GDAY,
I ride the 10ft fish. Goes real good in waves. Quite easy to turn and easy to handle. Can still go for long paddles on it but probaly not as fast as the bigger ones. They also have a 11ft board which i've been told is also good. And a 12ft which would be great for long paddles.

I would go for the 11ft. Its going to be easier to turn. Are you just starting out or have you been doing it for a while?
Just went for a paddle then. No waves but glassy and crystal clear.

I reckon the 11ft would cover all things you want to do on it.
Should be stable enough for everyone to learn on. Its quite easy to get the hang of. Good luck let me know what you get and what its like.

Hey Hawk, I just got your pm.
Im not sure of the StarSurf Board? Who makes them? Where do they come from?
Looks like Headshark knows more about them than me as he has one.
I reckon the 11' would be the go but make sure its at least 30" wide.
Just ask Miller how stable his 11'6 Naish is in the surf. He thought it would be super stable but its not. Even my 11'2 of 30" I fall off all the time in the surf. Still getting use to it.
Just do it Hawk! Get one! Its worth the bread. And the kids love it

I personally think that 2" will make a difference in stability. You imagine 5cm more on your surfboard? Thats alot IMO. 29" would be the absolute less Id go but thats because Im still a kook. Flat water paddling is easy but when you get into the waves its a totally different sport! Plus putting your kids on the nose of the board you also need more stability. My Starboard 11'2 is 190L in volume! And thats nothing compared to the Naish 11'6 which I think is about the 230L?
Um mast track was important for me firstly because I windsurf and didnt want to spend big bucks on just a paddle board. Also when the kids want to learn windsurfing I can put a kids rig on it. Obviously its not gonna be a hardcore DTL wave board. Just ask Miller. He had his Naish out in some big waves.
For me its an option to put my 5.7m on it and flog around in 10-15 knots.
Its versatility is cool.
For instance I wanted to go for a paddle late this arvo around 7pm. I drove between Trigg and Hillarys looking for a wave but the wind was also abit too much for my liking. Southerly about 5-10 knots. Although I was dying for a wave I just had to get out and paddle so I just went to the marina and paddled around for an hour on pure glass water. Magic and relaxing. Plus a good workout
Hope my rambling helped make your decision easier

Yes. The longer you go Im guessing the more waves you will catch. Kinda like a shortboard verses a longboard. The longer the board the easier to get waves. but then you gotta think about what you wanna do on the wave and how big the wave is and what type of wave it is and how it breaks?
I got mine for fat rolling waves that are no bigger than head highish?
But once on the wave Id like to do some turns and a 12' board could possibly be too long for turns and cutbacks etc but not impossible. Plus a 12' board you could more than likely out grow? I dont know? Im just new to this sport and going by what I feel the sport has to offer me. Hope that helps? Just dont go too big or too small. You want to catch any wave with the least amount of effort