Can anyone give me some advice on buying the correct size board for a beginner of the sport .
I'm six foot 7 ins tall and weigh 116 kg ; I'm a regular longboarder and looking for another watersport to keep me motivated when no surf about.
Once I get use to the sup I would be looking to do both flat river paddling and small surf up to 2 - 3 ft .
Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers
At your height and weight, you'll be wanting something pretty big, I'd imagine, especially as a beginner to SUP. The fortunate thing is that a longer board (more than 11') will better serve both purposes, ie flat water where you want maximum glide, as well as small surf, which in your case, you will be looking for volume and buoyancy.
I suggest the MINIMUM dimensions you'd need are something like the 11'2" Starboard Blend or 11'4' Naish Nalu. Both are 30" wide. That's about what you'd want, I believe. Much narrower and you'll find it tippy. Much wider and you won't have much glide in flat water.
The other option is to head up into the race shape boards of 12'6" or 14' lengths. These are by far more fun to paddle in flat water, and if you get the right board, you might well enjoy the 2 to 3' waves, albeit that you won't be doing much in the way of performance carving on the waves.
Select to expand quoteFess75 said..
Can anyone give me some advice on buying the correct size board for a beginner of the sport .
I'm six foot 7 ins tall and weigh 116 kg ; I'm a regular longboarder and looking for another watersport to keep me motivated when no surf about.
Once I get use to the sup I would be looking to do both flat river paddling and small surf up to 2 - 3 ft .
Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers
Hey Fess, I've got the Naish Nalu 11'4 which PTWoody mentioned - which is great for me in the surf but marginal for any long distance paddling and I'm only 6'1 and 100Kg.
I'd go bigger. If you already have a long board for surfing - maybe you should consider more of a dedicated paddling board like a high volume 14 footer. If you don't mind just cruising you can also surf these OK - they make a small wave a challenge. I videod the tiny waves I was surfing the other day on my 2013 glide (14' by 27" wide) and there's quite a few boards out there that would probably be better behaved than this one (just ask and you'll get plenty of replies). I rode a 14'x30" NSP/DC14 Cocomat on similar waves - it was very nice. Personally, I'm waiting for my new 2014 glide (14'x29.25") to turn up.
These bigger boards are great because you can cover some real distance, explore a bit and access small surf areas that you'd never consider otherwise. And you can go downwinding !
The gopro makes these waves look bigger than they were - I'd rate them at 6 inches
Hi Fess
I would stay with the large all-rounders that the other posters have suggested for a first board because they will get you into small surf quite easily, particularly with your longboard experience.
Some larger 12'6"s and 14's are great to surf but can take some getting used to, and some aren't surf friendly at all, so buyer beware.
I feel that width is the friend for taller fellas, so 30" or more will help the learning process. If you try and start narrow you may get put off.
Good luck and don't be surprised if you're spending way more water time than ever before......and mainly on the sup
