Whopper vs Widepoint

I am a slightly better than beginner paddler, been at it for a few months. Been in small surf a dozen or so times on a Starboard Drive 10'6 by 30 wide.
Looking at something more surf oriented and bit more stable, either Starboard Whopper junior or Widepoint. Same length, Whopper bit more volume and one inch wider.
Any views or comments greatly appreciated.
I'm 63 years old haven't surfed for a long time but not going too bad. Having fun!

Yamba4

Thanks Bob,
I was able to try a Widepoint carbon 9'6" early on in small waves. It felt good, stable and quite loose for its size. Also had nice lines plenty of nose lift. Appreciate your comments. I weigh 77 kg, everyone says go as small as you can (8'8" etc) don't quite get the reasoning for this yet.
cheers
Greg

As others have said, Wide Point is a bit more progressive and suited to more adventurous conditions so if you are comfortable on it, then go for it. However, don't expect to enjoy casual paddles on flat water on a Wide Point. If that is part of your plan, then the junior Whopper would be a better all round option.

Also agree with BrisKites - the advice to go as small as you can is not true for everyone and for many people, the opposite is becoming increasingly true.

i say go small--you have a big board already, for flatwater/LB style--at your weight, youll be yearning for smaller than a 9'6" WP very quickly--especially if your surfed when younger and have started to get the hang--your progression will be fast from here

i weigh 90kg at 6'2" and my 9'6" WP began gathering dust soon after i got it--went, at that stage, to an 8'11" (143 ltr) fanatic all-wave ltd (keep that board down in fl for trips to visit my old dad--great board but a bit too much. where the airborn is just right if surf is other than perfect)--i now ride (my go to board for the erratic conditions i face in ne us) a starby 8'8" airborn blue carbon at 123 ltrs--the airborne is cut of same cloth as the widepoints but thinner--only 3.7 inches vs mid-4's for most boards this size

the push to go short is dubious for many, but for you, at your weight, with past and now current experience, go much smaller than 9'6" for a surf sup

G'day Yamba, I've got the 9'5" Whopper and I love it. Really bought it as a fun family board to get kids and friends sup surfing but find myself taking it out on big choppy windy days and having an absolute blast. I'm only 65kg but once you really move your weight onto the rail the way the thing turns astonishes me. It gets into waves super early, doesn't pearl and is just such a great platform to give you confidence, learn to cross step etc etc. At my weight the wide point boards just never seemed to work for me, my usual board is the 7'7 Pro so vast difference in volume.

Agree about keeping the Drive, bought one of the really early ones with the black and white camo deck grip and the lower nose rocker and often wish I'd just hung onto it. The Drive is such a flexible board, and honestly you would have to be a really good surfer to outgrow it, responds very well to fin changes too, I like that style of board with a small thruster set, they seem to come alive, but equally if nose riding was your thing I'm sure a big single fin would go well.

Great thing about the Whopper boards is that if you want to sell them they are super easy to move on and hold their value well, I just got the cheapest construction and apart from being a little heavy lugging it to the beach (well in contrast to a carbon 7'7!) it a fantastic board. I'm a bit of a fan of making your life simple, if you can largely take away the stability issues you will quickly get your take offs sorted and catch heaps more waves, the 9'5 Whopper can even be surfed quite happily from standing a fair way forward but really comes alive if you can get you back foot right back and learn to move that back foot across the board to get weight over the relatively fine rail.