my lad gets around on a 9ft magic carpet in flat water and loves it more than the bigger boards that we have. not really thrown around in the surf ...yet,can do cutties and works the wave fairly well. needs a bit more weight,but i love it

Hobie make a 7'11"Colin Mcphillips model.
They are about 104 litres and are easily carried by smaller people.
He won't grow out of it too quick and the performance level will be
still agreeable when he is able to really chuck it about.
Around 1200 bucks for a brand newie.
Jason

just got my 11 year old son a 8 foot starboard tiki at 26 wide he loves it and rips, for me i need one for the other foot too, maybe one day i can ride it aswell

We have tried out most of the options in the kids board for the last 3 years, so here is my 2 cents.

The key issue is to get a board that doent have too much volume as most SUP boards are specifically designed for adults. Its fine to have the volume for stability but as they progress it will work against them.

Weight is also a key issue can they carry the thing to the water, because otherwise be prepared to become a pack mule.

If the board works well = more fun = happy kids = more water time.

The paddle is just as important as the board make sure you get that sorted and that the length is right and its as light as possible. A heavy kids paddle will make thier life very uncomfortalbe and not much fun. IMO the kialoa pipes is the pick of the bunch by far, but there are also quite few low weight adjust adjustables around now that are useful as they will grow with the kids and reduce investment on new equipment during growth spurts.

Custom boards wise I dont think you can go past Tully he sorted all the light weight designs for Keahi and he really has the shizzle on those boards and yes Kristi is a Laguna team rider. Customs also arnt as expensive in shorter lengths as you might think!

I agree with Goatie and DTM for an off the rack board at a the Naish 8.0 and even the 8.10 are great for the kids and there are a few around second hand. I think there are 2 for sale around the surf coast at the moment.

PSH make the 7.5 kids ripper and its a great board but I dont believe there are any in Australia.

The starboard Tiki especilly the new one Ian had at Merimbula is a great option between surfability and stability as well.

The new Fanatic 8,2 x 27 is also a great option plent of stability but also rips in bigger waves.

The 7'11 Hobie can be a Hommer board that both the kids and a lighter weight adult can use so you get 2 for 1.

The Starboard Demo Trailer will be up on the Sunny Coast on 6th & 7th, and Noosa on 7th & 8th Jan, and will have the all the latest boards including the 7'7, 8'0, 8'5. Reckon he might like the 7'7, definitely better for a lightweight than the 7'11.

KiteSUP said...

thanks for the reply's guys.
Have been considering a 7' 11" x 29.5" starboard seven eleven as saw one at a recent demo down south but could not get hold of it to try, looks a nice size for him.
He hasn't done much SUP'ing but is pretty good on the water having just got a gold and silver at the outrigger nationals in coffs so I think he will pick it up quick and there are also a couple of these going second hand at the moment.
Does anyone have any experience on these...thanks

Might be too wide, my little bloke struggled with the 8 foot soft top as it was 30 inches wide, tended to yaw heaps. His 8 foot Naish is 25 3/4" and he catches 3 times as many waves. Seriously the less width and volume the better for kids. Volume of Naish is supposed to be 95 litres which is BS as mine is 100 and I sink his board so prob closer to 80-85.

I reckon he needs about 55 litres which is why I will need to get him a custom eventually. We surfed a 6 - 8 foot faces (3-4 foot), powerful reef break last 2 days and he is 35 kg ringing wet, too funny.

Yeah my board is 94 litres an when I jump on the 8'o naish is for sure a fair bit smaller I'm thinking ya spot on the the 80 to 85 mark