Thanks Camo, Phill & DJ.
yes, very interesting. I've been riding a 9'8" Starboard for 3 months (bigger sup for 16 months before that) & want to try something with less volume. Starboard has 141 litres. I'm 73kgs, thus Rod's ideal volume is 110. Chatted with Rod some time back & he suggested around 125l (or thereabouts from the befuddled memory

) for a bit of extra comfort.
Tried a mate's 9'6" Laguna Bay yesterday. 28" wide, & at that width probably a little tippier than (personally) desirable to handle all conditions. It was offshore but a little lumpy yesterday; fell off a few times but caught a few waves on it at our local reefie & loved the way it responded.
Camo, have you ridden the 9'8" Starboard? How does it compare to your 9'4" SurfShapes for paddle-power & surfability?