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!
. I'm not chasing huge reef dredging barrels or smacking the lip 30 times before the close out. Mellow is my new colour.
. I'm not chasing huge reef dredging barrels or smacking the lip 30 times before the close out. Mellow is my new colour.
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.
. 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.
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.
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 !
. I'm not chasing huge reef dredging barrels or smacking the lip 30 times before the close out. Mellow is my new colour.
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.
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.
