hi michelle, welcome to sup. Ive been taking out my wife and daughters on my boards for a couple of years now. My wife has no ocean experience whatsoever. I started her off on my naish mana. 10ft by 32inches and about as good an entry board as you can get. Very stable very easy to paddle, but at 75 kg you could easily learn on the next size down the 9.5. Both these boards paddle and surf well so youll be able to grow into them rather than buy a new boards as you get better.

My wife was standing up and paddling around within a few minutes. Im not familiar with the finn boards, so im not sure how much they cost, but for around 1200 to 1500 dollars youll get a good board. Before you purchase a board visit the various retailers and demo their boards. this will allow you to see if you like the sport, youll get heaps of tips and advise and youll try a variety of boards and find one that feels right for you. The more popular and generally better built and designed makes are starboard, naish, fanatic, coreban and psh. there are heaps of other makes, but most retailers in perth carry one or more of these brands. Ive bought boards from most of these guys and i assure you theyve all been really helpful and passionate about sup. Now is a great time to learn as the weather is hot and the surf tiny.

welcome and good hunting for a new board.

Welcome stitch.
The best thing about Sup is anybody can do it.
But be careful you may get addicted. It's the best addiction around.

Thanks for the responses! The FINN SUP is only just under $600 new, hence my enormous interest. Its also made here in WA. On close inspection of pictures, it looks a little closer to a kayak than to a surf-board. There seem to be so many different designs of SUPs, but I noticed two main differences being the more kayak-like vs the more surf-board-like. I am assuming the surf-board type would be more maneuverable and easier to ride waves?

looking at the pic, the finn is a poly board. that means its rotomoulded plastic, so while durable it will flex and bend. This means it will be ok for a bit of flat water paddling, but absolutely no good for surfing. it will also be pretty slow and heavy. for a rotomoulded board 600 bucks is about the going rate. I wouldnt reccomend it. If you dont want to spend a lot on a board you may or may not use regularly, check out the bic sup packages. for around 899 dollars you get the board and paddle and leash. Ive not used one but evidently they're a really good entry level board that can be paddled, surfed even wind surfed. ive posted a link below, but check other shops for similar packages. In my humble opinion your best to steer clear of the moulded sups like the finn, because they just dont do anything really well at all, other than being unbreakable.


http://westozkiteboarding.com.au/sup/boards/bic/823-acs-jungle-sup-complete-package

also you may want to contact john at sos surf in freo. He had a 10 foot mana in stock that was being repaired and that he was going to sell very cheaply.

www.paddle.com.au (Mainpeak) in Cottesloe and Osborne Park has had some great deals this summer on 71, NSP and C4.

Thanks so much for all the help everyone. I tried SUP for the first time ever tody. It was AWESOME! The river was very choppy though, so a bit tricky to begin with, but I managed to paddle around a bit without falling off ( although I had one near miss). I demo'd 2 RRD boards - the WASUP 10 and 11. I felt more comfortable on the 10, as it felt easier to turn. Hubby is keen on the boards because you can put a small windsurfing sail on it (would be good for teaching our daughter to windsurf). I might try another brand next weekend though for comparison sake.

DavidJohn said...

Stitch said...

Thanks so much for all the help everyone. I tried SUP for the first time ever tody. It was AWESOME! The river was very choppy though, so a bit tricky to begin with, but I managed to paddle around a bit without falling off ( although I had one near miss). I demo'd 2 RRD boards - the WASUP 10 and 11. I felt more comfortable on the 10, as it felt easier to turn. Hubby is keen on the boards because you can put a small windsurfing sail on it (would be good for teaching our daughter to windsurf). I might try another brand next weekend though for comparison sake.

Consider the new Naish 10'10" and 10'6".5 Nalu if you want the windsurfing option.

Also many of the Staboards have that option

DJ

Thanks so much - will have a look at these as well.