I have just got an 8'8" by 28.5" sunova speeed as my second board. My first board is the laird 10'6" by 32"wide, With these two boards I can surf nearly any conditions that occur. Long slow pointbreak with the laird and faster hollower beachies with the speed.

At 65 yo, riding the speed every surf seems to finish up giving me sore knees, but by alternating surfs ( if conditions permit) , the aches and pains diminish.

It is not the length of the speed but the new narrower profile that I have needed to get used to.

With this quiver I can now get into beachbreaks that the laird would not handle ( at my ability level )

Vey happy with these two boards.

Steve

bradsdubs said..
It's pretty funny seeing people talk about 8'22" boards etc on the forum, hinting that it's a big deal being on an under 9' sup. It's interesting in the world of longboarding , if your board is under 9' it doesn't really rate. In log heaven, your board needs to be 9'6" or maybe 9'4" to rate or have any street cred anyway. Sups are going the otherway. Most sups are ridden by 95% of the sup fraternity like a longboard anyway, and who are an older demographic looking for renewed youth and past-times [like me]. As both a logger and a surfsuper, I find it kind of amusing, and a little embarrassing for the sport, seeing surfsupers riding sups that are clearly too short for them and wobbling around and falling in the drink the middle of a line-up of surfers...not a good look or vibe. It doesn't seem to occur with over 9' sups from what I can see. [For the record , I ride a 9'7" PSH AA ripper, and 9'6" and a 9'11 logs]
Just putting my chin out there, lads...

I think you'll find that the reference of a measurement ie 8'22" is just taking the piss or humour if you like, as with a lot of written communication humour can be lost in translation. As far as riding boards to small for a persons ability or their own stature is concerned, well you don't have to worry about others really or even be embarrassed, just take a chill pill and worry about yourself.

Whatever makes you happy and whatever style you prefer I reckon. Not everyone is 6 foot, 90 kg and wants to surf sups like longboards....I don't have a problem with boards getting too small as long as they are ridden with control. Most people start around the 10 foot and sneak down from there. I think you'll find most guys are starting to have more than 1 board now to get the most out of whatever conditions are on offer....

Hi to everyone, As a part time SUPer (still surf far more than i SUP) who has been doing it since the first Hawaiians came out to the Noosa Festival many years ago i must admit that the rush to see how short we can go and how much performance can be achieved has IMO diminished the original vibe of what SUPing was in the beginning. I understand its human nature to push things to see just what is possible, and we all like to challenge ourselves.

Some times when performances are being pushed it can come across as quite agressive and i feel that SUPing was meant to be a more passive form of aquatic fun, something that should be done in harmony with the conditions of the day. As a long time Arrawarra local i see so many people riding short, wide , thick models and their not rail turning but just pivoting on top of the water and they look all frantic and like its so much hard work and its not as pleasing on the eye. I know it feels good, and everyone please ride what ever you like as its all meant to be done for fun, but don,t rush to go small.

Myself, i am 6'2"and 105 kg and have a current quiver of 6 SUPs consisting of 8.5 pocket rocket, 8.8 naish hokua, 9.0 sideways fish, 9.10 naish hokua, 10.5 drive and 12.0 starboard atlas, (thank god i dont SUP exclusivley) and if the wife said they all had to go except one i would have to keep the 9.10 Hokua, that board is the best all round board i have ever owned.

Cheers Paul

I'm a big believer in standing on sups at all times, no knees or prone paddling ever for me!!...id personally like to see a competition rule come into place where no knees or prone paddling is allowed at any time during the heat......It is called Stand up Paddle boarding after all

I will rise to the bait.

I totally agree that whatever you ride you should be able to control in the lineup. I also agree that if you have to knee paddle into a wave then the board is probably not right for your ability. But other than this it is about having fun. If we never tried to innovate, progress or experiment then we we would all still be riding balsa mals. SUPS are always going to have some differences from either prone surfing short boards or longboards, but if my preference is to surf a SUP that is more directed to short board style surfing what is wrong with that?

Kami said..
Big boards ...... it's not the fault of the board....as well unfair to others at the line up

I agree Kami. This is something I definetly feel on my big board. I am extra sensitive to the surfers in the line up, prowl the edges and get the leftovers.
Surf alone if the chance is there.

When on my 8-4 I feel I fit in better and that's why there is a shortsup movement.

But it's the rider not the board that determines how we are seen in the lineup.

I see old guys prone surfing short shortboards "be like Kelly" it looks wrong.

I see old guys prone on longboards and they look good,I see old guys surfing 9 foot plus sup's they look good.

Time to grow up and be a man,real men ride big boards. or if your young go for it.

Macaha said..
I see old guys prone surfing short shortboards "be like Kelly" it looks wrong.

I see old guys prone on longboards and they look good,I see old guys surfing 9 foot plus sup's they look good.

Time to grow up and be a man,real men ride big boards. or if your young go for it.

Ha ha well said, though plenty of young dudes riding prone on boards way to small for whats on offer. But this is good for us older gents that know.

Nobody likes kooks in the line-up!

And maybe I need to grow up... Maybe I have to conceded that I am too old to have fun.

Nah!

Bretto74 said..
This misses killed it on the 9'5, and seriously won't touch any other board. Pretty sure she quadrupled her lifetime wave count with standup paddle ins...

And isn't that what it's all about? She was probably smiling ear to ear!

What a surprise worn out longboarders whinging about peoples board lenght get a life ladies . Most surfers have quivers, these quivers are made up of DIFFERENT size boards for different conditions.

What I find funny is guys on longboards that don't move their feet and stay stuck to the back end of their boards but that's just me.

Ride what you enjoy when you want how you want cause surfing is an expression of yourself, haters gunna hate no matter what , while they hating i'm surfing.

I am a firm believer in not taking things to the "why bother" end of the spectrum and that sups should have glide and early entry as priority but there are plenty of guys getting around und on 8 to 8'6 boards making them look good and surfing the wave well.

I think possibly the most disliked of all suppers are the guys ( young and old) on the super sized barges catching the waves from way out and mowing through the lineup with barely a hope of dodging any innocent bystanders. Sure wobbling around on a board that's too small makes you look a little stupid but when you've got a massive barge that can't fit in the curve of the wave, can't turn and is prone to nose diving if your on anything other than a super fat roller is far worse.

Of course at some stage these guys will move onto 9 and sub 9 boards and then you run back Into the wobbling around looking like a kook issue.

So I guess you just gotta do whatever floats your boat or in some cases whatever partially submerges your boat and makes your boat difficult to stand on

hear you jacobmatan! our local maniac at mettams scares the hell out of everyone daily on his barge ready to drop in or kick the board...

Macaha said..
Time to grow up and be a man,real men ride big boards. or if your young go for it.

I think you miss the point.

I may be a 55 years grommet for our elders here, but the thing with us older people is that we remember the times ( the seventies ) where boards could have glide/speed while being short. (Some prone shapers like Geoff McCoy try to keep the spirit, though)

Short SUPs seem to give me the opportunity to relive the seventies, with speed, power, and carve, (old and crusty per modern shortboarding) as burying the rail of a 7' or 8' board is much easier to control than a 9'+ board for me...

For me, I dont want to surf like slater, I could only make a pathetic parody of it. But if I could surf a tiny, tiny bit like Ben Aipa...

now you have me worried, hopefully I will drop down to sub 100kg in the next month and then its not an issue for me. I got to paddle around the lake (freshwater) and it floated me ok