I'm about 80 kgs but will probably lose 3-5 soon as I get back in the surf and start biking.

I could paddle a board that is a little smaller than the 115 liter Kwad with no problem if it had similarly good paddling manners.

What other brands and models should be on my short list to consider if I liked the Kwad, maybe with just a tad more performance?

Where are you I have a 8'8 sunova flash 118 liters for sale

I'm in Encinitas, CA at the moment. I would love to look at a used Sunova in my range!!!

towball said..
Stick with JL they don't fall to bits

I'm sure that is solid advice. Supposed construction quality was high on the list of reasons I bought a JL in the first place. Also, after the fact, JL is a first-rate, classy company to work with in my experience, like the man himself. He actually talked to me about my board personally and was very friendly and patient. First Class!!!

However...Sunova looks really good solid too, and they are in the same price range. I don't know if they are as solid as they look but the Naish boards look well made. I don't hear many complaining about Starboard either. And, what about Surftech? Are they not constructing solid boards?How is Riviera? A lot of people seem to really love riding the El Tigre. I've heard they are not built the toughest from some though. There is one used nearby for around 700 USD. It doesn't look too beat up and it has been used as a rental some.

Jimmy Lewis 8 5 Striker is similar volume to Kwad but a far better SUP in every way.
I have had both.

If your ok with taking a bit of a trip up the road it would be worth talking to Infinity Surf / Sup as well.
Good luck. The new board search is one of the great pleasures of surfing / suping.

downplay said..
The Super Frank and Striker are both on my list to think about. It can be really hard to get your hands on any JL boards without buying them.

I emailed Sunova and they are suggesting I look at the Speeed and the Creek in appropriate sizes. I can't find either of these locally, I'd have to order one, but I am going to demo a Sunova today--the Acid. It looks too high performance for me but the size is about right and at least I can paddle something close to my size from the Sunova brand.

There is also a dude in a local shop trying to sell me a "Von Sol SUP." It is something like a scaled up Sean Matison shortboard design. It looks cool but I don't really know enough about board shapes to judge it this way at all. The shop also sells Naish, some Surftech, and Quatro so they seem pretty legit. Plus, he said if I agreed to pay for any damages, I could demo the exact Von Sol I might be buying!

downplay, just remember when you demo the Acid, that it is very refined in the nose and tail.
I love the Acid, but even my 9'4 is strictly a "good conditions" summer board.
I came up with the Creek because I wanted the Acid performance, but needed more stability, so I used a wider nose shape and the Speeed tail, to add some forgiveness. Have fun!

Mr. Berger?

This Acid is an 8'8" x ? x 30 1/4 widest x ?, at 113.3 liters.

It was semi-glass this morning, 1-3 ft. Waves. It was hard for me to stand in place. When I could get the Acid moving at a good clip I was quite a bit more stable. It is certainly beyond my skill level at the moment.

However, it was the first time I've paddled in 4 years. I haven't surfed prone in about 8. I'm also out of shape. If I continue developing my fitness and paddling, I think I could get somewhere with this higher performance design.

My Kwad was 8'7"x29"x4" (115L). It took me very little time to get up paddling through white wash, paddling in chop, and riding waves. But, I feel it was a bit too stable, easy, and low performance for where I want to grow as a surfer/SUPer.

I am not afraid of some sessions just paddling if I can progress and not be stuck with a board where I might plateau more quickly.

What advice might you offer? Model to pick? Size?

I will say your Sunova boards look to be of great quality in my relatively unknowledgeable opinion. The deck and rails feel really solid!

Thanks,
Sean Gunn

I got to ride an 8' 8", 125 liter Infinity Round Nose Blur. It was just a little choppy, not bad. I could stand on it and paddle it but it was challenging. It felt corky to me. I almost caught a wave with it though without trying too hard.

I went to the right place though because I got to trade and ride a Starboard Pro model that was 106 liters. Interestingly, I was nearly as stable on this board as the RNB.

The one thing I would add though is that the people at Infinity are pretty cool, they have a very nice shop, and the boards seem to be of very good quality in carbon.

Are "corky" boards easier to turn on a wave sometimes? The rails are fairly thin on the RNB. While I didn't ride a wave, it wanted to turn a lot. It seemed like I had to get it moving with a little speed to track straighter. With slow paddling it seemed like I was practically going in circles.

downplay said..
I'm in Encinitas, CA at the moment. I would love to look at a used Sunova in my range!!!

towball said..
Stick with JL they don't fall to bits

I'm sure that is solid advice. Supposed construction quality was high on the list of reasons I bought a JL in the first place. Also, after the fact, JL is a first-rate, classy company to work with in my experience, like the man himself. He actually talked to me about my board personally and was very friendly and patient. First Class!!!

However...Sunova looks really good solid too, and they are in the same price range. I don't know if they are as solid as they look but the Naish boards look well made. I don't hear many complaining about Starboard either. And, what about Surftech? Are they not constructing solid boards?How is Riviera? A lot of people seem to really love riding the El Tigre. I've heard they are not built the toughest from some though. There is one used nearby for around 700 USD. It doesn't look too beat up and it has been used as a rental some.

I found this little video is quite a good explanation of the different constructions.

With regards to which board, depends on the conditions you surf most often and wave type.... e.g point vs beachy, 2 to 4 foot vs 5 to 6 foot.
Hollow or fatter waves.

I have an old 8'7" Kwad here. Its a great board ... but not ideal on lower tides and steeper condtions, but great fun in smaller surf.
If you want to step up from this with a 5 litre drop in volume difference then the 8'7" JL Stun Gun is the board. It's designed for bigger waves but I've surfed it in small surf (2 foot) more times than I can count. (Just sit a bit closer to shore).
The big differences to the kwad are that it's more nimble, more rocker, thinner, less front swing weight so it turns on a dime, it handles a late take off like you can't imagine, the rails are more refined than anything else I've seen. I look at other big brands and think the rails look like they'd just plow water.

The rounded pin tail is smooth and feels good on front and backside. 5 fin slots for Quad or thruster.
I like it as a thruster but I'd recommend starting out as quad as that's what you've come from. As a board it has opened up my back hand and increased my confidence.
The shape is a little more tippy than the kwad ... at first.
You have to sit closer in. It doesn't paddle into a wave as easily as the kwad ... but that's the trade off. Set it up as a quad to start with though as that'll catch the wave slightly better due to the uninterrupted flow of water through the tail.

Thanks for your thoughts about JL and the link to the video!

It is pretty frustrating at the same time though, when I lived on Oahu I got to demo the exact board I was shopping for.

Here in Cali, I'm having trouble getting my hands on boards in general, and no one has any of the new JL's.

I have found a few demos around from other brands. King's is being really accommodating right now. I may just buy their board I'm demo'ing as a design to grow into and then buy another used board of some kind that is a littler easier to catch waves with this time of year with the surf season ebbing.

I really, really dig JL himself and his brand but it is hard for me to "buy a car" so to speak that I can't test drive, especially when my understanding of board shapes and purposes has a lot of room for growth!

Maybe one of his new designs would be perfect for me; but, what if I buy it and then am trying to surf the wrong kinds of waves? These boards are big investments for me, I am not a financially rich man.

Good Lord! I'm amazed when I review this thread how many people are recommending JL boards, and a variety of them at that--4 different designs!!! I may just have to take the risk and order one without being able to ride it first. I did love the Kwad.