OK, so I've been a short board surfer forever and only just started riding a SUP board about a month ago. I've got a Naish Nalu GT 11'4 x 30. I've never ridden a longboard. One of the things I kept reading about these narrower boards is that they surf like a long board.

Is it true?

I'm really loving my time in the water at the moment and before the SUP board, I was thinking of buying a mal (a proper one, not a mini), but if the ride isn't that much different then why bother?

thoughts?

I have a Nalu 10'6.5 which I bought to learn on and yes it rides like a Mal. The 11'4 is basically the same shape but larger.
I have a Mctavish Mal 9'4 as well and have been asking a similar question, should I sell it?
It is obviously shorter and lighter, hence more manoeuvrable and if its crowded with a largish surf I can handle this quite well compared to the SUP.

Also when I get better I think I will trade or sell the Nalu for a wave performance SUP like a Prowave or Hokua (something along those lines.)

So I suppose it depends where your riding is heading?

Yes definitely!

I have an 11'4 Nalu also & it def feels like a longboard. I ride Hokuas as well & they def feel like a shorty!

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Flying High said...
So I suppose it depends where your riding is heading?

We'll I'm getting older, fatter and slower... so it's heading away from the short board . I'm not chasing huge reef dredging barrels or smacking the lip 30 times before the close out. Mellow is my new colour.
The sup board is great, but after riding something like a 6'6" x 20" x 2.5" short board for about 40 years, it's a learning to curve try and surf a barge.
I love the sup board because of the fitness angle and exploring new waters. I also haven't got that much of a buzz from 1 foot wave mush for a long long time.
I can't believe I've never ridden a long board, so was genuinely interested if the anyone here has been a long time long boarder and how the sup compares.

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foamballer said...

Flying High said...
So I suppose it depends where your riding is heading?

We'll I'm getting older, fatter and slower... so it's heading away from the short board . I'm not chasing huge reef dredging barrels or smacking the lip 30 times before the close out. Mellow is my new colour.
The sup board is great, but after riding something like a 6'6" x 20" x 2.5" short board for about 40 years, it's a learning to curve try and surf a barge.
I love the sup board because of the fitness angle and exploring new waters. I also haven't got that much of a buzz from 1 foot wave mush for a long long time.
I can't believe I've never ridden a long board, so was genuinely interested if the anyone here has been a long time long boarder and how the sup compares.

I ride a 8.0 sup and I am 51 never been fitter and can chuck it around like a short board it depends where you want to go , but when you learn to use the paddle when turning the release you can get will blow your mind . Start longer then move down in length , look for good rail line not to boxy. Once a short boarder , you will want those shorter arcs,it's in your blood. Boj



.once a short boarder ,it in your blood

Currently have a 6' fish and a 6'6" round pin and have been a short boarder since I started in '75. I only bought a mal to take up to Crescent Head a couple years ago and wish I'd done so sooner, there are days / waves when this is the best board by far. SUP (9') is similar but the mal is looser and better on days where it's smaller and breaking really close to shore or it's a lumpy onshore.

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Boj said...
Once a short boarder , you will want those shorter arcs, it's in your blood

I with ya there brother.... I've already put the big sup in places that I had no right to... and paid the price . I don't think I'll ever get rid of the short board - I got the sup board so I could do new things, so deliberately went oversize.

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HGFish said...
SUP (9') is similar but the mal is looser and better on days where it's smaller and breaking really close to shore or it's a lumpy onshore

Yeah, that's my gut feel. How long's the mal? Also 9' ? single/3 fin?

For me prone surfing a sup is fun but not as good as on a decent mal. You need the paddle to really swing the sup around .... they're a bit like surfing a corky barge when you surf them with out the paddle. I surf a mactavish fireball mal and it is far superior for a prone surf to my fanatic pro 8'10.

A SUP can definitely have a true longboard feel, if you choose one adapted to your weight (for instance, volume in liters = your weight in kg + 20 for a performance longboard feel, more for a traditional one, say + 40), and with very thin rails.

Thinness in the rails, especially in the nose and tail is key. You need an experienced SUP shaped to know how to "hide" the needed volume out of the rails.

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Yeah, that's my gut feel. How long's the mal? Also 9' ? single/3 fin?

Mal's 8'6" but only 22" wide against 29" for the SUP - 3 fin (box and side bites).

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HGFish said...

Yeah, that's my gut feel. How long's the mal? Also 9' ? single/3 fin?

Mal's 8'6" but only 22" wide against 29" for the SUP - 3 fin (box and side bites).

Mal comp minium length is 9 foot,serious longboards are around 9'6" x 23"

colas - that makes sense to me with the thin rails and minimal volume.

vee8 & HGFish - I reckon if I got a longboard I'd go for around the 9'6 mark

Heaps happy with trying the master the SUP at the moment though !

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foamballer said...

Flying High said...
So I suppose it depends where your riding is heading?

We'll I'm getting older, fatter and slower... so it's heading away from the short board . I'm not chasing huge reef dredging barrels or smacking the lip 30 times before the close out. Mellow is my new colour.
The sup board is great, but after riding something like a 6'6" x 20" x 2.5" short board for about 40 years, it's a learning to curve try and surf a barge.
I love the sup board because of the fitness angle and exploring new waters. I also haven't got that much of a buzz from 1 foot wave mush for a long long time.
I can't believe I've never ridden a long board, so was genuinely interested if the anyone here has been a long time long boarder and how the sup compares.

Hi Foamballer,
Late entry, but have surfed mals for the last 20 years after being harrassed by best mate. Still was surfing a twinnie short board as well, but mostly the mal. I started sup just before Christmas, due to an old war wound which has finally made it all but impossible to stand up from a prone position. Hip replacement on it's way. I purposely got a longboard style sup (Laird 10'6") so that I could surf the same waves and style as I had surfed in the past. The only difference for me, is to turn with the same pivot and harder cutbacks, you have to set your back foot closer to the rail than the mal and bury the paddle, but once you've got it wired, it's brilliant. When I have recovered from operation, will definitely surf the mal again, but the sup gives me even more options than the mal, so I expect that it will be more supping than longboarding. While they are similar, there is still enough variation to have both. More toys baby YEH!!

PS on that Foamballer.
I only surf single fin mals and the shortest I've had is 9'4". High performance mals are useless imo. If you want to go hard, surf a short board, fish etc. Horses for courses.

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Sandsy1 said...
High performance mals are useless imo.

Well... each to their own of course, but personally I wouldn't buy one for 'high performance'.
Definitely agree though - more toys baby!

The best SUP's do both well.

Personally I went down to 8'6 x 29 and very short board styled. The board went amazing in good clean conditions. Other than that it was unstable and lacked glide in small surf. Basically it worked in the same waves as I want to ride my shortboards.

I am now riding a 9'2 x 29 1/2 NSP Cocomat a board I can be heavily criticized for being biased about. BUT in full knowledge that you lose your right to objectivity once you have involvement with something it is honestly the best board I have ridden. It would want to be, of every board I have ever ridden the best bits have been combined in concept to create it.

So, it has some area in the nose, enough width and wide point position to make the whole board very stable for 127L. You can trim forward and move forward like a longboard BUT get back on the round tail quad and it surfs with a shortboard feel. It's super light and can be thrown around as much as you can. For me it's the most balanced design I have used, stable, fast, loose and versatile.

Yes, I have been involved in the design of this board but I have also been on Seabreeze for long enough to say that I am proud as punch to have my name associated with this board. Everyone that has ridden it feels compelled to call me frothing and for that I am so stoked its crazy.

Thanks if anyone read this.