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Hey surfers, looking for anyone's experience with going down in volume.
I am 5'9 and currently 84kg without wetsuit, ideally will be 77-80kg once I sort the overeating habits of late. I have just gone from a 10.6 x 31 @ 150L to a new 8'4 x 28.5 x 4.2" @ 124L with a wide nose/parallel rails lots of tail and nose rocker. I had tried 8'6-8'11" x 31-32" boards in the 130-140 range and liked them, but took a risk and went narrower.
pacificpaddlecompany.com/product/blender/
Been on the new board for a couple of weeks. 27 years of short and long board surfing and last 3 years paddle boarding the big boat.
Thinking I could have gone smaller as the board is still not below the water on the deck except at the tail and whatever rail I have more weight on. Seems to constantly go rail to rail while trolling around the back, although not to bad. I have surfed it in 4 foot choppy conditions with lots of moving water and it is pretty stable except for the side to side. Catching waves is super easy and board performs well.
Keen to hear peoples experiences with how much water is over the deck and if this in my situation would make it more stable in chop. Next board down is 7'11" x 27.8"x 110L x 4"
7'11" x 27.8"x 110L x 4" would be easy for you floatation wise. Bit tippier and slightly harder to paddle. Below +10l of your weight starts to get tough.
. What volume and dims are your boards?
Shape and where the volume is more important imho.
I am 60kg. My 83L flow has a tight sweet spot. I can paddle it easy . But once try to get on wave one small step to far forward has me falling off side at critical time . One small step to far back and I am stalling and sinking at back. I need to keep feet close and centre of gravity very low when paddling for wave . I am starting to get it right but I just don't take it out with confidence .
On 7'11 speeed (94L) it's a piece of cake. Easy to get on wave as volume up front is ample . Feels 20-30L more than flow but it's not . Its my new confidence board
Both boards 26 wide (Speed but slimmer )
Hi bulabula, you must be based in nz? I know the company owner well who makes the blender.
where do you normally surf? There's some good swell on the east cost this weekend. If you're Auckland based, then Omaha, te arai, Even orewa!
the blender had quite thick and boxy rails from what I saw, which aid in stability and keeping water off the deck. I wouldn't jump down in volume too quick just for the sake of the water level on the board. give me a private message in you want and I'll chat to you more on there for some ideas and suggestions of boards over here
My advice will be to find a very low volume board to borrow or rent, and to practice on it. For your 80kg, something like a 70/75 liters prone longboard.
Getting down very progressively in size is what you should do with your main SUPs. But it can make you too afraid of going down in volume. A bit like entering cold water inch by inch can become a dauting task, you need sometimes to dive in.
So, from time to time, a session on a really small board will open your mind and point out your mistakes mercilessly. For my 100k it was borrowing 85 to 100 liters boards of other SUPers on the water, or fooling around with my 84 liters prone cruiser.
Water licking your feet makes the board easier to handle in chop, it is more tippy than a higher volume board but in a more predictable way. But it comes at a price, as you must be more focused (daydreaming => fall) and it is more tiring.
Also, longer boards are easier to manage with low volume. Managing both lateral and longitudinal balance is really exhausting.
For me, there is a threshold under which the gains (lightness, looseness, safety in power) are not worth the drawbacks (reduced session time, slower paddling, missed takeoffs). It will depend on your current abilities and conditions, and you have to experience going under it to see what is the best compromise for you. For me, at 97kg, it is around 105 / 115 liters, 7' to 8', 27" to 29", depending on the shape. Ideally it would be the lowest size possible where I can still find a somewhat resting standing position, and be able to paddle hard to go fetch a shifting peak without having to stay too focused on balance.
So it means that at 84kg, you may end up with a quiver of 95 to 105 liters boards (or even down to 85 if you are young and want to compete or tacklehollow waves)
Hey Bulabula, I've got 3x boards from 7'2 to 8'4 and 101 to 105l. All feel completely different, if you're in Auckland give me a bell and you're welcome to come for a surf and have a try.
the Ppc pro board had much better rails and volume distribution in my opinion, the 8'3 or 8'7 would be nice for you
. What volume and dims are your boards?
. What volume and dims are your boards?
. What volume and dims are your boards?
I am 60kg dry and the Speeed 7'11 at 94L does not feel corky at all and that's over 1.5.
I think it has a lot to do with rail shape , where the volume is and wave size . I don't surf in anything bigger than say head high and usually smaller
Agree with gboots. My 93l 8'0 flash was anything but corky. I'm 68kg around 1.4.
my 101l blue plant ninja is about 1.44 and is literally sunken!
my 7'2 hypernut is almost the same volume (105l) but in a much more compact Form and sits higher in the water and (higher rails, same width but 1'2 shorter).
I think bulabula should try the 8'7 pro, a touch longer than his blender but way better rails and better rocker.
I've just moved down to a JP pro 8'1 at 102 litres, I'm 86kg plus a 4/3 full suit at present and although more of a challenge I find it easier to get around on than the rrd 8'4 I had before it at 116 litres! That board was super tippy, thick rails made it super corky but tried the 8' version and had no issues after finding the sweet spot. I have wet feet on the JP but it lets me know what's going on. The volume distribution is spot on and that definitely seems to be key. Surfs unreal, 1.18 and keen to have a go smaller. The Flash 8'6 I had before the RRD was fantastic, super stable and the rails sat nicely just under water. Great board just felt a bit big after a while.
From my experience, the other thing which also greatly affects stability is bottom concaves.
vees will naturally want to rock side to side. Bigger the vee, more rock. Singles I've found are the most stable.
a tonne of variables come in to this, but same board and vee vs single / double and I'd bet the latter is more stable.
Volume distribution is also key. An even distribution makes up for probably +10-15% in my experience. cut out channels, flyer tails etc usually equal minute 5-15% stability (unless even) as the board then wants to pivot front to back and side to side
. What volume and dims are your boards?
. What volume and dims are your boards?
. What volume and dims are your boards?
Volume is not only subjective but also dependant on so many variables.I prefer really low volume, like 7L under my weight, sinking to somewhere around my knees. I've found once you get within say 10l of your weight, its all difficult (re - you really cant rest out the back) so you may as well ride that train all the way haha. Be aware, I've always found an area like 5-7L above your weight is like the worst. Its like the boards trying to float, sometimes does, sometimes sinks, it becomes somewhat unpredictable. At 7L below, you stop and you sink. the whole board goes under and its kinda stable once down there. As Colas says - grab a board and try. My only advice would be to have a 15 minute paddle on the flat water first (lagoon at the beach before surf is my go) in order to find the right spot to stand in terms of front to back. as you get smaller, you'll find the sweet spot is crazy small. All my boards literally have small deck compression in the smallest of areas, but once they're there, they really help to get it right haha.
Well done for making the drop in volume. It's well worth the effort but you can't drop too much too fast or you may regret it.
Once you nail a certain volume we always want to keep dropping volume, but it gets to the point where a few litres really makes the difference between a fun surf, and just hating it, so be careful not to drop too low. After all most of us started to SUP for the enjoyment factor.
I agree with a lot of the advice here, make sure you try a heap of boards as it gets too expensive constantly buying lower volume boards.
Volume is not the be all and end all anyway, I can ride a 98L board in one design and a 125L in another and have as much fun on both. It really comes down to what style of surfing you want to do, how many waves you want to catch, and how much effort you are willing to put in to catch those waves.
Keep frothing
Took out 77 Flow today . Still struggling with balance but once in wave nice . Backhand so much easier
Couldn't agree more with the statement, " volume is not only subjective but also dependent on so many variables." For me, I like the phrase "secondary stability". I define this as having enough of the board underwater that the rails are held in place by the water on top. I think Supthecreeks pictures illustrate this perfectly, the corky board is on top of the water, the challenging board is under water and the comfortable boards despite size or shape have water on top of the rails. As was said early, where the volume is placed is more important then volume alone.
