Hi John

I am 68 and 100 lbs heavier than you, but I can give you some age related info.

The wide nose makes the Speeed very stable while paddling it and going for waves.
Hanging around in the line-up, the width can get a bit testy, and takes some getting used to.

The numbers say that you would be fine on the 7'11... plenty of float at 94 liters
BUT age plays tricks on us... every year, it gets tougher!

If you are an advanced SUPster, you should consider the 8'5 at 112 L... but if an intermediate, the 8'8 should do the trick at 123 L

The 8'10 was fine for me. It was very tricky at first, but I worked my ass off and rebuilt the muscles to handle it.... which is a good thing for us old guys to do.

I know Maui can be pretty windy, so if you decide you want to go for the 8'10, don't worry, it will still surf great for you.
I had a 9'5 last winter when it was time for a full wetsuit, and it performed with the same sweet ride as the 8'10... just scaled a bit for size.

i am 70kg and a meager 52 year old... but have surfed the 7'11 speed. Quite narrow and domed deck so IMO not so good for older joints in the chop. if you want to go the Sunova way... What about the 8'1 FLOW. much more stable and great fun. I bought the 7'10 FLOW after trialling and love it, but you might want a bit more width than that.
Altenatively.... With you being in Maui.... What about Naish..... Either the X32 range or the new MAD DOG. Both great boards too. Good in the small surf and loads of stability.
Good luck on your hunt...

I'm heavier then you by 7-8 kg and have the 8'5". Although the 8'5" paddles easy enough, I don't like it in anything choppy; surfwise, I should be on something smaller. Whatever you do, forget the 8'10". STC has the Speeed wired and I'd stick with his recommendations at 8'5" or 8'8".

Not sure what 9'6" you had, but I'd pick my Sunova 9'5" x 32" Surf over the Speeed for a lazy south shore day most every time. It's lightweight at 20lb, paddles great, super stable and surfs mushy waves with ease.

Hi

After many emails from others and my arrival in Maui I have paddled the 8'5" and the 8' 10". The small one was just way to unstable for me. My knees hurt after my session. Someone else talked about if you always had glassy calm water the smaller on would be fine. Here on Maui this is not the case.

As much as I wanted the smaller board I took out the 8' 10" and was satisfied with it. The water was pretty bumpy but I could get a good feel for it. My wife's view from the shore was that I was going much faster than usual on the mushy small waves. I bought it.
It was suggested to me by another Seabreeze member that for my weight I should definitely go with smaller fins. It came with the 105's. I had looked all over this section of SB and had some idea of what would work. I bought a set of Shapers AM1 fins when I bought the board. This came with 5 fins I could use with different combinations. I went with the Thrusters to start.

Kihei had a lot of rain last night and the water was very red from the dirt. There were some small waves and risky low tide but I went out anyway. With these fins the board paddled so much faster. They were thinner. Catching mush was simple. It was like a totally different board from what I went out on the other day. Because of all the really, probably toxic water I did not want to fall in so I was taking it easy. I could fee how different it was to turn. The other day I was trying to put my foot back where STC suggested in his video but not much would happen. With the different fins I could start doing this.

Many thanks to all who contributed.

John C