I'm 45 years old, 80kg and want to surf smallish (2-6ft) waves all next winter on the north shore of the Dominican Republic. My level is intermediate, i windsurf lots, kite surf in light wind with 6ft surfboard strapless and longboard a little. I'm recovering from whiplash and cant really surf at all anymore. I've been out in overhead surf with a 10.6 and a 9.6 SUP and caught many waves, both times i had starboards that felt big. I've made up a list below, if you could just give a top three, that would help me choose. Ive stuck to about 130L and about 9'. My goal is to find a board to catch lots of waves and be able to progress surfing (without suffering too much). The waves in DR are not fast and the periods vary from 7-10. There is often chop. You dont have to paddle too far out the get to the break. At one point i will for sure get a longer cruiser that i can downwind with and surf breaks along the way. Anyway, thanks for your time!

1 - Coreban - Fusion 9'0¨- 29.5 x 4.5 x 9.0 - 148L - ?lbs
2 - Starboard - Converse 9'0¨- 30 x 4.1 x 9.0 - 137L - 9.7kg
3 - Starboard - Pocket Rocket 8'5¨- 30 x 4.1 x 8.5 - 130L - 9.5kg
4 - PSHawaii - 9' 2" All Arounder (boardworks) - 28.5 x 4.5 x 9.2 - 154L - ?lb
5 - PSHawaii - 9' 2" WIDE Ripper - 29 5/8 x 4 1/4 x 9.3 - 126L - ?lb
6 - PSHawaii - 8' 9" WIDE Ripper - 29 3/4 x 4 1/4 x 8.9 - 120L - ?lb
7 - Naish Mana - 9'0¨- 29 5/8 x4 x 9.0 - 140L - 19lbs
8 - Jimmy Lewis Kwad - 9'1¨- 30 x 4 1/8 x 9.1 - 130L - ?lbs
9 - Jimmy Lewis Striker - 8'11"¨- 31 x 4 x 8.11 - 130L - ?lbs
10- C4 Waterman Forward-Vee Vector - 9'4¨- 29 x 4 x 9.4 - 137L - 19lbs
11- C4 Waterman SubNine Waterskate - 9'0¨- 29 x 4.25 x 9.0 - 134L - 22lbs
12- Fanatic Allwave - 8'10¨- 31 x ? x 8.10 - 146L - ?lbs
13- Fanatic Allwave - 9'2¨- 31.5 x ? x 9.2 - 160L - ?lbs
14- Naish Hokua - 9'5¨- 29.5 x 4 3/8 x 9.5 - 140L - 19lbs

If you SUP in slow and choppy waves I would considder a bit wider board.
I Paddle at the Northsea in Holland except that we don,t have turtles, palmtrees, +30-35C and blue/green water we share the same slow waves and chop on them.

On the occasional very above average days I love my Hokua9.0 but on most days the board isnt generating enough speed on the waves to get the best of it and I fall of a lot due the chop.
Most of those days I grab the Mana9.5 from the rentalstation if I wanna noseride or my Starboard WP8.10.
With a Quadsetup that board is still very stable in the chop, catches the wave pretty early and keeps speed in slower waves while turning on a dime.
In big fast hollow waves the board starts to bounche and is to fat, but on the slower chaotic stuff I like it a lot.
I,m 10kg heavier so youi might get away with one size smaller like the PR, but my 2 cents: think wide if the chop and slow waves are predominantly!

nice selection of boards there, cant really comment on any of those as i've mainly surfed customs, i have heard good things about the allwaves, i did demo some of the widepoint boards the other day, had a crack on the 8'2 spot on 130l, had a little paddle did alot of falling but then again im 115kg, really you just have to demo as many as you can and see what you like

Jarryd

well, thanks for the answers. I forgot to mention that I live in a landlocked country (switz) and dont have access to any of the 'surf' types sups. Lots of larger sups on the lakes... its almost impossible to buy sups in the DR so will have to bring one, will stop on my way through in Miami and should be able to find all big brands I think. That also limits me to under 10ft luggage limitations, and no time to demo anything, bit risky. So what would be the safe bet, but still surfable in a smallish wave environment, where a good day is quantity and not necessarily quality.

The fanatic 9'2 has so much vol, and it very wide, the winter waves can sometimes get pretty perfect and i'm worried about performance. I like the naish mana 9'0, but am affraid i will get my old nickname back 'McSplash'. Is it stable? I'm 6ft 80kg and kind of sporty the c4 9' waterskate looks dope, anyone riding this board?

thanks again, j

taking into consideration all that you have mentioned, I would recommend a custom, but because you have asked for recommendations on these boards it would be down to three boards.
PSH 9'2"
naish 9'5"
PSH 8'9"
in that order.

JohnnySUP said...

well, thanks for the answers. I forgot to mention that I live in a landlocked country (switz) and dont have access to any of the 'surf' types sups. Lots of larger sups on the lakes... its almost impossible to buy sups in the DR so will have to bring one, will stop on my way through in Miami and should be able to find all big brands I think. That also limits me to under 10ft luggage limitations, and no time to demo anything, bit risky. So what would be the safe bet, but still surfable in a smallish wave environment, where a good day is quantity and not necessarily quality.

The fanatic 9'2 has so much vol, and it very wide, the winter waves can sometimes get pretty perfect and i'm worried about performance. I like the naish mana 9'0, but am affraid i will get my old nickname back 'McSplash'. Is it stable? I'm 6ft 80kg and kind of sporty the c4 9' waterskate looks dope, anyone riding this board?

thanks again, j

Sorry I have to ask, where do you get perfect waves in Switzerland?

@ leroy, dont appologize just read the first sentence.
@ scuttlefish, you forgot the all important coocoo clocks and the fact that i ski to school and speak swedish.