moffchar said...

A question for those of you getting on the smaller boards (9' or so and under).

Do these boards lose much in the way of getting onto the waves early. One of the attractions to SUP for me was the ability to get on waves early on those fuller/smaller days when riding a normal board was a real struggle. A bit of short boarders revenge against mal riders who were ding to us shorty riders.

Is this greatly aspect lost on the short SUP or do you find you can still up and going nice and early. I am looking at dropping from a 10 footer down to a shorter board and would love to hear some experiences.

hi, you do lose a bit and also depending on conditions. a top notch paddle at a slightly shorter lenght i reckon is the go.you really need a quick stroke rate to catch the suckers
cheers

moffchar said...

A question for those of you getting on the smaller boards (9' or so and under).

Do these boards lose much in the way of getting onto the waves early. One of the attractions to SUP for me was the ability to get on waves early on those fuller/smaller days when riding a normal board was a real struggle. A bit of short boarders revenge against mal riders who were ding to us shorty riders.

Is this greatly aspect lost on the short SUP or do you find you can still up and going nice and early. I am looking at dropping from a 10 footer down to a shorter board and would love to hear some experiences.

ps i might add my new board is a lightweight, made a big difference

The 7'10" I have been evaluating paddles quite a bit slower than my 9' 4", it can catch waves about as early, but it takes a lot more horse power to get the board to the required speed.
And another major point to keep in mind is the fact that the yaw rate gets much worse the shorter you go, requiring more paddle timing so your direction ot travel will be about 90 degrees to the wave at the take off time. Some "J" stroke can be needed.

7'10"


7'10" x 30.5" & 7'10" x 27"


Glassed

moffchar said...

A question for those of you getting on the smaller boards (9' or so and under).

I've noticed some peeps on the forum who were/are/have been talking of going smaller/shorter to prove their manhood, or how much better they can now rip on a waves now that they have a 7'6" .....whatever - are now considering buying bigger boards named "guns" to ride the "big waves" or just take the glide on small bumps. The sport/activity in the year I've been watching it is going full circle.

Currently, owning a sup is a reasonably expensive hobby and is fashionable for many of us "older" watermen: fashions change quickly. IMHO forget all the bull**** and go whats going to work best for you and the conditions you find yourself most often in. It's quite obvious a smaller board is going to be:

a: less stable
b. offer less glide
c. make it harder for you to start early on a wave.
d. make you feel better when you are lined up next to someone on an ocean liner, unless the board you own happens to be called a "gun"

I was thinking about going smaller for the balance thing and partly because of the hype about going small. I went out one day with some others and came to a realization that it's actually cooler to be stable and catch waves on a bigger board than to fall off randomly on a board that's too small for your ability/weight.

Where can I buy a gun?

Bnaccas said...

I find I can get onto waves on my 9'6" just as early as my mates on bigger boards if not earlier in some instances. My paddle blade is big and I'm used to it so it works fine. I put it in the water and use a paddle type action and I seem to get onto waves.

I think it has more to do with putting your body weight in the right spots at the right times to get onto waves early. (I'm not talking about runners)

I agree a bigger blade gets my 105kg carcase up and going much better. I have a Nalu after trying a poo and a methane. I think technique is more important. J stroke, angling the blade and shaft allows you to change the angle of attack. Short paddling varies power.

I can catch a wave significantly earlier using a larger paddle due to speed, technique will keep the board straighter and help you time optimum speed to catch a wave.

Cliché ahead - different strokes for different folks.

without getting into the debate about boards lenghts, i like riding 8 10 's. one thing i learnt to do was steer the board with my feet in a surfers stance under rapid paddle power
cheers

Piros said...

I really have to eat my words here as I said previously anything under 9-4 was too small well I now own a Ron House 8-8 x 28 x 4-1/4 and have a DC9-2 x 28.5 x 4-1/4 getting made.

The RH 8-8 is a small board but due to it's soft rocker and only slightly angled up nose (not turned up) it has amazing glide for it's size and catches waves as good as my 9-10. I demoed this board for a weekend and my surfing improved more in those 2 days than in the last 6 months...The thing about these small boards is they are fast and incredibly manoeuvrable , I was making it through close out sections and my top turns turned into big round house cut backs. It was just so easy

Yes they are hard work on choppy days that’s why I'm getting the 9-2 which will be my new big surfing board but if you really want to lift your surfing level jump on one of these little mongrels and let it rip.



Rob

hi rob, i had a go on the rh 8'5". its a different amazing nose" lift" mr house has going there
cheers

Overall-it's a whatever turns you on kinda' thing-there's NO machismo/ego involved-just the pursuit of happiness.......

Agree there Matt, I am on exactly the same page as what you just mentioned. I want a smaller custom for the smaller beachie stuff as well.

The 9 3 ripper although not tiny, paddles awesome, you can still out paddle most of the Mal riders!!

oliver said...

moffchar said...

A question for those of you getting on the smaller boards (9' or so and under).

I've noticed some peeps on the forum who were/are/have been talking of going smaller/shorter to prove their manhood, or how much better they can now rip on a waves now that they have a 7'6" .....whatever - are now considering buying bigger boards named "guns" to ride the "big waves" or just take the glide on small bumps. The sport/activity in the year I've been watching it is going full circle.

Currently, owning a sup is a reasonably expensive hobby and is fashionable for many of us "older" watermen: fashions change quickly. IMHO forget all the bull**** and go whats going to work best for you and the conditions you find yourself most often in. It's quite obvious a smaller board is going to be:

a: less stable
b. offer less glide
c. make it harder for you to start early on a wave.
d. make you feel better when you are lined up next to someone on an ocean liner, unless the board you own happens to be called a "gun"

I was thinking about going smaller for the balance thing and partly because of the hype about going small. I went out one day with some others and came to a realization that it's actually cooler to be stable and catch waves on a bigger board than to fall off randomly on a board that's too small for your ability/weight.

Where can I buy a gun?

hi all, i have a 8 10 shortie for surf and a big bugger for dw now. best of both worlds and having the most fun in over 30 odd years or more of surfing.wish i had seen there is more than a 6' 2" surfboard
cheers

62mac said...

lacey said...

oliver said...

moffchar said...

A question for those of you getting on the smaller boards (9' or so and under).

I've noticed some peeps on the forum who were/are/have been talking of going smaller/shorter to prove their manhood, or how much better they can now rip on a waves now that they have a 7'6" .....whatever - are now considering buying bigger boards named "guns" to ride the "big waves" or just take the glide on small bumps. The sport/activity in the year I've been watching it is going full circle.

Currently, owning a sup is a reasonably expensive hobby and is fashionable for many of us "older" watermen: fashions change quickly. IMHO forget all the bull**** and go whats going to work best for you and the conditions you find yourself most often in. It's quite obvious a smaller board is going to be:

a: less stable
b. offer less glide
c. make it harder for you to start early on a wave.
d. make you feel better when you are lined up next to someone on an ocean liner, unless the board you own happens to be called a "gun"

I was thinking about going smaller for the balance thing and partly because of the hype about going small. I went out one day with some others and came to a realization that it's actually cooler to be stable and catch waves on a bigger board than to fall off randomly on a board that's too small for your ability/weight.

Where can I buy a gun?

hi all, i have a 8 10 shortie for surf and a big bugger for dw now. best of both worlds and having the most fun in over 30 odd years or more of surfing.wish i had seen there is more than a 6' 2" surfboard
cheers

Hey Lacey, one board quiver for me 10.6 wide, surfs grrrrate maaate for a big fella and flatwater paddles just fine It's not too short and not too long mac

gee mac, if its 10.6 wide, how bloody long is the thing!! ha ha

I am thinking about going down to a 7 10 " soon Absolutely enjoy my 8 6" and have no trouble catching waves at all , my 9 6" naish would catch waves as easy as my old 11 6 " kalama ( which is very boring to ride now) after having a shorter sub I would never want anything bigger than a 9 6" (except the big psh for small surf, big surf and flat river paddles).

I think the 9 6" naish is way big enough for me to surf any size waves I would surf, as I said before I used to use a 7 4" pintail in 10 ft (tripple overhead west oz juice) I used to think this board was big

Brooko said...

I am thinking about going down to a 7 10 " soon Absolutely enjoy my 8 6" and have no trouble catching waves at all , my 9 6" naish would catch waves as easy as my old 11 6 " kalama ( which is very boring to ride now) after having a shorter sub I would never want anything bigger than a 9 6" (except the big psh for small surf, big surf and flat river paddles).

I think the 9 6" naish is way big enough for me to surf any size waves I would surf, as I said before I used to use a 7 4" pintail in 10 ft (tripple overhead west oz juice) I used to think this board was big

i'm with you. i could go smaller, but the dc 8 10 surfs so short(felt way shortier than an 8' 5" i tried). i have 9' 3" woodie coming(at about 120 litre ish)for the bigger stuff.im 75 kg, so what you are getting into is pretty amazing
cheers

teatrea said...

I Agree with oliver to a certain extent , the main reason sup appeals to me is the versatlity and simply the paddle power to get into waves others cant.I can see maybee ultra short sup causing problems in the line up as the take off zone becomes narrower.In saying that i dont think boards 8ft to 9 ft short.Its the ones below that , i think are just fads , you dont need a paddle when you go that small.

But as my momma would say whatever makes your spunk go clunck , or soemthing like that anyway.

says the gumby that cleans up everyone on a board over 10 foot

I apologise to anyone who thinks I push smaller onto those who prefer longer except Greenroom. Brooko you know it

Teatrea,
I think you actually 180 degrees out here. The shorter boards sit in the pack and effectively join in with the pack while the longer sup boards pick up everything early can actually become pests if hogs or leaners at the wheel.....
It's all depending how you look at it but thats been my experience.