Hi all,

Long time reader, first time poster, and I'm hoping you can please help me out with some questions about a new inflatable touring SUP?

This will be my first SUP purchase. I've been SUPing a bunch of times over the last few years, and enjoy it more than kayaking, which I've done a fair bit more of... I'm looking to paddle on Pittwater and Sydney Harbour, as well as on trips to other flat water places by 4WD or sailing. (I don't see myself surfing on it as I usually just bodysurf). I could see myself using it for multi-day trips in the future too...

Boards I'm researching are:

- Red Voyager 13'2" x 30" (but seems rather expensive)

- Naish Glide 14' x 30"

- Any other board suggestions you have?

The questions I'd like to ask are:

1 - Width - I'm hoping to get a just-wide-enough board for both speed and balance - are 30" boards the way to go? (All the real SUPs I've tried have been excessively wide and stupidly stable, so it's hard for me to know... However I have improvised a SUP on an old fibreglass surf rescue board and a homemade timber paddle, and I figure if I can stand up on that then I should be able to stand up on these easily enough too?)

A second question about width is from my searches on these forums - people here have talked about a Naish Glide 14' x 29" board. Is this now an old model?

2 - Speed - Is the extra length on the Naish going to make it any faster than the Red?

3 - Durability - How do the inflatable touring boards or brands compare for quality of materials and construction? Are there any clear differences?

4 - Cost Efficiency - I would like to buy a decent second-hand board if I can, but will otherwise get a new board. Any suggestions for where to go to buy one of these boards are welcome!

Thanks muchly!

We have some Starboard inflatables in our hire fleet that are 3+ years old and still going.
I had to exchange a valve core on one.
We also had some older Naish 12'6 'One' models in the fleet a few years back that a few customers took overseas on rental agreements.
I have never paddled a Red or any other brand.
The newer Inflatables I have seen are just getting better, double layered, seperate air chambers for extra safety, its all on their web pages.
Don't buy a second hand inflatable.
A seperate air chamber could save your life.
Speed depends on your ability, durability depends on how well you look after it.
Comparing speeds of different brands with similar dimensions will be a marketing exercise.
Get a good paddle if you can, a cheap good paddle is a myth.
You have a cool name.

Shame you're in Sydney.. I'm in Melbourne and I have one that I would sell that's like new and the perfect size for what you need.. I think it's 12'x 34" wide..

The width is the most important thing if touring unless you are a fly weight with excellent balance and only paddling in super flat water.. I'd recommend not going less than 32" wide.. and wider than that is better.

How heavy are you?

It's a good time to support the local SUP retailers that can still trade in some form in these dire economic times.

It's also the best time to get the best deal on retail pricing.

New boards and good retailers have a warranty.

Fortunately I don't have any new stock remaining.

I can hear the sound of a distant lawnmower all the way from my place down here.

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Jacksboards said..
We have some Starboard inflatables in our hire fleet that are 3+ years old and still going.
...
The newer Inflatables I have seen are just getting better, double layered, seperate air chambers for extra safety, its all on their web pages.
Don't buy a second hand inflatable.
...
durability depends on how well you look after it.

Great ideas, thanks Jacksboards! Yeah, I'll certainly take good care of my SUP - and aim to get a good 15+ years of service from it - some of my skis and snowboards are that old and still going strong. Hence wanting to make sure I have a good quality product from the start.

So was there ever a moment in time where there was a distinct step change in SUP technology - with double layered / separate chamber boards becoming standard from year 20__ something? (Like there was with early generation inflatable kites becoming superseded by more advanced depower models, for example?)

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Jacksboards said..
We also had some older Naish 12'6 'One' models in the fleet a few years back that a few customers took overseas on rental agreements.

Yeah I've seen some Naish One boards around the forums. I get the impression that 12'6" would be good for most of my paddling interest, but that the 13-14' long boards would probably be better...? Also, it appears that front and back tie-downs would be an advantage for me for future trips, and the One doesn't have that.

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Jacksboards said..
A seperate air chamber could save your life.
...
Get a good paddle if you can, a cheap good paddle is a myth.

Great tips, thanks!

A side question here is that I assume wearing a leash at all times is an essential safety feature? And that for pretty much any day trip (say on enclosed waters and less than 400m from shore) that if anything bad happens, the board is my float, and I either paddle / hand-paddle / or drift to shore. (I'm a surf lifesaver too so I'm happy with hand-paddling boards). So I figure I wouldn't need a life jacket. But do the rules say I need to be wearing one?

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Jacksboards said..
You have a cool name.

Thanks. Inspired by a great song from Den Svenska Bj?rnstammen...

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DavidJohn said..
Shame you're in Sydney.. I'm in Melbourne and I have one that I would sell that's like new and the perfect size for what you need.. I think it's 12'x 34" wide..

The width is the most important thing if touring unless you are a fly weight with excellent balance and only paddling in super flat water.. I'd recommend not going less than 32" wide.. and wider than that is better.

How heavy are you?

Ah yes, I should have said. I'm 185cm / 6'2" tall, and 85kg. My balance should be anywhere between alright and good.

Thanks for the width feedback DavidJohn. Seeing lots of 30" wide boards, I figured that this might be a good standard, and that any wider might be too wide. Perhaps I'd just need to try something around this size to figure that one out...

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Jacksboards said..
It's a good time to support the local SUP retailers that can still trade in some form in these dire economic times.

It's also the best time to get the best deal on retail pricing.

Yeah this SUP idea has been in the back of my mind for some time, and the opportunity to get one now and do some physically separated exercise on the water appears to be worth a shot... as long as this kind of exercise remains ok, though!

I have had a Naish Glide 14x29 when I wanted to do touring and it is a great board, heavy but if you get a GTW model it is a few KG less and when you carry it back to the car it makes a difference. You could get a 12'6 x 30 which would also be great but you need to demo a few to get a feel for the boards. If you Ski, Snow Board etc your balance will be pretty good so you could go to a 27 wide but again depending on the brand as they are all a bit different on the stability question.

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DaveSandan said..
I have had a Naish Glide 14x29 when I wanted to do touring and it is a great board, heavy but if you get a GTW model it is a few KG less and when you carry it back to the car it makes a difference. You could get a 12'6 x 30 which would also be great but you need to demo a few to get a feel for the boards. If you Ski, Snow Board etc your balance will be pretty good so you could go to a 27 wide but again depending on the brand as they are all a bit different on the stability question.

Yeah, I've not looked to far into the weight. And it seems tricky to come by published weight data for these boards...

Also, what's GTW, please?

Thanks Dave for the feedback!

They are Epoxy boards .???

Get on the phone to the retailers still open in Sydney, there are some great shops with great brands still having a go.
Buy local to your area if possible.
They will tell you what you want to know.
Otherwise this sounds like an advertorial thread. you may have lured me in....
You are on it with the width, you don't want to upgrade when you improve, avoid the older models if you can, from 2019 and up is safer.
12'6 compared to 14' in inflatables is a good question, Im sure marketing departments will have a speel on that.
I sold a few 12'6 Starboard touring boards in 2018 and I still see one customer regularly distance paddling that board from my beach with a smile.

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Jacksboards said..
They are Epoxy boards .???

Get on the phone to the retailers still open in Sydney, there are some great shops with great brands still having a go.
Buy local to your area if possible.
They will tell you what you want to know.
Otherwise this sounds like an advertorial thread. you may have lured me in....
You are on it with the width, you don't want to upgrade when you improve, avoid the older models if you can, from 2019 and up is safer.
12'6 compared to 14' in inflatables is a good question, Im sure marketing departments will have a speel on that.
I sold a few 12'6 Starboard touring boards in 2018 and I still see one customer regularly distance paddling that board from my beach with a smile.

Oh, GTW are solid boards? I see. Yeah, that's not what I'm after - I don't have room to store a big board, and wouldn't be able to travel with it as easily.

Yeah, I've started looking around the local SUP stores, and need to try some options out.

All of the 12'6" boards that I've seen that could be used for touring have only one tie-down area forward of the centre. So it makes me think that these boards would be alright for day trips, but might be more limited for longer excursions? Having not been touring with a full set of camping gear before, I'm wondering if I'd want to get a board with a second tie-down space in the rear, to distribute the load out a bit more?

Nah, my queries in this thread are legit - I'm not up to speed with the SUPing scene, so this discussion has been helpful in testing my ideas out. Thanks!

www.kayakandsup.com.au/shop/accessories/sup-+stand+up+paddle/self+adhesive+lash+points

I'm surprised no one has said anything about Red. I don't know a lot about touring boards, but Red Paddle is generally regarded as being the leader in the field of inflatable SUP. 5 YEAR warranty is hard to beat.