for brand Fool Moon, introducing the manoeuvrable and fast ocean race SUP Moonbow.

Hi Jaran, Can you introduce yourself?

I was born on Fuerteventura 35 years ago. Since then I have been involved in water sports, including sailing, windsurf, surf and more recently Stand Up Paddle (since 2008). In 2009 I bought my first SUP SURF board rfom the great Jürgen Hönscheid, it was an 11′ double sandwich custom. My SUP passion is all down to the Hönscheid family and to Iballa Ruano!

Then in 2014, I broke my toe, and could not surf anymore, and at the sametime I met Susanne Lier, who was on Fuerteventura doing winter training. Susanne encouraged me to take up SUP racing as a replacement, and from then on the rest is history. I went on to win  several SUP race championships and titles in the Canaries. Last year I was the runner-up in the national Beach Race. Beach Race is my specialist event and by far my favourite discipline.

It was through Susanne Lier that I met Pierre-Yves Hocké, owner of Fool Moon, straight away we started developing the idea of working the ocean SUP Moonbow. This collaboration with Fool Moon has been really great and such a wise choice, I really like Pierre’s branding approach, especially his professional integrity and the quality of his products.

By the end of 2014 I started collaborating with the designs of SUP Wave boards for a national brand, SBT, which in 2015 gave me the opportunity of working directly in the design of wave and race SUP boards. At the beginning of 2016 the first prototypes were manufactured, after the arrival of the new shaping CNC machine. To date I am still designing the whole range of SUP Wave and Race boards and the surfboards as well.

Can you introduce the Moon Bow?

Recently the board design trend has moved towards a dugout and pintail style for downwind SUP. I can say that for board designs there are two approaches: For a full downwind board there is always a much more aggressive rocker, 100% geared towards downwinding; For flat, calm conditions boards are designed with a moderate rocker so it is versatile in races. Considering these approaches the design of the Moon Bow is certainly a Ocean Race SUP.

The Moonbow SUP performs excellently in rough sea conditions, waves and as well as downwinding. But it has an ace up its sleeve, because the Moonbow also performs extremely well in beach race competitions. When designing my boards I always consider the beach race format, it drives me  to develop a board with a balanced volume distribution between the nose and tail ideal for beach race, and thanks to our “prone” style front handles the boards are also perfect for “beach starts” and tricky “white water” challenges, the board is available in a 12’6″ and 14′ lengths.

When designing the boards I was always trying to make the nose light, so it can surf well and push through waves. The Moon Bow has a pronounced “V” shape at the end of its tail, making it a very manoeuvrable board, and it also has round edges to allow for a maximum glide.

What other boards are you working on for Fool Moon?

I am working on Moon Rocket, This is a board 100% designed for flat water. Pierre-Yves and I decided the dugout design was the next natural step to take in board design. The dug out design makes the board really stable and comfortable to paddle. We followed in the steps of its older sister, the Moon Rocket has a round bottom with a flatter rocker to achieve a higher top speed. It also performs well in slightly choppy conditions, as its narrow nose will cut through the sea easily, driving you through any bumps that gets in the way. These Boards are available in the Pro, Carbon and Fibreglass construction in both 12’6″ and 14′ sizes.

And finally I have been working on the Sushi Pop! This new board for is designed for surfing in the waves, I can define it with only one word: Fun! It also has a generous volume, stability and is quick in waves. The Sushi Pop will not waste a single wave during your surfing sessions. Just let yourself go with its speed down the line! These boards are available in 8’2″, 8’6″ and 9′ construction.

If you want any more information on the boards discussed here check out fool moon website and the fool moon facebook page.