the new breed

hi all, just an observation on the design of the new breed of board, and where it takes us. Seems to me that specialization in board design and usage has reared its ugly head and the days of the good all rounder are coming to an end. Boards like Naish 11/6 ,Kalama,Walden 10/10 etc,etc seem to be falling into the cracks and the new boards -the 9/3, PSH rippers, rods surfshapes boards, etc are taking over. Not that these new boards aren't great (only my crappy bank balance stops me from ringing rod and ordering one right now) but is the thing that makes SUP so interesting being narrowed to a point where a stand up board can only do one thing. Anyhow, you can probably tell i'm looking around for a new toy and a bit of advice for the inexperienced please. Have the bigger Malibu style boards (i've always had a thing for those Waldens) become obsolete, should I just skip straight to a 8/6 and try try to become a better surfer? Just when i think Boardbumps mega-supa-ripper 8/6 has the upper hand and my hard-earned will be heading north of the border, I think, 'hang on I'm a crap surfer' and 'if I get a bigger board I'll catch more waves,I wont have to line up with everybody else if I get the Walden I could do those nightime melbourne paddles' aaahhh!!!....maybe both??

Well I can answer this quite easily I dont want a board that looks, feels and surfs like a mal, I want a board I can whip around easy turns on, do reos and floaters on , and basically surfs like my shortboard , only I am already standing when getting ready to take the drop and gets Into waves way early, if the waves are extra sucky and fast I will probably ride a 6 8" surfboard I do still love the 11 6" kalama but do not miss it at all, It was my learning board, my big board now is my 9 6" naish

Now If I was Into downwinders and stuff I would definately have a big board, horses for courses. I am only Interested In surfing

Hey Log Man,

You certainly have a point!

Many people that see the ads for the 9'3 Naish etc would find that in average day to day mushy surf they just wouldnt have a hope of catching a wave unless they were 65kg and had lots of experience.

What people forget is that the smaller boards take lots of skill just to stay upright and you need to paddle all the time to get speed to rid yourself of the death wobbles. In most cases they are not for the beginer unless they are like my 13yr old daughter who is 5'4 and 45kg.

At 105kgs I can stand on a PSH 9'6 wide in perfect condition and catch waves as well. However we only get those conditions a few (maybe 10) days per year. You need to be realistic and say what conditions will i get most of the time and what type of board will i get the most use out of ? Most people ( joe average) will find its a 10'6 - 11'6 board depending on weight height and skill if they are going to use it in the surf.

Many people try boards in flat water and love them only to find that when they try them in the surf they cant stand up let alone paddle and catch a wave.

The best advice i can give after recently trying 13 different boards is demo demo demo. I finaly found the board that I seek in a 10'6 wide PSH. That choice was made because I am a big unit at 105 and 6ft and really want it to work in all surf conditions.

What I can say is boards are not boards. You can get stability and surfability!!!!!
The boards that worked for me after all the hunting came form Paddle Surf Hawaii because they were ultra stable but also surf really well in bigger surf.
They work for me because of my extra weight as I use it to my advantage, if you were 85kg you would need to go smaller as you couldnt manouvre the board as easily as I can.

The other thing I can say is surf shops are not surf shops. Some will put thier service where their mouth is and say take the board and try it if you like and it works buy it only when your happy.

If your in Vicco I have had excellent service from Paul at SHQ in Melb and Rich at Strapper Torquay. They want you to have a board that puts a chesire cat smile on your face and they work together to make sure that happens!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope this helps

Phill

I look at this a bit different , because I am always battleing beach breaks getting out with big boards can be tuff , so the smaller the board the easier it is to get , you don't have the queen mary dragging you back on your leggy.

My Quiver now is a 9-1 , 9-10 & 12-6 downwinder , I'm really comfortable on the 9-10 even on crap cross chop days.The 9-1 is hard work but slowly I'm getting more settled on it and it surfs like a weapon. I had a 16ft downwinder but it was too hard to handel around the house and too big for my wife and kids to use , so the 12-6 is now my family board and I can still race it and surf in small waves.

Supping is really heading towards more performance based boards and the sub 9-6 range of boards is growing faster than any other models.

Thats my 2 bobs worth.

Rob

Hi All, I am new to Sup and this forum but have been reading it for a few weeks now as I deliberated on what board to start on. I come form an unusual background of whitewater C1 (single paddle), shortboard surfing and 20 years of competitive waveski surfing.

Thankfully AA from Balmoral boards has been super helpful with both advice and demos and I have been able to try a range of PSH Sups : 10 6 AA, 10 AA and 9 6 AA. I have tried them all in both flat and surf and can cope OK with the stability of the 9 6 - even in horrible bumpy beachbreak conditions. What I find really strange is the big wide nose and the sheer size of the things when on a wave. I guess cause I have never ridden a longboard this will take some getting used to. With this in mind I have ordered a 9 8 Ripper which has slightly more volume and width than a 9 6 AA, but with the pulled in nose.

I rarely ride in onshore conditions and we have a lot of reefs around here (northern beaches Sydney) so I think this will be a good option for me. I am 80 kg and 5'8".

Down the track I could see myself going to a shorter board but that has more to do with the sort of riding that I am interested in. My guess is there will be 2 styles of SUP, a more longboard one and a more shortboard style. I can see this being an issue in SUP surfing comps with the 2 styles competing head to head.

Anyways I look forward meeting some of you when I can actually ride one properly.

Cheers
JOhn

I found the current crop of purpose specific boards are not good enough to provide a compelling reason to buy them over an all rounder.

A board like the Glide might give you an extra km/hour when paddling hard but that's not much in the scheme of things. You're not going to be effortlessly rocketing upwind. It will catch a runner a bit better but you don't get a free ride.

A 9'6" wave board goes great in the waves but is horrible in cross-chop and slop.

The newer 10' wave boards sound interesting and maybe when boards like the Penetrator and the K14 become more readily available I might go to two board quiver but until then the one board all round SUP is the go.

Seahorses?????

This post started all high falutin(yes I had to google that)and ended all Benny Hill