Ok, so im away working but have been frothing on the idea of getting a SUP for a while now and ill be looking into it seriously this week when im home BUT im a little bit lost on what dimensions i should be aiming at.

Im about 75kgs and 180cm roughly and I want a board that is more flat water orientated as I live 2 minutes from a river. But also I know as soon as I find my sea legs so to speak, ill want to try my hand at some little waves (i have no surfing background but do kite) but baby steps first.

The thing that is throwing me off, as there are a few boards I like, is the Volume that they displace. How can some boards be smaller but have higher volume of litres or whatnot and how does this affect me being a beginner?

The boards im looking at are
9'2" x 31.5 Fanatic Allwave (160L)
10' x 30" Fanatic SUP hrs (159L)
Naish Mana AST 9'5" x 31" (190L!)

These are just a few that Im keen to try so Im sorry if you guys are sick of these noob questions lol but any thoughts would be appreciated. We have a Starboard dealer in town as well but all his boards are shorter surf based ones so not sure if ill bother. I do hear lots of good things about Starboard though.

I agree with the above about trying as many boards as you can. Personally I have

owned a Starboard Drive for a number of years and recommend the same. Caught about

40 waves yesterday at Crescent Head on it. Good for nose riding re-entries floaters etc

and floaty enough to pop your dog on the nose and head down river for some exploring.

Good board. (I weigh 82kgs)

Starboard Drive 10'5 awesome board.

I was in the same position 4yrs ago.
I bought a C4 10ft6', started in the creek and made my way to the waves 2 weeks after. I still own the board today and don't think I'll sell it anytime soon. It's a good size board I can use for myself and to give anyone a go...

Anything around the 10ft mark will float you just fine.
Try as many as you can. Don't go too small just yet.

At 75kg you have no problems finding a board, if your over 90kg thats when the problems start. Everyone needs a 10footer.
Rod

rager said...

I'd consider a 12'6" BOP style raceboard too. Heaps more glide and less yaw than the ones mentioned on flat water and still heaps of fun to surf in small fat waves.

I just got back from a flatwater run with a first time paddler. Not sure of her weight / height, but I put her on my Coreban Alpha 12'6. What I noticed straight away was how much easier it was for her to paddle in a straight line, and how stable it was for her. She only fell once, when we had side chop from a boat wake. I've taken beginners on shorter cruiser style boards before and noticed how much time they spend correcting their direction. Was a bit harder for her to turn round, but that is a common newcomers problem, simplly made worse by the directional stability inherent in longer race boards. Absolutely agree with the comment about glide as well and for your first steps into small waves, again on the mark. Not the traditional choice for first board, but makes a lot of sense to go longer for cruising and small waves.

supa said...

Its an age old question and IMO people worry far too much about their 1st board, when i started there wasn't anywhere near the amount of brands and boards to pick from so it wasn't so confusing.
Sup is about fun on the water, if you don't surf and don't want too surf then IMO 11'-12' and at least 30" wide.

If you surf now and want to do a bit of both about 10' with a wide style nose would be great.

In a nut shell if you can stand and paddle the board its a great 1st board, then it's about what your budget is. If you want to have better resale value then by a brand name board, if not by any board that will do the above.

just about all brands have something that will float your boat.

+1

get a secondhand one at a bargain price 10 X 30 ish

I'm about the same size as you, bay paddling and also some waves or outer sandbars. I'd narrowed down the choices to the Naish Nalu 10'6".5 and PSH WAA 10'2.

Haven't heard too much about the PSH WAA 10'2 except that it should surf better than the Naish but perhaps the boardworks construction may not be as good as Naish. But then the Naish Nalu 10'6".5 is also new but has evolved from an older model, perhaps a little more stable and not so wave focused . . . hmmm

After taking with DJ the other day, I'm 95% sure I'll go the Naish Nalu 10'6".5 . . . still deciding wood or AST, and seeing which store will give me a good deal.

But I think anything that floats us will be fun, so long as we get out there ;-)

Cheers
Rich

I just had a look in the "Buy & Sell" on this site. There is quite a few used boards in WA that would suit you.

Its a 9 hour round trip to Perth not including getting my shopping on LOL
So would be alot less hassle to buy local