Hi
i am looking for a light/no wind alternative to windsurfing

I live close by moreton bay so am looking for a water toy to make the most of this.

The bays seems to be either 0 knots and glassy (ideal for SUP), 10 knots and choppy (probaley ok for SUP and small sail) or 15-20 and time for a shortboard (windsurf)

I have been windsurfing for 20 plus years so the abilty to put a sail (max 5.5 or 6.0 wave) on it would be nice, i am not expecting raceboard perfomance just something to practice sail tricks, cruise around etc etc

However the board also needs to be good for paddling - no waves (Brissy) but if i get the chane it may taken to suitable spots - so predominatly flat water paddling

The boards i am looking at (limited by local dealers) are the Naish 11'6" (too big/fragile ?) ,Naish 11'4" (fragile ?), Bic Jungle (too heavy ?), Mistral Pacifico (probaley 2nd hand), also fanatic SUPs (no info)

Are the naish too fragile to windsurf ?, is the jungle tougher ? etc

any help and opinions gratefully received


many thanks

Max

I use a 3m trainer kite with my DC11 on these types of days when I am looking for something different.

The kite is a foil type, which is not ideal - as it adds on an extra degree of difficulty. I also have to fly it too high which does not give me the forward thrust that I am looking for. This results in me having to put the kite low down in the safety zone.

If you want to play with this type of thing I would suggest that you try find a more standard type kite.

By the way I don't use kite lines as i want to keep the kite close to me. I made a bar that connects close to the kite so that I can launch/delaunch quickly.

Any board that has stablility will do the job. My DC11 is around 27" wide so it is a typical entry level SUP.

Good luck

Hi Max

My first suggestion would be the Naish Nalu 11'4 (wood version is the only one in this range with windsurf base attachment). This is an AMAZING all round board! great for fun windsurfing, glides very well in flat water for simple cruising and surfs incredibly well! It is the board for all seasons in my experience...given its weight and construction i would actually rate it to be very durable.

i have 2 SUP fishes on the South Coast Victoria region (one second hand, one brand new) they are 9'6 and have mast track. Many of the local crew have been working on the concept with ourselves and Stonker to develop a light wind, wave sailing SUP that was great to surf when SUPing and Great to grovel onto waves in windsurfing mode. This board has been incredibly impressive and we are 'stoked' with how it sails/wave rides. It is a thruster set up (no foot straps) and the closest thing to it in the Naish Range is the 9'6 Hokua (unfortunately the Hokua does not come with windsurfing adaptability). The board is also a very buoyant cruising board but not a flat water speedster as has increased rocker for surfing (more volume than the Hokua) and i am 84kg. the board is glass so prone to paddle dings down the rails and you would not want to slam the rig down onto the nose too often but there are many of us riding them on the Victorian Surf Coast as pure SUP's and Windsurfers with large grins. The dings are superficial and this type of construction is easily repaired if your were to smack the nose off it. I would highly recommend any similar boards..the Naish for cruising and the fish type if you are keen to execute tight turns. There are several manufacturers of similar concepts around Australia. Airwave are making a super light version of this type of short board / Fish SUP that can have a windsurf track added for custom orders.

happy hunting
Nick

Hi Fast Eddy

the boards 30'' wide and 3 3/4'' thick... its a joint venture between Core Boardsports and Stonker in Torquay region....just a bit of cheap fun.

Gents
thanks for all the advice - am going to try a Naish 11'6 this weekend

Sounds like bigger is best for flat water paddling

max

Hi Divaldo

i really like the look of the Fanatics (probably because all my windsurf boards are also fanatics - i am a fanatic fanatic) - how does the 10' 6" paddle on flat water - i get the impression the fanatics are quite wave orientated - i note they do an 11' but my this still seems a lot shorter than the others that are supposedly good for flat water paddling i.e. the Naish 11'6 and 11'4".

It’s taken me 20 years to understand windsurf boards, SUP seem to operate by a whole new set of rules !!

Thanks

Max