Board vs Skill

What has the biggest performance advantage - is it the board (my wish) or the individuals skill design.

The combination is obvious but which has the biggest influence?

you can only do so much on a crap board

I agree with Mac, a good surfer can ride anything.

A good paddler will kick your butt on pretty much anything as well. Kelly Margetts has been training on an 11' PU heavy old Mal styled surf SUP against people on 14' and 12'6 race SUP. Nobody can keep up with him still. These are good paddlers also...

There's more in being able to read the waves or feel the water with than there is in some fine design detail or a couple of kilos of weight. Way more than 60% I reckon as well.

A paddler with lousy fitness and poor paddling technique can be on the fastest board and still get owned.

A great paddler will dominate all but other great paddlers on good boards if on a crappy board.

I reckon the ratio is more like 80:20 paddler to board.

DM

The answer depends on your sample. If all the people you are considering are elite athletes, then the performance difference between them is really quite small and the board could certainly have enough influence that, say, the guy given a 11ft surf SUP will get spanked every time by his colleagues on 12-6 race boards. So from this sample you might conclude that the board makes a huge difference to performance.

But if your sample is a large group of people who range in ability from unfit beginners to elite athletes, then 99% of the result would be predictable by knowing who was on the board rather than what board they were on. From this result you might then conclude that it is all about the athlete, and the board makes little difference.

So the differences in people's opinion to this question are probably just because they are thinking about who they paddle with, and the differences they have personally witnessed. There can be no simple "right or wrong" answer, only estimates that vary in their accuracy in describing particular circumstances.

Sorry - I'm a scientist. I can't help myself...

A beginner would almost certainly be unable to even paddle a high performance surf sup let alone rip on it and would also struggle to make an elite race board move quickly and smoothly through the water even though this is what both these boards are designed to do. There is no substitute for skill, experience and training so what you really need to get the best performance is the right board for your level so yo can improve to the next.

A lot of it is skill but you can't underestimate the difference of a good board (and even good fins). The difference in manoeuvrability between the boards I have used is huge! Mana 9'5”, Hokua 9'3”, PSH 9'3” (ripper?) are nowhere near as good on a wave as a Hokua 9' or 8'10” (which I guess would be nowhere near as good as some of the smaller DCs/Laguna Bays coming out).

The other major factor (in waves) in ability is whether or not you actually have the balls to go out in the big stuff and try new things!

After you've taken your beatings and get the paddling part sorted out it just comes down to your surfing ability. If you have never surfed before riding a SUP then a performance board will be a waste of time and be more of a hinderance than a help. Surfing is surfing and that part of it including knowledge of the ocean takes years to learn. Some people are better than others at "getting it" but there are no shortcuts.

A tradesman should never blame his tools

Rob Machado say no more

90% ability 10% board. In my case 100% board 0% ability

Thats the pure art of surfing.

amazing down the line speed !!! super little waves.

100% skill