Hi everyone, im keen to get stuck into the Stand Up Padlle side of things and im lookng for some advice. I want a board that will allow me to surf and do a bit of downwind paddling but will allow me as a 90kg beginner a fair chance. I currently surf longboards and paddle outrigger canoes so I have a little bit of experience in those areas. Any advice would be great.

Naish 11'6 Nalu for longboard style cruising waves as a start and when your tuned re- sale is good or a backup for friends to use.

As for a second, the 14' Lahui Kai for flat water, simple downwinders or beach / ocean paddles.

I've had a a lot of boards and highly recommend these as the best starting point also coming from a longboard background and surfing style.

27 wide ?
That's a lot of water time.......in the water falling that is.

surfanimals said...

27 wide ?
That's a lot of water time.......in the water falling that is.
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it's as stable as. look at the specs. the rail design gives you just about the full 27 and what ever inches across the bottom of the board too- the part thats in the water. a lot of dw boards waterline width would be less than that. you can't just judge a board on width and say it wont be stable
there are other factors like nose and tail width, rocker etc that come into play. the double concaves add stability too.

cheers

surfanimals said...

There is no way in the world this board is for a beginner which is what he defines himself above.

It looks a nice board but I don't care who you are, no beginner should be on anything under 29 1/2 wide.

The Mana and Nalu by Naish, the 11'6 Coreban, the Star-board Wide Point, Big Easy etc all geared for starters and all around 30-32 wide.

Anyone who starts on a 27" wide board will give the sport away quickly regardless or rail set up or bottom 'caves....seriously bro, that's crap.

He states he has a longboard background so width and stability are his thing.....width is not always a negative. Especially if you want to enjoy SUP.

I started on 10 x 28" 5 years later still going.

If you can surf and paddle I would lean towards something a bit harder to save having to buy another so soon. He asked for something that could do both. I thought Laceys suggestion was OK...

A mate of mine asked me a month ago what to buy, he had never paddled anything before. He ended up with a McTavish 9'6. He is 95 kilos. Guess what, in 4 weeks he is paddling everywhere, surfing on better days and I watched him do reos and cutbacks in a very short amount of time. WHY? because he could already surf quite well. He just needed to learn how to stand on it and paddle and turn using the paddle, the rest comes naturally.

Saying that you need something that big to begin with is not necessarily true, it depends upon your own abilities and everybody is different.

P.S The McT 9'6 is 29 1/2 wide and he only went that big as he wanted to be able to paddle with his boys on the board also which he does. Hilarious to watch him and his 2 sons all standing up on it at the same time on waves.

surfanimals said...

27 wide ?
That's a lot of water time.......in the water falling that is.

Hey SA,

I have ridden the Holoholo and agree they are narrow boards for sure but the double concaves make them quite stable with the right fin. At 186cm and 105kg I found the Holoholo quite surfable in the right small conditions and it is fast and fun in the flat.

If your going to take it out in bigger waves thats a different story.

I would also suggest the Naish 11'4 I think its a nice big board to surf and its good in the river for cruising at 95kg

The Laird 12'1 x 30 is a great river board and fun to surf, throw the fin that comes with it away and put in a 7 inch cut away from Glide Torquay and you will have a board that rips great turns of the tail. It also doubles as a tandem for plonking kids on the front. At 95kg you may not have enough weight to throw this tanker around though?

The PSH 11ft WAA is also a great board, fast in the river and rips in the surf but you will need more skill to stay on it. Its a board you should not have to trade up too quickly though. At 95kg I would definitely take one for a spin. (Disc I love PSH boards and I have owned most of the WAAs from 12 gun to to 9'6)

Usual advice demo / borrow the board you think you want to buy in good bad and ugly conditions before you make a decision.

Phill.

HI guy's hows your fat guts going after yesterdays pig out.

Still raining today,as Lacey said go the Aussies,off for a wave now,less talking and more riding

laceys lane said...

OG SUP said...

surfanimals said...

27 wide ?
That's a lot of water time.......in the water falling that is.

ps billboard had a holoholo and is a longboarder, he might offer an opinion.
agree with phil, try them out first and consider what the pro and cons are and what you think you might like to do with the board. the holoholo is more of a dw board than a surfer for sure

The holoholo is a very stable board (for any level of paddler) and loves open water paddling and is great fun playing in offshore sloppy conditions and picks up little runners without any effort. . I could surf it and reasonably well but IT IS NOT a surfing sup and whilst its a bit of a hoot surfing it, its bloody hard work and not for the faint of heart and will quickly get you and the rest of the lineup in serious trouble if you get it wrong. There are some 11ft ish boards around that paddle ok on a small coastal run and still surf really well but I dont think that theres anything that does both really well - you are gunna have to sacrifice something if you only have the one board. You really need to try a few boards and try to get an idea of which discipline you have the MOST interest in - distance or surf and get a board that leans more that way but still lets you do a bit of the other without too much discomfort. In my humble opinion though - surfing sups are made to surf and some paddle really well also BUT distance/racing sups are made for that purpose and although they may handle a small wave or two are not made for surfing and will not give you the allround fun factor that you are looking for.

62mac said...

Bloody hell billboard that was a great post

yeah, i'm pretty tight with the green thumbs, but i gave that a greenie.

christmas is getting a little weird this year

laceys lane said...

this is interesting, which way would go if you could only have one sup?

me, i'll take dw all rounder type board- preferably a 12'6 with some surf pedigree in the shape.i can do flatwater, dw,ers, surf when it's small or fat.
presently, if the surf is reasonable out comes the sb, so i kinda think i don't have to have a full on surfing sup
cheers

If I was starting out again with what I know now. I would get the Naish 14' - not only is it quite good value, it's a great downwinder and flatwater board, it's fun to surf clean 1ft ripples and is stable enough to learn on. When I was more cashed up then I'd get a second surfing board. But again, I weigh 86kg and live by a bay - not a surfing beach. So it's horses for courses.

Agree that the allrounders are a good start and can do everything - problem is I don't think they do anything particularly well.

10Reynolu said...

Hi everyone, im keen to get stuck into the Stand Up Padlle side of things and im lookng for some advice. I want a board that will allow me to surf and do a bit of downwind paddling but will allow me as a 90kg beginner a fair chance. I currently surf longboards and paddle outrigger canoes so I have a little bit of experience in those areas. Any advice would be great.

Starboard Cruiser 12'6

/thread

I just changed from a Starboard Converse to a Naish 12'Glide, as I wanted more volume so I could take my missus and me dog on flat water.
Apart from being a great board to paddle out front, I find it surfs better for me than the Converse. I didn't dislike the Converse and don't notice a big difference on stability, TBH.
It feels like a big gun, and surfs with a pleasing feel on the wave. I found the Converse a bit dull on a wave.
At 230L, it has plenty of volume for the OP's weight.
I'm always puzzled when people correlate length and stability. Not sure how well that works.

cRAZY Canuk said...

laceys lane said...

this is interesting, which way would go if you could only have one sup?

me, i'll take dw all rounder type board- preferably a 12'6 with some surf pedigree in the shape.i can do flatwater, dw,ers, surf when it's small or fat.
presently, if the surf is reasonable out comes the sb, so i kinda think i don't have to have a full on surfing sup
cheers

12' Naish Glide
the fancy new 12'6 PSH

pop to mind

Or some big aircraft carier of a behemoth

Then again having said that as oliver said if I had to do it again I'd get a DC16 instead of a 14 but I had the 14' class stuck in my mind for some reason. Reminds me I need to put the rudder back in tomorrow.