Hi everyone - I am wanting to get into some form of foiling that has the least learning curve for a beginner - prone or SUP?

I currently ride an 8" - 85L surf board and love the volume and stability of getting up. I am a beginner with a very low skill level that I am very aware of :) I only ever want to ride to small waves that run for long sections.

I am looking at the Naish Hover Surf Ascend 7'0" Carbon Ultra or the Naish Hover SUP 140.

The SUP seems to offer a lot of variability - use with foil, just fins etc ..............

Can I get some thoughts on what experience people have for the beginner of prone v sup

Many Thx

If you have never Sup ed before you need to learn that first. Once you can Sup then most people find that easier to start on than a prone board. My mate found Sup difficult so prones on a 6 ft 8 x 26 foil Sup of 98 litres. Works fine stable snd easy to paddle and catch waves on. He has no desire to go smaller or to try to complicate things by adding a paddle. He uses the same board to wind wing on too.

thanks for that - yep i was wondering if you could prone surf a sup foil or if it would be too wide to be able to prone paddle

if i am wanting stability and the ability to prone surf, which of the below do you think would suit e best. i weight 85kg and i'm 6 ft tall

- Naish Hover Surf Ascend 7'0" Carbon Ultra - 7ft tall - 21' wide - 65L
- Naish Hover SUP 120 - 7ft 4 tall - 30' wide - 120L
- Naish Hover SUP 140 - 7ft 4 tall - 32' wide - 140L

many thx

The easiest entry will be behind a boat or a ski. Next would be an efoil. Either of those will greatly accelerate your learning curve.

Select to expand quote

wave3 said..
thanks for that - yep i was wondering if you could prone surf a sup foil or if it would be too wide to be able to prone paddle

if i am wanting stability and the ability to prone surf, which of the below do you think would suit e best. i weight 85kg and i'm 6 ft tall

- Naish Hover Surf Ascend 7'0" Carbon Ultra - 7ft tall - 21' wide - 65L
- Naish Hover SUP 120 - 7ft 4 tall - 30' wide - 120L
- Naish Hover SUP 140 - 7ft 4 tall - 32' wide - 140L

many thx

Probably the 120 at 30 wide you should be able to prone paddle it or also try stand up paddle as well If you only want to prone it you could look for something a little shorter or narrower but I think 26 plus wide and around 100 litres will be a lot easier than the 21 wide prone boards. I am the same size as you and find a 125 litre x 31 x 6 5 board very stable to Sup foil. Maybe see what is available used.

many thx for everyones input - really appreciate

The Naish Hover 7 plus is a kind of unique surffoil board, a minimalibu shaped for foil...i think i should get one myself, this vid has me wanting one since i watched it:


And this one:

If you do not SUP yet, from what I have seen SUP foiling will be much harder to learn than surf foiling.
Unless you have some kind of disability that prevents getting up on a surfboard.
People do not realize the time it will take to be able to reliably paddle a 7' SUP. It is not worth it if your goal is to foil. If you plan to also SUP, it is different.

As others have said above:
- learn to foil with a "motor": boat, e-foil, wing, ... something where you do not depend of timing your takeoff with an incoming wave.
- do not hesitate to use a big - but light - board at first. 7', 8', ... even 9'

Thx colas - i decided on the Naish 7'0" prone foil - it looks right for me coming off an 8' surfboard background - thx so much for all the input - awesome forum for people like me getting into the sport

Cheers