hi i am interested in buying a sup board but im unsure as to what to buy i am 6ft and 115kgs the board will be mainly used on flat water but i do get to the coast a bit so i would like to use it in the surf as well can any one give me some advice on what to look for eg brands and sizes

live on the vic / nsw border a place called Howlong

Borrow/hire/demo as many boards as you can from mates and shops and see what feels good and suits your budget. You will go round and round in circles on this forum seeking advice and end up more confused and less educated than before you started. I would suggest that when you narrow your choice down to a couple of boards or so, then jump on if you need to and ask for input re the boards you have short-listed perhaps regarding their respective quality etc. If you stick with the known and popular brands and it should be fairly obvious from this forum what the better quality brands are, then you really cannot go too wrong.
In my own personal opinion (not shared by too many on here) do not get caught up in all the bs about going for a small board and growing into it. Get a board that is comfortable and feels right for you now. You will have a lot more fun and get a lot more use out of it and learn to surf way quicker and more enjoyably than going for something too small and too tippy and too much hard work and you may quickly lose sight of the whole reason you bought a sup to start with FUN.

There is no real correct answer to this question.

One of the things I found extremely frustrating when I was looking for advice on boards was finding someone who did not stand to gain anything from their recommendation.

In a nutshell you have a plethora of options for brand and design.

- If you are of the wind or Kite bent you are most likely to believe that boards made in the same way with many different fancy names for the same technology along with the claims of invention are the way to go.

- If you are of a surfing background your faith is in working directly with a shaper to customise or receive advice directly from the source rather than a fancy $5 catalogue.

- If you are price point minded person that will probably only use the board on Christmas holidays there are cheap boards on E bay with paddles. These boards are poorly designed and constructed and your resale if you choose to move on later as you probably will when you discover how fun it is will be terrible if non existent.

- You should also know at this point if you do not already that people here in Australia do make these products and they are of exceptional quality and they would greatly appreciate your money. You will pay no more for this but you may receive greater service and value. Many good SUP retailers offer boards made in OZ also.

Design:

- If you want to challenge yourself buy something smaller, if you want to cruise on flat water or paddle with your dog like some people for unknown reasons choose to buy something big.

- Most of the particulars like tails etc really make no difference until you start to get into finer details as required with experience.

My recommendation would be at first to check the buy and sell section of this website, no doubt there are heaps of boards getting sold by people who were in the same position as you 6 months ago and looking to move on from their big bertha QE2.

Then if you choose to move onwards try a bunch of boards when you have the basic experience to feel the difference yourself.

Apologies to any kite, sailboarders or people that paddle with their dogs (why??) that may have been offended by this post.

Disclaimer, I am highly geared towards supporting Aussie manufacturers. Check the profile pic!

billboard said...

Borrow/hire/demo as many boards as you can from mates and shops and see what feels good and suits your budget. You will go round and round in circles on this forum seeking advice and end up more confused and less educated than before you started. I would suggest that when you narrow your choice down to a couple of boards or so, then jump on if you need to and ask for input re the boards you have short-listed perhaps regarding their respective quality etc. If you stick with the known and popular brands and it should be fairly obvious from this forum what the better quality brands are, then you really cannot go too wrong.
In my own personal opinion (not shared by too many on here) do not get caught up in all the bs about going for a small board and growing into it. Get a board that is comfortable and feels right for you now. You will have a lot more fun and get a lot more use out of it and learn to surf way quicker and more enjoyably than going for something too small and too tippy and too much hard work and you may quickly lose sight of the whole reason you bought a sup to start with FUN.

Ditto...

From my limited experience of owning a board for almost a year (with no previous surf exp.) I reckon bigger is better!

Learning to surf (and paddle in surf) takes time... better to have some fun during this process than spending too much time off the board (falling off).

Have fun!

I've ridden many of the boards mentioned above and IMO, the 11'6 Naish Nalu is THE board for a cruise on flat water or to ride some cruisy sliders down the beach.

A beautiful shape, great finish, good re-sale and if you are looking at a one board quiver, this would be it.

Once your skills are up, you can then go down the the 10' Naish Mana for waves and the Naish 12 / 14 or 17 Glide for some flatwater runs / downwinders.

The 12' x 32 Big Easy is fun but not a pinch on the Nalu.

laceys lane said...



get something big and get it second hand. to be honest, at that size it's not going to really matter. any one of the bigger boards above will do the job. get the fine tooth comb out on the next board then you get some hours under your belt. also,to help you on the all important second board, try as many boards as you can.
cheers

Completely agree (yes mark - agree) Second hand is better if you get that option because you will lose way less money if and when you update the board in 6 to 12 months. You may even find - depending on what you buy that you wont lose money on the second hand board if you sell it on later. Also - Mambo would be an amazing opportunity to try out heaps of boards in a mixture of conditons and meet some good people as well. Maybe pm DJ and get some more details about the event. Not sure, but I think there would be sups available to at least try at Lakes and Eden.

B

Yeah Greeny, I am a very similar build to you. I started on a NSP 11' and it did me well for 12 months or more. I now ride the 11'2"x30" starboard blend. Very cruisy board in the surf, a real traditional longboard feel. I love the glide of this board. It also paddles well in flat water and with a larger center fin than what comes standard will make it track pretty staight on long paddles.
But as everyone else has said get on as many demos as you can, because even though we are a similar build doesnt mean we will like the feel of the same board.