I am thinking about getting a stand up paddle board with a mast base fitting with a view to using it in the waves as both a sail board and sup. I would like to go as short as possible (about 9' 6"), but the sailing conditions would be small surf with 13-18 knots of wind, about 45 degrees ONSHORE, and my limited experience with sailing sup boards is that even longer wave sups do not go upwind well. Is there any particular wave sup that sails well upwind, or would changes such as a bigger fin, a particular sail, etc help ?

I have the starboard 11-2 and use it to windSUP quite a bit. I find it goes upwind unreal, the long waterline and the fin set up work well. I use a 6.5 a lot of the time and drop down to a 5.8 a bit. I reckon it's huge fun. It won't go upwind like a race board though.

Honestly aren't they the best fun, show up with a paddle and a sail and your pretty much covered for the day.

At the risk of sounding like a fanboy Fanatic are doing great things with the look of all there gear.

I think if you want a big wave board there are better option but if you want a wave sailable SUP then the new Allwave is a very good option.

I remember one session I had in Geroa, it was 5-10 knots and I was trying to get through the wash on my 94L FSW. Barely moving I just kept getting smashed in the breakers. After a lot of frustration and a few bruises I got the SUP out and it was a 'breeze'. Glide out over the white wash, a few pumps on the way back and your on the wave.

Another thing to look out for on the SUP is the mast track mounting point. I tried an oder Naish SUP and the mast base was too far forward. OK for flat water but in the surf it was difficult to get on the the back of the board so you could engage the rails. Even with my 90 kegs I couldn't carve the thing if i was standing in a typical sailing position.

If you notice the two boards in the PIC, the fly has 2 mast points, the front one is useless for surf. But on the new Allwave its well positioned and the board just spins around nicely. I had my doubts about this board because it is so wide, but even in big bay swell it is very fluid and manouverable. Hope to get down to Gerroa for a session very soon.

BTW I'm 90kg and not an exprienced SUPer, but his board is very stable (very wide). Unless you're well over a 100kg then I wouldn't consider a 9'6" in this model. Another similar option is the Starboard Widepoint, like the fanatic its a short, fat surf oriented board.

Sailhack said...

I recently bought a starboard element w/surfable sup, 9'8", 3 mast position screw holes, footstrap screw inserts also! - have yet to try it with a sail on it, but if it sails as good as my 11'6" Mana, I'll be impressed!

I tried the Element, great board. I'd say one of the better all rounders when it comes to flat water and waves. When I compared it to my Fanatic Fly the flat water glide was just as good but it was better in small surf, having a bit more nose rocker.

Waiting4wind said...



I tried the Element, great board. I'd say one of the better all rounders when it comes to flat water and waves. When I compared it to my Fanatic Fly the flat water glide was just as good but it was better in small surf, having a bit more nose rocker.

I agree, the element is very flat in the nose and the fanatics look good. I'm not much of a wavesailor, more of a cruiser, so it suits me ok...I did look at the fanatic, but couldn't find a 2nd hand one in the time frame that suited my budget.

Is there any scenario where a SUP is better than a big waveboard for sailing waves in light wind?

I only ask because I've been out at Gerroa on an 82L, not struggling, while others were on SUPs.. I didn't get it, and figured if I got any fatter, a 90-120L waveboard would do everything a sup would do, and more..

Another thought, SUPs don't plane, or at least not very well, so why not make a large volume, dedicated wave board that is not designed to plane?.. I recall Kauli was sailing a non-plane-able waveboard at Cabo Verde*..

Basically the question is, would a dedicated high volume, non-planing waveboard look any different from the crossover SUPs with a mast track???

--
*Kaulis board did plane on the wave, of course.. That shows standard waveboards are a compromise between a rocker that works on flat water, and a rocker that works on bent water (wave face)..

barn said...

Is there any scenario where a SUP is better than a big waveboard for sailing waves in light wind?

I only ask because I've been out at Gerroa on an 82L, not struggling, while others were on SUPs.. I didn't get it, and figured if I got any fatter, a 90-120L waveboard would do everything a sup would do, and more..

Another thought, SUPs don't plane, or at least not very well, so why not make a large volume, dedicated wave board that is not designed to plane?.. I recall Kauli was sailing a non-plane-able waveboard at Cabo Verde*..

Basically the question is, would a dedicated high volume, non-planing waveboard look any different from the crossover SUPs with a mast track???

I think if your a dedicated "sailor", then the large waveboard is a better option, but if you SUP on days when there is no wind, then using the SUP on light wind days saves you having to buy a large, light wind sailboard.

In my case I have a dedicated wave board, a slightly larger freestyle wave for the medium days and a SUP for no wind and very light wind days.

Any more boards and I would have to tow a road train when I went on holidays.

I used my SUP (Fanatic Fly 10' 160 litres) yesterday in mushy waves at Umina with a 5.9 wave sail. Managed to catch a few rollers and had a good 2 hours sailing, but unless you had a large wave board (over 120 litres) then it was not a great wave sailing day.

I use the SUP as a paddle board and it is good for that both on flat water and small waves, but on marginal wind days I take it and my 90 litre freewave Mistral Naish to the beach. If it gets windy, the SUP stays out of the water. really windy, then the 80 litre gets a run.

A few weeks ago I used the SUP for 1 1/2 hours paddling in the waves, then a southerly came through and I went out on the 90L for 2 more hours. Sweet.

I don't think I need a large volume wave board.

gregc said...

I also don't know if I would be taking the SUP out in surf that had any size to it, I reckon the mast and boom would prove short work to the SUP if you were wiped out on a wave.

You're right, once there is a + 3' wave you would be in trouble on most SUPs. I bent my mast base extension beyond repair when a 3' wave hit me side on and filpped the SUP over while pushing the rig in the opposite direction. Not a nice look!