Hello,
I'm looking for advice for a first SUP. I'm looking for an allround board to paddle on flat water (lakes, North Sea Belgium) and to surf in small to medium waves. I will be sharing the board with my wife. We are both intermediate surfers and beginner sup surfers.
My Wife's is 1m72 for 64kg and I'm 1m85 for 81kg.
Naish boards are very easy to find here and I really like the design of the boards. I have been looking into the Nalu series for a while and I have been hesitating between the 10"10' and 10"6.5'.
I'm afraid if I choose the 10"10' that I will be sacrificing the surfability but will track great on flat. On the other hand if I choose the 10"6.5' I will be sacrificing the stability but will surf much better.
I would say that it will be used 50-60% on flat water and 50-40% in waves.
I know that I could also go for the 11"4' but I would like to keep the size down due to storage problems. But if it is a better board why not.
Any help or advice would be grateful.
Thanks,
Stephan
Welcome to the breeze.. I've paddled both heaps and ended up buying the new 10.6".5 and that's what I recommend for you and your wife.
Unless you want to paddle with kids on board or with large pets the 10'6".5 is the better board IMO.. Can you demo them yourself?
There's no problem with the 10'6".5 tracking on flat water and it surfs sooooo much better.
DJ
Hey Stephan - hope all is well.
Mate your investment dollars are 'x' - can you buy 2 boards second hand for waht you are loking for???
If you are talking of glide for the river/flat water - really who cares because you are paddling in the river for excercise - not to meet a time limit....
IMHO first wave board go wider in stability - as you are not going to rip waves.
Sounds like you want to surf a few small but decent surf swells - so have fun and dont go technical...I have a guy here in WEst Australia that sells Naish, Starboard, PSH, Jimmy Lewis etc.....he can surf real well but rides a Starboard Whopper 10 Footer - why?? cause he just has FUN....
I have the old Naish 10.6 and with 75 kg it works well on flat water and waves. My wife has similar height and weight as yours and had no problem to paddle it on flat water as a complete novice. I also ride at the North Sea (German coast) and as with you there are only waves when it is windy. It gets really choppy then and sometimes I wish for a little more width and stability. The new 10.65 has that, at least you read about it and it is on my list.
If you want to stay in the 10 foot range the Fanatic Fly 10.6 could be an alternative. It has more width and about 20 liters more volume.
Plus 1 to what DJ said above.
The guys at my local store Ocean Addicts have a loan of a 10'6.5 for demo purposes. I didn't have time to surf it, but it looked really, really good. Plus DJ posted a great vid of one of his sessions in small waves and you could see how well it goes.
Then again, you could always buy both. The couple that paddles together...
Hey Guys,
Thanks for your help. One more question how do you guys feel about the Nalu 11"4'? It has added volume but not too wide either. From what I've read not bad in waves and good for flat water cruising and even tandem.
Unfortunately, no way to demo the boards that's why the decision taking is a bit harder.
Thanks,
Stephan
Hi Stephan
Others will probably be more helpful as I haven't tried the Nalus. I have a 9'5 hokua for surfing and a very old 11ft beast of a thing that i use on a nearby lake and river.
So it's just my opinion, and not an expert one, but if i could have only one board it would be the 10'6.5. Like I said, I looked one over the other day and thought it looked like a good modern longboard design scaled up for SUP. The guy who'd surfed it that day said it had great glide.
Plus I'm a fan of DJ's video (which I recommend to you in case you haven't seen it): www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/Surfing-with-JC/?SearchTerms=surfing+with+jc
If you do a search you will also see him on the 10'10 on flatwater and that wil give you a bit more info to work with.
(BTW If you ever want to post some pics or video footage of your local spots i reckon a lot of us would be interested.) In the meantime, good luck with the board choice.
Dave
I've also owned the 11'4" and back then I loved it but the new 10'6".5 is a much better board for both suring and flat water even though it is shorter it paddles flat water great and is just as stable if not more stable than the 11'4".. I found the 11'4" hard to turn in the surf.. especially on the heel side.. It has a real long board feel and requires a lot of moving up and down the board to make it work.. Looking at it now (the 11'4") it has an old school feel because sup's have come along way since the 11'4" came out.
DJ
DJ and Dave thanks a million for your advice. I will order the 10"6.5' this week. Can't wait.
I have weighed in the pros and cons and this seems to be by far the best choice for an all rounder. I do a have a 7 month old little princess so tandem would be great in the future but my wife may go for another board in a few years so there's plenty of time.
I will post a few pics when I get the board and show the different spots around Belgium and Europe that I will travel to with my new toy.
Hopefully next year I will be coming to Oz so I may ask for some advice on spots if I come near your local spots.
Thanks again,
Cheers,
Stephan
