Hi all,

First let me thank all of you for a great deal of information. Been reading all the posts for beginners and it has saved me a lot of time and errors of judgement.

I am a large beginner looking for a board for mainly flat water and small swell. I have tried some boards and narrowed my selections down to 2

Naish Glide 12" or
Fanatic Fly 11"6

Liked both, the fly felt more stable but the glide was faster on water. Leaning towards the Fly at moment.

Here are my questions,

1) do I risk the glide knowing when I get fitter/better will give me more touring options, or stick with the fly?

2) HRS v Pure construction. as HRS is near my limit for $$$ so will have to keep cheap paddle or buy pure and a carbon paddle ?

Both boards were demo on flat water, but want to get into ocean once able!

Any thoughts are welcome.

Cheers

My 5 cents:Both nice boards - but actually very different. Id be saying The Fly - if you thought you were going to do more than just ride "a lump" across a bay or protected beach, as its a better "surf board" - its a good "all rounder" as you probably have read. The Glide is a far more specific design - a very good one, nonetheless.As for HRS Vs Pure - the HRS are very tough... and Id be saving the dollars for a good paddle.In the end.. no one is going to say "oh, no.. dont buy the _____ " - and you probably have an instinct right now about what you want. If you feel later that you should get something else, and you probably will get another board down the track... then they both have good resale value... or something you may want to keep as your first commissioned board of your forthcoming fleet! Go for it!

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Macsup said...
Hi all,

First let me thank all of you for a great deal of information. Been reading all the posts for beginners and it has saved me a lot of time and errors of judgement.

I am a large beginner looking for a board for mainly flat water and small swell. I have tried some boards

How large is large..

Dj,

109kg at the moment but dropping. I know that is over the recommended for the glide, but it floats me well.

Cheers

Hi Macsup,

My first new board was the 11'6 fly and I was a bit heavier than you are (114kg). I found that within a couple months I outgrew the board and downsized to a 9'10 allwave for surfing. I also purchased the 14' x 29'' glide for flatwater. I tried twice to do some flatwater paddles with the 11'6 fly, but struggled to keep up with the other flatwater oriented boards. In that last year, I have downsized again from the 9'10 allwave to a 9'5 allwave. I am also down to about 106 kg. In saying all that, I still have the 14' x 29" glide and do not plan on getting rid of it anytime soon. The glide has been perfect for me on flatwater, and I love the stability when things get choppy. I never looked at the 12' glide or have paddle one so I can't comment on that board other than that the 14' glide has a recommended weight less than what I weigh now and floats me perfectly well. I suppose what I am getting at is that you will quickly build the balance and stability muscles to be paddling something smaller and could possibly be wishing you had started off on something smaller in the first place. But I am also one for the opinion that we are out there to have fun, not to struggle with standing up. It can be a tough decision!

Another point to consider is that while both the boards you mentioned hold their value, the 11'6 fly might be difficult to sell when you want to downsize. It was for me at least. Due to the size of it, there are not many people that want a board that big. It is, however, a great board to keep and have for friends and family to play around on or introducing people to the sport with.

The glide and the fly are very different shapes. The glide will be great for flatwater and very small surf while the fly will be great for smallish to medium surf with a little bit of flatwater thrown in. In my opinion of course.

One board that I found did both a bit of flatwater and surfing quite well was the 11' Nalu. I've had a chance to demo it twice and if I had the money, I'd be getting one today. It might be a bit tippy starting out, but it is a lot of fun. Another similar board to that is the Hobie 11' x 31.5", which I've had the opportunity to demo and enjoyed it as well.

Anyway, there is some food for thought. Let us know what you end up with, always interested to see what people end up going for once they have all the information.

Just a quick update. Decided to go with the Naish 12 Glide touring. 4 day away.
Will let you all know how I go in ocean once the stinger season is over up here. Can not wait to get it in flat water!

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Macsup said..
Just a quick update. Decided to go with the Naish 12 Glide touring. 4 day away.
Will let you all know how I go in ocean once the stinger season is over up here. Can not wait to get it in flat water!

Congrats.. It's an awesome board.. I know a couple who bought two of them (one each)..

Thanks DJ,

Now have save up for a better paddle, but looking forward to getting water and learning more of what the board can do