supthecreek said...
I am 66... 100k dry... 108k in wetsuit - 5'11

Today I rode my 8'11 x 31 @ 125 ltr (traditional progressive surf shape)

It was mostly underwater. Sometime paddling for a wave, the entire board would go below water. It surfs amazingly... but I have to take a knee from time to time... just to give my aging body a break from the Bongo Board.

Last month in a 4 mil full suit, I rode a 7'11 x 30 @ 133 liters... Simmons wide body shape.
Easy peezy for stability and catching waves.... but the wide tail was not near as surfy as my 8'11...IMO

This is why i want to fit a bodyboard on the back of that kind of board

Piros said...
Giving enough practice, you can ride as little volume as 1x your weight + your board's weight in Kilos, however, board's minimum lenght and width is dictated by your height. Sounds about right?

Yes and no but thats a good guide , board shape plays a big part . Pulled in nose and tail is harder to stand on than a fat nose and tail of a board the same specs.

Don't forget that we're not mentioning how long you're surfing or waiting for either. At 87kg and just over 6'4" I ride a 98litre board -I can surf it for 2 hours if it's beautiful and clean but am cactus after 45min if there's much water moving around and I have to wait. I could probably ride a 90 litre board if it was ultra clean and I didn't have to wait for waves.

Legion said...

EnzoSV said...
[br]@ the rest: Seems we have a league of +90Kg here...

Yeah, you're not doing much to dispel stereotypes, people.

but surely part of the appeal of sup is having a floatier longer board that makes catching waves a breeze (excuse the seabreeze pun)
don't know why people insist on getting so anorexic :)

GizzieNZ said..

Legion said...

EnzoSV said...

@ the rest: Seems we have a league of +90Kg here...

Yeah, you're not doing much to dispel stereotypes, people.

but surely part of the appeal of sup is having a floatier longer board that makes catching waves a breeze (excuse the seabreeze pun)
don't know why people insist on getting so anorexic :)

Like with other balance sports or self-propelled sports, the biggest performance gains come from the pilot.

Classic example - middle aged men spending $$$ and saving grams on the lightest carbon fibre push bikes when they're 10kg+ overweight themselves.

And if you can lose some weight yourselves, then you can go to a lighter smaller board that is much more manoeuvrable without needing the extra length, width and floatation. If you just want to trim along, then sure, eat seconds and desserts. But if you want the best performance, look after yourself first, equipment second.

Look at the pictures of the guys in the NSW titles thread. I presume they were at the competitive end of the field. Not much spare weight amongst them therefore they can ride fairly small boards (relatively speaking).

stm said...

Legion said...

GizzieNZ said..

Legion said...

EnzoSV said...

@ the rest: Seems we have a league of +90Kg here...

Yeah, you're not doing much to dispel stereotypes, people.

but surely part of the appeal of sup is having a floatier longer board that makes catching waves a breeze (excuse the seabreeze pun)
don't know why people insist on getting so anorexic :)

Like with other balance sports or self-propelled sports, the biggest performance gains come from the pilot.

Classic example - middle aged men spending $$$ and saving grams on the lightest carbon fibre push bikes when they're 10kg+ overweight themselves.

And if you can lose some weight yourselves, then you can go to a lighter smaller board that is much more manoeuvrable without needing the extra length, width and floatation. If you just want to trim along, then sure, eat seconds and desserts. But if you want the best performance, look after yourself first, equipment second.

Look at the pictures of the guys in the NSW titles thread. I presume they were at the competitive end of the field. Not much spare weight amongst them therefore they can ride fairly small boards (relatively speaking).

Maybe they like beer to much ,llike me

Sure, i did'nt stop drinking wines when my wife asked me, i do it because i want to keep standing up on my shortSUP.

Adapt said...
It's getting to a point where most of you should ride a normal style surfboard again rather then a SUP. As the old saying goes "it's not the size that counts, it's how you use it"

Kind of feel the same way. Thing that strikes me too is that most people pushing these tiny SUPs surf exactly the bloody same! I would much rather ride a slightly or much bigger board and concentrate on using the paddle to rip it around. I find I get a lot more kudos from the prone surfers than the guys who are trying to imitate or compete with them.

A lot of others are totally forgetting,.at the end of the day SUP should be fun. If you are struggling to even stand up on the thing paddling, why not just go back to a prone?

Adapt said...
It's getting to a point where most of you should ride a normal style surfboard again rather then a SUP. As the old saying goes "it's not the size that counts, it's how you use it"

Ah ah, I guess you never tried a ShortSUP to emit such preconceptions...

I have just tried again prone surfboarding after 5 years only SUPing. I found it refreshing being in the water, kind of swimming, more one with the sea. But once on a wave, what a disappointment! With my 6'8" SUP I had a blast, taking waves after waves, and more importantly exploiting them to the max, as I was able to position perfectly at the peak and enjoy a turbo boost at takeoff to set a fat tempo to the ride. On proning my 7'6', I saw the waves as they were: crappy mushburgers with not enough power for even a roller.

SUP are wave magnifiers, whatever their size. Why do you want to punish me and force me to ride a prone surfboard and kill all my fun?

just come back from surfing with my 6'4", few waves caught but a lot of fun . What do i like the most is the kind feeling while riding the nose when the board start to glide in a slow motion before the rushing take off. Also the round house cut back on a short distance as the prone short boarders do. I will post one this kind one day...


This sensation is providing more by the reaction of board area than the volume .
This is why i like minimum volume to my own weight to magnifie the sensation of riding small waves.


Like this posted yet:



.

colas said...

Adapt said...
It's getting to a point where most of you should ride a normal style surfboard again rather then a SUP. As the old saying goes "it's not the size that counts, it's how you use it"

Ah ah, I guess you never tried a ShortSUP to emit such preconceptions...

I have just tried again prone surfboarding after 5 years only SUPing. I found it refreshing being in the water, kind of swimming, more one with the sea. But once on a wave, what a disappointment! With my 6'8" SUP I had a blast, taking waves after waves, and more importantly exploiting them to the max, as I was able to position perfectly at the peak and enjoy a turbo boost at takeoff to set a fat tempo to the ride. On proning my 7'6', I saw the waves as they were: crappy mushburgers with not enough power for even a roller.

SUP are wave magnifiers, whatever their size. Why do you want to punish me and force me to ride a prone surfboard and kill all my fun?

Colas, I don't doubt one bit about catching waves easier or turning small average days into something more enjoyable. But I agree with Shane, "the peer pressure" to ride something smaller, narrower etc, rather then embracing being in the ocean on a craft that suits the conditions. I have ridden short SUP's for my size and ability, but what's concerning at times is do you guys look at what you write from an informative perspective, flick back through some of the pages and actually see what is written, nothing about wider/ longer boards for particular surf conditions it's about how small your board is. Just saying, it's pretty intimidating for people that get on here to learn about topics relating to board size and width because they have no idea and then think they have to aim to ride something that's 1 to 1.5 their weight or they're just not on the team.

JeanG said...
Has anyone here recommended riding a board so small that they don't enjoy surfing?

no, but i know a lot of ex really hardcore sup ers who went so small - well, they don't sup at all now. one was one of oz's best


nothing imo, when i'm prone surfing, looks more stupid than i guy on a really small sup tripping around and paddling his ring out trying to get waves. and it certainly doesn't look like they are having fun and thats includes more than a few that know what they are doing


sup surfing in general has lost the plot


flame on

Interesting input from all of you.

My first SUP was 9'8, I got loads of comments at the line up calling it "the bus" but with proper surf etiquete I gained acceptance. Then (with doubts) I moved to a 8'5 on which I really improved skills and therefore I had more fun.

Then I trimmed to a 7'7x27... same story, way better feeling, got lots of respect at the line up, fun factor went double and skills too. I finally performed good roundhouses.

Now I feel I should do it again, get smaller to have more powerful turns, better carving, and more fun. My context is fairly flat 3-8' point breaks all year, so I dont worry much about wind chop. In fact, wind chop with the small board doesnt affect me at all, mixed swells like storm swells when you get a lot of movement does.

My 7'7 98L feels fat now (starboard pro 2012) from 2013 it has only 92L but from your input I could learn to handle 85L. Now, shape for 85L is the question: how small vrs how fat? How to compare a JP pro 7'4x27 90L vrs Fanatic 8'0x28 90L? I would go 7'4 unless waves were 8+

One last thought: on every new board I thought to keep the previous for the "tough days" but I ended up growing the skills to compensate and it is my one board quiver for all conditions (I dont do pipeline or jaws anyway)

Cheers

Kami said...
Hi Enzo, watch this GONG 6'10" making it fun in crappies condition from the Channel on French coast looking England coast

I would love to have that one, lenght/width/outline look like a winner, just the ~5" rails dont convince me. Maybe 4"-4.5" max would do for me and Gong wont ship to El Salvador :(

Very nice to ride a low volume board in "perfect conditions" I am sure
but the 75 % of the surfing time that is "less than perfect conditions".......
well Ho Hum we all know we need at least two boards.....mayb even a quiver

big supper + big sup = good easy fun, all the time .

Lacey you just have to remember that everthing in surfing is a cycle/circle.
We are, well here on this forum, are at the opposite side of the circle.

After being part of the wave ski revolution in the early 80's, the wind surf revolution at the same time, later the longboard evolution, then kite boarding and now SUP designs. Surf SUP designs will move back to a more "conventional" shape eventually.

You just have to remember that, All shapes work, only some work better than others.

One of the things that I really like about surf design is the complete freedom of design choice.
Especially when you use EPS and epoxy as your not constrained by a 6'0 PU blank.