Hi guys; Firstly, cool little community in these SUP pages. Ive spent hours in here looking at information and contemplating options.

I just wanted to add my thoughts in here too so maybe it helps the next guy out.

About me: 30years old, surfed my whole life, wanted a new challenge in the water.

I weigh 104kg, and around 5"10 tall. SUP surfed a grand total of 6 times in my life after getting out twice yesterday.

I originally bought a 7'6 atlantis BAM BAM - never really gelled with it. Looked for something that i can really surf and have some fun with, not just cruise.

My thoughts on the board:
7'6 X29 slate at 115L - Wood edition
Clearly - i'm on the limit of actually floating this thing, and its taken time to learn where and how to stand on the thing (mainly cause i didn't flat water at all - 2 VERY young kids means every 40minutes is precious!!!) anyway - after learning this, its actually not been too bad! I mean once a rail starts to sink, its game over, and i've spent my fair share of time in the water these last few days, but the last surf saw a marked improvement in ability to keep up.

Board impressions - its too early. The surf has been small and not so powerful, so at this point i don't really have a great idea, but from the times i've got some speed, it seems to turn well. I've done two 'off lip at closeout' re-entries so its not bad.
THRUSTER was way better than quad for me.

I'll keep this updated as we go

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matb543 said..
SUP surfed a grand total of 6 times in my life after getting out twice yesterday.

Do not go under 8'6" in board length at the absolute minimum !!!

Granted, with some balance you could stand of a 5' with enough volume, but the paddling technique need time (months) to master, and until then you should be on a 9'+ board. Otherwise your wave count will dramatically drop, and your learning curve will screech to a halt.

The problem is taking off on waves: being able to apply enough power with the paddle, without row effect (spinning in place).

Nice work at just 10ltrs over your weight. Ive been on the same board for a year and at 90kg it can still be a struggle once it gets choppy. Ive found it help to sit pretty deep in the line up and take off late sayin that the board gets up onto plane very early so if you can get some paddle speed up can get in surprisingly early. Using fast and light paddle strokes helps if you dig in and pull hard the nose swings too much and youll just dig a rail. Have fun with it get over the tail to turn especially off the top. If you start to struggle too much on messy days the jp widebody is way more stable tirns almost at well but is just a little slower more like a fish style.

I demo the new slate 8‘0“x30“ on the bay (flat/slight chop) and at 82kg I don't think so but maybe after I graduated on the 9'+ length I'll have a go.