Are you planning to surf or stick to flat water? And if you will surf, what is your experience level, and where will you surf (big, small, steep, mushy)? There are so many boards around that it will help everyone if you can describe how you will use the board.

I will let others provide the advice. I am newish to SUP (18 months) and you have 30 kegs on me so my suggestions won't be relevant. But I will warn you. You are about to start something that will change the way you think and act. I have seen it called SUPitis. Once you start you will not stop watching surf-cams, weather patterns, SUP forums, and board reviews.

Jradedmondo said..
hi mate

i havent personally surfed an avanti but i have seen some large guys surf them and they go very good for a large board, if you live at Terrigal i would pop into ESS at Erina and have a chat with the guys there as they are always very helpfull, they also regularly have regular demo days on terrigal lagoon which could be a starting point for some board choices, again as it is your first board i would avoid buying something brand new, pick something up second hand/ex demo etc

Jarryd

I agree second hand to start ,as you will change ..maybe a 10'10 naish Nalu ..has 200 litre which would be great for your weight and surfs .
but ..heaps of great boards out there...look at round the 200 litre mark .I started on a 11.6 Nalu ..I grew out of it within 6 months ,once I started surfing it, it had 230 litres...it paddled great ...but was hard to surf ..you just had to walk right up the back .to turn the big sucker.I'm a mere 95 kgs.enjoy the search.

This is the perfect board for you.. The 9'8'' x 34'' Naish Odysseus.. Awesome board.. So stable.. and paddles wlat water great..

A few few years ago a big guy like you (and me) would be forced to buy a huge 11'6" x 30" tanker.. That was very old-school..

These days you can buy something so much shorter.. lighter.. and even more stable..

Surfs better.. and even paddles flat water better IMO.. Try and demo one and you will see what I mean..

If you think you need more board.. check out the 11' and 11'6'' Mana soft tops.. They are super-duper stable.

adssup said..
I'm 6'2 and 110 and I had a Starboard Blend. Really good on flat water and small waves. Even though only 30" wide, it was quite stable in chop. I now have an F-One Manawa 10x34 for extra stability in our crappy windswell chop. Super stable but a little slower on the flats.

A little OT, but DJ where is this surf spot? I'm moving back to Victoria in July and this spot looks heaps fun.

Cheers

ads

I could tell you.. But then I'd have to kill you.. .. (or others might kill me)..

PM me once you're down here and I'm happy to give you more info..

There's heaps of good places like this down here between Point Leo and Flinders..

Btw.. most short wide boards are a pain to paddle any great distance because of the amount of yaw..

The Obysseus has a ridge under the nose.. channels on the bottom.. and a big square tail making the rails more parallel.. so it tracks very well..

DavidJohn said..

adssup said..
I'm 6'2 and 110 and I had a Starboard Blend. Really good on flat water and small waves. Even though only 30" wide, it was quite stable in chop. I now have an F-One Manawa 10x34 for extra stability in our crappy windswell chop. Super stable but a little slower on the flats.

A little OT, but DJ where is this surf spot? I'm moving back to Victoria in July and this spot looks heaps fun.

Cheers

ads

I could tell you.. But then I'd have to kill you.. .. (or others might kill me)..

PM me once you're down here and I'm happy to give you more info..

There's heaps of good places like this down here between Point Leo and Flinders..

Thanks DJ

My first board was the 11'2 x 36 Avanti. I weighed 125 k at the time.
Life long surfer, with a ton of experience.

I fell over 100 times the first day in surf.... even on the wide Avanti.

BUT.... by the 3rd day, it was all sorted out.

I loved the Avanti. I surfed it in everything up to 8' Hurricane swells..... excellent board that turned amazingly well for a BAB (big ass board)
It was extremely agile and easy.

The biggest problem I had with it, was the sheer size of it made it a bit dangerous... I got hit by it a lot (but that will happen with all boards 11' long)
Plus I recommend a carrying strap... at 15.9k.... it's a beast to lug to the beach

It was super nice to paddle in flat-water.... I logged a lot of miles on that board.

With no surf experience, my personal feeling is, bigger is better, especially if you are older and out of shape .... the learning curve will not be as steep.
Younger, fitter? You may be happy on something smaller.

Oh... by the way .... that Avanti got me on SUP at 125 k.... today? 96.6 K.
The lure of a smaller board is my BEST incentive to a downsized self.