Hi all,
First of all, just let me tell you that I'm a brand junkie. I have a Naish Mana GS 10', a Naish Glide 12'6", a Naish Mana Air 11'12" (can you see a pattern emerging yet), and three paddles.....yep, all Naish.
I travel a lot for work, usually in our 40' event rig/motor home, so taking a board with me isn't usually an issue, but we are hoping to start annual trips OS to SUP in some of the better tropical locations. Sure the Mana Air is a great option for flat water paddling, but I want something I can do a little surfing on too, without compromising flat water performance too much, since that will be the bulk of what we do.
I was looking at the Mana GT 8'5" x 30" since I love my Mana 10' so much, but then I discovered the Hokua LE X32 8'8" x 32" in a store when I was freezing my but off in Canberra last week, and this thing is actually a higher volume than the Mana (140L compared with 135L). I weigh 91kg.....soon to be 85kg all going well, so would the Hokua be a better flat water board for me, or is the Mana always going to be a better flat water board? I don't want both..........or do I? I think I'm putting Ronnie Naish's kids through college!
Mick@47

I had the 2013 9'5 Mana... and now own a 2014 9'5 Mana.

You said the bulk of time would be on flat-water... with a little surfing.

I have not ridden a LE 32, but I have seen them..... they look like they would be VERY hard to paddle straight... good surfer, mediocre Flat-water I think

The 8'5 Mana will probably paddle much better than the LE32... but not a great approach if you are spending most of your time in the flats....IMO

You may want to consider the 2014 9'5 mana.... light years better surfer than your 10'... if it's last years model

*The 2013 Mana is a better flat-water board than the 2014 version
*The 2014 Mana is a MUCH more capable surfer than the 2013 Mana... but still pretty satisfactory in the flats


or... you could branch out....try something new?

9'6 HRS Prowave at 153 liters
Better surfer than the Mana.... I like paddling it better in the Flats than My Mana
Bulletproof construction too stand up to the rigors of travel
Cheaper than Mana
Lighter than Mana

I have both the 9'6 Prowave HRS & 9'5 Mana.... I'm selling the Mana, now that I have the Prowave. Just a little input. Have fun!

The Mana will out paddle the X32 in flat water every day. I have the 8'3" X32 and it is certainly the slowest board I have in the flat. Improved marginally by changing to Quads.

The 8'10" Mana will paddle quicker than the 8'5"

Just get a starboard and be done with it

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supthecreek said..
I had the 2013 9'5 Mana... and now own a 2014 9'5 Mana.

You said the bulk of time would be on flat-water... with a little surfing.

I have not ridden a LE 32, but I have seen them..... they look like they would be VERY hard to paddle straight... good surfer, mediocre Flat-water I think

The 8'5 Mana will probably paddle much better than the LE32... but not a great approach if you are spending most of your time in the flats....IMO

You may want to consider the 2014 9'5 mana.... light years better surfer than your 10'... if it's last years model

*The 2013 Mana is a better flat-water board than the 2014 version
*The 2014 Mana is a MUCH more capable surfer than the 2013 Mana... but still pretty satisfactory in the flats


or... you could branch out....try something new?

9'6 HRS Prowave at 153 liters
Better surfer than the Mana.... I like paddling it better in the Flats than My Mana
Bulletproof construction too stand up to the rigors of travel
Cheaper than Mana
Lighter than Mana

I have both the 9'6 Prowave HRS & 9'5 Mana.... I'm selling the Mana, now that I have the Prowave. Just a little input. Have fun!

Thanks for the input Supthecreek. One thing I think I forgot to mention though, whatever I get, it will have to be a maximum or 9' so I can take it on a plane. Otherwise I would just stick with my 10' Mana.
Mick@47

8'6" JP Prowave. Surfs well, 110 litres, paddles well too - so would be OK for flat water paddling. I have the carbon model and have found it to be light and tough, so should be good for travel.

I haven't seen one yet, but I understand that the new model about to be released has been refined for more surfing performance, so I would recommend the current model for your purposes.

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Rosscoe said..
8'6" JP Prowave. Surfs well, 110 litres, paddles well too - so would be OK for flat water paddling. I have the carbon model and have found it to be light and tough, so should be good for travel.

I haven't seen one yet, but I understand that the new model about to be released has been refined for more surfing performance, so I would recommend the current model for your purposes.

110 litres isn't going to cut it with my fat arse on it for flat water. I'm leaning towards the Mana 9'5".

47 I would stick with the 8'5" Mana. This will give you room to progress. I demoed the Mana against the 8'5" Starby Pocket Rocket. Both fantastic boards but ultimately ended up with the SB due to the carbon construction.

Juz my 2 cents worth...

Red Paddle 9'2" Surfstar inflatable with 2 3 foot long lateral sail battens to stiffen on top of the 25PSI
Stiff, surfs and convenient to travel with a 3 piece paddle.
gets easy on the wave - surfs fine.
Sole problem: the bottom turns are a bit slippy.

47...I thought you said it had to be a maximum of 9' - to get it on a plane? A 9'5" Mana aint gonna do it for you either.