Hi All,

The last few weeks have been quite a steep learning curve reading this forum and talking to people about choosing my first SUP.

My back ground is I am 45 surfed since I was 12, riding a long board for the past 20 years (always been an intermediate surfer). weigh 80kg's and 175cm (5'9") tall.

Planning on using this SUP as all round board with a bias towards surfing and paddling flat water with the family and friends.

Don't really know where I am going with this in future, however I do feel that I will enjoy this in the surf more than flat water

The only SUP I have used so far is a friends 9'2" Evoke in the surf.

So far I have narrowed the selection to following
- Warterbourn Evoke Carbon 9'2"148L
- Naish Mana 9'5" 163L
- Sunova EC0 Surf 9"5" 160L

I have read really good reports on all these boards, to the point where I have read to much and totally confused myself

All the boards above are a similar price however the Evoke is a few hundred dollars cheaper.

Please help me choose one !!!!

9'5" Mana..

DavidJohn,
I have watched you video's a few time, pretty cool!!!


HGFish,
I am kind of partial to Evoke as I have ridden one, however I am wondering what a fore more dollars will get you the the Mana and Sunova Surf.

Totally agree about having a ride on both the Mana and Surf, just not sure how to do this as none of the shops have any more demo days as it's getting closer to winter

In reguards to second hand I was thinking this however most of the boards are not that much cheaper than new so I think I will go new for the warranty side of things

Sorry to cut you off the Speeed is out of the budget, I did contemplate one

You are correct GBoots I am looking at the GS model, this kind of makes me think that the carbon Evoke could be a good idea as it maybe stronger making it a little more family friendly

HGFish said..

HGFish,
I am kind of partial to Evoke as I have ridden one, however I am wondering what a fore more dollars will get you the the Mana and Sunova Surf.

Totally agree about having a ride on both the Mana and Surf, just not sure how to do this as none of the shops have any more demo days as it's getting closer to winter

In reguards to second hand I was thinking this however most of the boards are not that much cheaper than new so I think I will go new for the warranty side of things

For a few more dollars you get better marketing, the brand name, team riders endorsements and most "name' manufactures will argue better quality. Evoke had issues early on (deck pads lifting mainly) but didn't walk away from anyone that bought one. They seemed to have it sorted with the later versions and if you'd watched videos, there's one on here of an Evoke being ridden as well as anything else. BTW I have no affiliation with Evoke or any other brand and have owned most of the brand names at one stage.

Warranty doesn't cover dings or snaps - other issues show up sooner than later and because there's such a high turn over of boards most on here are sold chasing that 'perfect board' and not sinister reasons.

You can't go wrong with any of the boards you've listed and there are a few more that would suit too. Don't over think it, the off-shores have already arrived

I have watched the Evoke videos the guy from the Surfboard Warehouse videos rip, way more skill than I will ever have.

I am nervous about my next statement, what else would recommend ??

Here's a different perspective.

If you are under 6ft and only weigh 80kg I wouldn't recommend any of those boards. Simply for the fact that they are all too wide (x32" = slow to paddle and turn). You will outgrow all of them way too quickly, especially if you have a surfing background.

If you are still keen on surfboard warehouse I'd be looking at the Vex Profusion 9'6x30. Will still be great on flat water and will surf 10x better than any of those for your weight.

I have ridden both the Evoke 9'2 and the Surf 9'5.
Like the others said, you can't go wrong as they are both great boards for beginner to intermediate surfing.
Just make sure you factor in some glass fins for the evoke as they don't come as standard like the Surf.
The Evoke is great for the money but not quite the same build quality as the Sunova.

Think I have decided on the Evoke, to start off with.

It will be a good first board to get me in and if I get hooked I could then pass it on to the family and upgrade to something more up market, by that time I will know which style of SUPing I am into.

Thanks all for your help

Good luck MTB which ever way you go. I have pretty much the same history as you just 10 kgs heavier. I have had the 7'11 Carbon evoke in both last years and now this years models and loved them both and only upgraded cause I enjoyed the previous so much. I had the bamboo previous to those that developed a bit of a fault, one email to the company and fully replaced under warranty where I upgraded to my first Carbon. I can't give enough praise to the company and have always been helpful to me and my mates who have bought there boards. By the way I don't work for them but just a happy repeat customer. I'm 93kgs and have a ball but couldn't put a kid on it with me. My mate has a 10' mana cause he's a big unit and it's also a great board and the 9'5 would be just as good. I've been extremely happy with mine and reckon you can't go wrong. 2 of my mates are 112kgs each and ride the 9'2 carbons and love em. Here's my last go at making a video with my 7'11, a 9'2 Carbon evoke and the 10' mana. Pretty slow waves but we had a ball. The video is a bit long. Cheers whitey.