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.

Hey moffchar , have you had you questions answered through all the man fluff, self proclamation and board hugging?
I to am looking at going somewhere shorter maybe 106 or 96 but are unable to source test drives on one and are undecided
Maybe suppliers of subs do tests and rate score the performance of boards
eg paddling performance, surfabilty, board speed along with body mass, height and experience, maybe that would be handy in decision making.

Miko

hilarious mate
or and go QLD

62mac said...

lacey said...

MIKO said...

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.

Hey moffchar , have you had you questions answered through all the man fluff, self proclamation and board hugging?
I to am looking at going somewhere shorter maybe 106 or 96 but are unable to source test drives on one and are undecided
Maybe suppliers of subs do tests and rate score the performance of boards
eg paddling performance, surfabilty, board speed along with body mass, height and experience, maybe that would be handy in decision making.

Miko

hi miko, there were some good answers on page one for sure, than it just turned into a bun fight- good stuff. funny, i was thinking the same last night about the original question. it all seems such a long time a go. no waves and i think everyone got a little bored and took this up to vent it out a bit
cheers
ps is 6 pages a record!!!!

Please supsa,don't let Lacey be a judge mac

ummm why not!!!

This will give you an idea of stability, freezing cold winter evening, (no surf) the boys just love paddling them up the ice cold river.....no thought of "should I wear a wetti in case I fall in"?
Adam 95kg
I have found them to be so much more user friendly, stable to stand on, (no so stable paddling in a straight line, the naturaly yaw a lot)
I have had some fantastic sessions since making the board, and the winter surf you could only call crap.......so what will it be like when its good?
But one interesting point, I have given some top surfers/manufacturers in vico a go & they have not been able to ride the boards as they thought they would in their initial attempts. This is mainly because the boards & fin setup are different & do take a different way of riding than most surfers realise.
Gotta go do some glassing will post a description on the way they ride latter....it will require some time & thought to describe.



The third from the right is the one I ride at the moment

Regarding a "bung sholder" due to more horse power required to paddle a short SUB.

I had been SUP'ing every day for weeks before the injury, particularly at a roady, the ride is 500m long so requires heaps of paddling... particularly when you get 40 waves.

When I went to the 7"10" I tried to paddle it at a similar speed to my 9'4" that extra stress caused a bit of tendonitis, (now gone)
I cant go back to a long board .....9'4"......its just too much fun on the "rice bubbles"
I now just accept the slower paddle speed, & enjoy the much higher surfing speed.
You dont throw these things around, they react a quick as you can, you think & they go there, & even faster....because of their light weight, 5 kg, your reactions are by "muscle memory"....its powerfull & fun.
When you get used to them they can be better to catch waves they manuver into position heaps quicker, & can handle late drops better.

Really I cant understand why major manufactures have not done more work in this area, the boards are not as rider weight sensitive as you would expect, & besides they are a great board for kids to ride & carry.

LSD said...


You dont throw these things around, they react a quick as you can, you think & they go there, & even faster....because of their light weight, 5 kg, your reactions are by "muscle memory"....its powerfull & fun.
When you get used to them they can be better to catch waves they manuver into position heaps quicker, & can handle late drops better.

No worries LSD, I was only joking about Tom chucking it around like your 8'2"
His everyday sup is undoubtedly pretty short.
I'm with you re manoeuvring in to position: even on my 9'8" I can swing that sucker around to take off on a wave a lot faster than the 11-footer (naturally).
I'd love to sup every day like you, but our Perth conditions dictate that I get out on average 3 days a week. Went to Margaret River for an extended weekend 13-15 June. Only got one surf, rest of the time it was howling onshore!!

When I win the OZ today, I'm buying a new house with a huge shed, & a quiver of sups ranging from under 9' to over 12'

LSD, just another question on the width of your boards.So far I've built 2 home made SUPs ,the first 10'10" x29 ,the second 9'6" x30 .The shorter board turns 1000% better than the longer board .OK thats what you would expect but the difference is like The Spirit of Tasmania versus a boogie board .Anyhow the next board is going to be 9'6" x 31 . The point of all this is does the width of these boards have more of an influence on turning than the length ,and maybe ,if this is right ,guys on this site might be saying something like " I'm going from a 8' 8" x29 to a 9' 0" x30 because its looser and turns better". Any observations on the importance of width in designs ? Rupert

Width will inhibit turning, if you cant sink the tail at speed & lay it over in a turn.
The way to get the board to lay over quick is an appropriate amount of spiral vee/rocker, & a pulled in tail, thats the change I made from the first board to the one I'm on now. If you get the right combination the widith is what will actualy help the board turn, particularly on the smaller snappy waves.

Regarding lower centre of gravity......a lot of the guys riding SUB's have a natural low center of gravity......their guts hang near their knee's!

check where your top hand is in relation to your shoulder,paddling with your top hand above the shoulder line will damage your rotor cuff,another reason for shorter paddles

Thanks FirstPoint.
Yes, it may be a combination of paddling harder to generate the same speed on the 9'8" as the 11-footer, & the fact that my paddle ended up an inch longer due to repairs.
I've ordered a new one that's 2.5" shorter than the current one, hoping that that will help sort out the sore shoulder. It's only sore when supping, don't feel it any other time.
By the way, it's the left shoulder. I'm a natural-footer & my preferred paddling side is on my right (left-hand up). Anyone else (apart from LSD ) experiencing a sore shoulder?

The following is bit of info about paddle lengths, pros & cons etc, off the GONG site





This is the charte size to choose your paddle’s sizes.
Before, please, note these points :
Usually, a small SUPer prefers the smallest size in the charte, the opposite for a tall SUPer.
A shorter paddle than what this charte advise will be more maneuvrable on the wave and allow you shorts turns and to put more angle on the board.
On hollow waves, use a shorter paddle to be closer to the face in barrels and to reduce turn’s diameters.
A shorter paddle means more frequency but is painless for your shoulders.
A shorter paddle is advised for short and thin boards. This charte is designed for beginners on a big board from 11’ to 12’ like a NFA 12’ for example. Please, reduce the size of 1 or 2 inches per foot less. For example, a 6’2 tall SUPer will use a 79’’ on a 11’ or 12’ board, a 77’’ on a 10’, a 75 on a 9’, and a 73’’ on a short board like 8’ or less. So it is usefull to ride a paddle of your exact size when your are an expert.
A short paddle is great for windy conditions.
A long paddle is so powerful and efficient for take offs.
A long paddle gives you a better balance.
The more your paddle is long the more "row effect" you have, so the most difficult is to paddle straight.
You definitely need more than one paddle in your quiver : you can break it and you need to choose it regarding to the conditions of the session and save your shoulders. The paddle components don’t change this charte.

Paddle of 63’’ for a SUPer size from 4’7’’ to 4’10’’.
Paddle of 65’’ for a SUPer size from 4’9’’ to 5’0’’.
Paddle of 67’’ for a SUPer size from 4’11’’ to 5’2’’.
Paddle of 69’’ for a SUPer size from 5’1’’ to 5’4’’.
Paddle of 71’’ for a SUPer size from 5’3’’ to 5’6’’.
Paddle of 73’’ for a SUPer size from 5’5’’ to 5’8’’.
Paddle of 75’’ for a SUPer size from 5’7’’ to 5’10’’.
Paddle of 77’’ for a SUPer size from 5’9’’ to 6’0’’.
Paddle of 79’’ for a SUPer size from 5’11’’ to 6’2’’.
Paddle of 81’’ for a SUPer size from 6’0’’ to 6’4’’.
Paddle of 83’’ for a SUPer size from 6’5’’ and more.

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The first proto is the second from right, its 7' 10" x 30.75". I had no idea how it would float me at 80kg so I made it full in nose, tail & rail.
As it turns out, it's too big, this was hard to imagine when planning the board but very true, it is more suited to my son who is big, 6' 4" & 93kg.
Being too big was evident in its turns they were flat, the board wouldnt roll & sink the tail & rail,
I fixed this in the second board it's spot on for my weight & style, there dosnt seem to be anything I can think of to improve it

You would have to be a sumo wrestler to want anthing over 33' !
It will still work, the trick is to pull the tail in & add vee to get that roll happening.
Also a deep concave under the front meter of board gets them really flying. I like to nose ride heaps, running up & down the board & stuff, I expected these boards to be useless in this department....but steping on the nose is like stepping on ice!!
Another factor to consider is the lack of rail you have to control compared to a 10' board, the smaller rail length can pull in tighter to the wave. And I think the most important & contraversal feature on the board is what produces the drive that develops the down the line speed.....a huge 11" single fin! Minimal drag & maximum stability, in both paddling/directional & balance, it dampens roll in rough water.
You realy have to ride these boards to fully understand their qualities.
The boards look quite stupid compared to what we are used to.
Anyone in my neighborhood is welcome to try one & see if it's their thing.
Dean

Thursday last week are the only decent size waves we have had for weeks.
Adam (93kg) on the 7'10"

I have had plenty of small waves to evaluate the boards, clean offshore 2' to 3'
They ride the small stuff, down to flat 1' as well as my larger boards, they seem to milk any available power easer.



There is some good video of guys riding boards a short as 6'6" I think.....although they don't give much indication to their weight/size......they may be jockeys
Ask DJ to find the vids

polsy has them and i'm sure he would send them out 0404 804 498

Jacko

Where is moffchar?

I just checked, his innocent post has created the most ever replies to a single topic since this forum started. Well done mate - did you learn something?

How abouts you check back here and let us know what you got out of this and what board you ended up going with?