10' Mana to Allwave - comments please

Hey troops,

Been learning SUP for a few months now on my 10' Mana which I picked up second hand last year. Brand new to surfing but seem to be getting the hang of it a little now. i.e. I can paddle into waves OK, surf the wave OK (long way off ripping!) and spend most of my time on my feet with only the occasional embarrassing fall off for no reason.

Have been eyeing off the Fanatic Allwave in the 9'6" or the 9'2" as a next progression, but am worried about losing too much volume on the 9'2". With the Mana currently being 210lt in volume dropping back to 174lt on the 9'6" allwave seems a big drop, let alone the 160lt of the 9'2". I am a big bloke and tip the scales at 105kg.

As I said the Mana floats me Ok and had served me well, but it does seem to be a bit of a dog to paddle into waves. I see other paddlers get into waves really easily and wonder if that is the rocker on the Mana? Might just be me being hopeless too :)
Interested to get your comments or debate.

hi, im 106 kg and ive surfed both the 9.6 and 9.2 allwave. the 9.2 will float you but its harder work than the 9.6. I surfed a mana for 2 years before settling on the 9.6 allwave. The 9.6 is as stable as the mana but surfs a lot better. Ive surfed it in beachbreaks and reef breaks to 4 feet and its fantastic. Easy to catch waves on and looser and faster than the mana. The allwave appears to catch waves more easily than the mana, but that may be because my technique has improved. the last few days ive been surfing it at cottesloe at between 1-2.5 foot slow fat waves and ive been taking off as early and as quickly as guys on boards a lot longer. I dont recall the mana being able to do that. Im pretty stoked with the all wave, for heavier guys its a great board, its easy to use, well built and has the capacity to match your improved surfing skills. The mana is a great board to learn on, but in my opinion its easy to outgrow. The allwave while still being user friendly will take you to the next level in your surfing. go try one out, i think youll love it.

hey blokes, thanks heaps for the replies, it's been really useful in helping me make the final decision.

I am going for the 9'6" over the 9'2''. Until my wave riding improves a fair bit I think I would prefer a bit more board under me. Went and jumped on an 8'10'' demo today and it was way too small a board for my 105kgs, and I think the 9'2" in time might be a board for me, I just felt that might be some time away.

But hey, if the wave riding improves quickly, then what's another board in the quiver??

again, thanks heaps for going to the trouble of posting, it was great getting Sameh's take in particular as he is same weight and has ridden both the Mana and Allwave. Cheers

My 2 cents worth after owning and riding a Allwave 9'6" for sometime I'm only 85kg and find the board does what its suppost to do and more.I find it easy to get through the waves and to catch waves and it turns really easy I'v ridden it in 1' -6' and found it handled well. I'm not a ripper but more of a long board style.Love it

Hi everyone I copied and pasted this from a review I did a couple of months ago, I hope it helps.

This is an update and partially separate review from an add on to a thread I did a couple of days ago, so some of it is directly repeated but with a bit extra thrown in as I have had another surf on it since then. I feel the board deserves its own dedicated review. OK, remember I'm 185 cm and around 100 Kegs. A couple of days ago I took the 9'6" Allwave for a surf and I mean SURF. This board is shaped like a large fish style board. I will be buying one ASAP. An added bonus was that I shut up one smartarse longboarder (who was quite good actually) very quickly. The 9'6" Allwave ( around 176 L I think?) was as stable as the 10' 2" PSH Paddler and in the 1- 2ft conditions I could hot dog, hit the lip , do floaters and nose ride on it at will. I did occassionally catch a rail, but it was my first time on the board. I wish somebody had of been filming or taking photos, as I'm sure that I could have edited out my bloopers and made myself look awfully better than I am. It has just dawned on me that all surfers/suppers are different and that means what might be seemingly a beginners board for one person might be exactly the appropriate board for some one who has back issues but has a little bit of ability. I will be ordering the 9'2" as I'm sure it will still have more than enough volume (160 L). The Fanatic Allwave seems to be half the weight of the PSH Paddler and amazingly manouverable. When I slipped my toes up to the nose and nearly did a 360, at 53 years old and surfing this board for the first time, well I knew that I would have to buy one. I've reposted this extended version of the review as I'm so excited by the board. It might not suit everyone but in the 2 ft waves we had, this board was mindblowing. My mate Matt was riding a Starby Pocket Rocket, 8' 5" and around 130 L. Set next together they had almost the same plan shape, though his had a slight stinger and is a quad setup. The Allwave would probably benefit if you could run it as a quad, but maybe they can include that in next years version. I rode it again today in 3- 4 ft cross shore affected waves with a bit of grunt. I reckon it was just about at the limit of it's size capacity in those conditions, but most waves were closing out and I seemed to be the only one getting any long rides whilst actually performing manouvers. Unfortunately the conditions meant that I did some pretty kooky things as well, not the boards fault - mine. I'm sure if the conditions were clean this board could handle up to around 6ft and because I'm old , fat and have a bad back that would be my limit. I had no trouble making it out the back so I reckon it has good glide but haven't tested it in flatwater. You can also use it as a Windsurfer apparently. I'm bringing it down to the Bassup event on Sunday at Raffs (OG) with Warwick from RPS 'The Boardstores' blessing. (They are just generally helpful and nice guys and gals!)Thanks Matt all around nice guy at RPS you made my weekend!! (He even carried it out to the car for the old fella - me. Now that's service!!). I love my PSH Paddler but its really heavy to lug around. After my Laminectomy in February I want something that will be nice and light (If I'm still allowed to surf!!) to carry down to the surf. All I have to do is work out how to get the money to pay for it. I will definitely be adding the 9'6" or 9'2" Fanatic Allwave to the quiver as my general surfing go to board.
PS. AKfly thanks for the feedback. Try to demo one , I promise you won't regret it !!