Try to find a shaper who's made small boards before. The SUP groms have them made by local shapers then rebrand them to look like their sponsor's boards. So ask them who actually made it, then have that shaper make one for you. If you're cool with shipping, Pat Rawson in Hawaii has made a bunch of these, as has Dave Daum (King's SUP) in California.
But I'm sure you can find someone closer to home who's made grom SUPs.
I think that for an adult you can't go smaller than the 7'1 and 7'4 from Starboard (I've tried them at Starboard's dealer meeting). But if you're really a light rider you can do as Vanina Walsh and ride one of the new Starboard surfboards: the ULTRA 6'4 x 21 1/2 x 3 1/8 (51 ltr)
I think that for an adult you can't go smaller than the 7'1 and 7'4
Arg, you should have warned me beforehand! With my 95kg what I am going to do with my 6'8" boards? :-)
Seriously, arka, when you are considering short boards, you enter a world where every shape detail count. First your weight, size and the kind of waves and type of surf you want to do on them. As JeanG said, the most important thing is to find a shaper that has already a good experience on short SUPs (and if possible riding them himself). Short SUPs are special beasts, they are not just scaled down SUPs nor scaled up prone surfboards.
For instance I have two 6'8" a 6'10", and another 6'8" coming (and a 6;'10" mini simmons), all very different in feeling.
awesome guys thanks so much for your help,will be sure to look into all of the options you have mentioned ;-)
If you go small (under 7'0) you'll really need a super thick board in order to float and you'll lose rail to rail ability and won't be able to do a proper top to bottom surf. I saw some videos of a heavy french guy SUPing in one of those tiny and super thick SUP (was it you Colas? With a Gong baord?) and it seemed really fun in small to tiny surf but not good for medium power waves. I think they will probably work well in mini simmons or fish concepts.
Hi Colas. I don't want to propagate preconceptions. I started SUP on a 11'0 NSP and been downsizing ever since. I love the small SUPs performance and I think "tiny" has a great future in the SUP world, especially for really young riders or pro riders. I have a young son (3 years old) and I'm going to teach him SUP in a 5'8 AMP Starboard surfboard this summer. Hope it works well!
Here's a great example for the way to go!
Souselas, nice! It will be good to see more pics & vids of her, if only to encourage other kids to try...
Sorry if I over-reacted, but I have so many times that "Short SUPs can only dishpan" by people never having tried them that it tends to get on my nerves quick... but I see it is not your case :-)
think you will need a wave that pitches otherwise you'll probably not get many waves on the small SUPs. If your waves are slack and flat then maybe not the best choice.
You'd be surprised. At 73kg, I ride a 7'6x25 and it's pretty stable even in moderately rough conditions. It's just practice. Practice and the willingness to spend a lot of time falling!
You'd be surprised. At 73kg, I ride a 7'6x25 and it's pretty stable even in moderately rough conditions. It's just practice. Practice and the willingness to spend a lot of time falling!
You right, paddling on a shortSUP is like learning to paddle on a pushbike, once you take off the side wheels you get used to the balance for lifetime
speaking of short sups, just ran into a mate who has been on the shorter and shorter sup road for the past 2 years- hasn't been one a sup for 3 months now- kind of over tripping around. he 'll probably read this.
just a warning -if you keep going shorter and shorter disinterest can sneak up on you one day when you realise it is kind of stupid to be paddling a tiny board. reward for the effort is over rated
flame on
The effort is it's own reward.
you may change your mind about that one day, enjoy
The effort is it's own reward.
you may change your mind about that one day, enjoy
In France we use to say:
Dont matter the size of it, the matter to use it is the most important.
So stay with your long one , I enjoy mine forever and i feel pretty good
haha, my long one is 12'6
funny enough, when i've been surfing my 12'6 and go back to my prone short boards the feeling and method is the same.
when i used to go back from my short sups back to prone short boards i had all sorts of trouble- but that would be another debate between kami and myself
I guess that's why quivers exist... for different conditions and more importantly different moods. I still like SUP long (8'3") boards from time to time, variety is the spice of your se... sup life :-)