Used market for surf SUP is very limited where I live, and an interesting board just came up: A Jimmy Lewis Worldwide 110L carbon 8'1" x 29.5, very lightly used, $900 USD (lol my apologies if seller is on here and I'm talking about you right now).

With the help of folks on here I picked up a Rogue Shuffle 9'4" x 31" 143L in November and have been surfing on it about every week since, in winter Pacific US surf. I was comfortable on the board first session and also caught waves on my friends 115L Imagine 9' back in November, that was shaky at first but I did OK. I've been planning on moving to a ~125L Infinity RNB or L41 ST, half so I can have a second board (the Rogue) to take friends/spouse on and half cause I'm super motivated to progress my surfing and I (perhaps a newbie illusion) feel like I could progress faster on a shorter board. I can now top turn in addition to bottom turn and I've started doing my first cutbacks, though they I'm sure they look terrible. I'm 39, 85kg, used to float cork 900's over giant table top jumps on skis, so I think of myself as athletic for sports like this but that was some time ago.

Apologies for long intro repeating what I said in earlier posts -- so question is, would it be crazy to skip to this 110L board? Should I play it safe and get a 120-something L board first (or just not buy any boards)? I'll prob have to pay 1.5-2x as much to get the RNB or L41 just cause they're never on used market here.
Thanks in advance for any insights.

At your age and weight and your self acclaimed athletic ability I'd say no you're not crazy to go for a 110 litre board, particularly a 29.5 wide one.
If you follow infinity on any social media you'll see they often have used or specials come up, we're sometimes envious of these US customer specials only.

I'd say go for it. I've owned a worldwide and it surfed amazingly well. If anything i'd recommend going the smaller board as opposed to the 125L board as the WW can get a bit corky if over volumed. It is still 1.3x body weight which is plenty.

The nose is narrow so paddling for waves takes a little extra thought on foot placement, but the thing rips.

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Kisutch said..
Used market for surf SUP is very limited where I live, and an interesting board just came up: A Jimmy Lewis Worldwide 110L carbon 8'1" x 29.5, very lightly used, $900 USD (lol my apologies if seller is on here and I'm talking about you right now).

With the help of folks on here I picked up a Rogue Shuffle 9'4" x 31" 143L in November and have been surfing on it about every week since, in winter Pacific US surf. I was comfortable on the board first session and also caught waves on my friends 115L Imagine 9' back in November, that was shaky at first but I did OK. I've been planning on moving to a ~125L Infinity RNB or L41 ST, half so I can have a second board (the Rogue) to take friends/spouse on and half cause I'm super motivated to progress my surfing and I (perhaps a newbie illusion) feel like I could progress faster on a shorter board. I can now top turn in addition to bottom turn and I've started doing my first cutbacks, though they I'm sure they look terrible. I'm 39, 85kg, used to float cork 900's over giant table top jumps on skis, so I think of myself as athletic for sports like this but that was some time ago.

Apologies for long intro repeating what I said in earlier posts -- so question is, would it be crazy to skip to this 110L board? Should I play it safe and get a 120-something L board first (or just not buy any boards)? I'll prob have to pay 1.5-2x as much to get the RNB or L41 just cause they're never on used market here.
Thanks in advance for any insights.

Jimmy Lewis makes great boards. If it's in good condition and you look after it it'll hold its value. I don't have a WW but from all accounts they're pretty stable. Go for it.

I'm a big fan of getting cheaper used boards as a way of dialing in what sup is best. You could always try and sell it if it doesn't work out. The other thing is since you will have 2 boards, you can work up to the smaller one without it limiting you or just use it for part of a session. It can be a lot of fun to see how small you can go as your balance and technique improve as long as you enjoy that kind of challenge. I've been trying to find my best performance/small board shape as a first step in building a quiver because it gives me a good idea of the dims needed to replace the bigger boards I learned on which I want to replace with a step up bigger wave board, and a more dialed in performance longboard.

Thanks for quick and informative replies. I'm gonna go for it!

Lol had a very humbling morning trying to get past the breakers when channel wasn't working, maybe my athletic potential lower than I thought and I'm more like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite.

Got the board out for first session, but in nasty conditions. I was surprised how stable it felt during the paddle out in the channel, turned into a small wave and the board felt really fun and lively. Hahaha I was feeling confident, but then I got punished trying to hold my position in the current and chop. Lots of falling. Definitely had to be moving to feel stable, caught 3 or 4 waves but nothing I could crank a turn on. Psyched to get it in the water again in decent conditions. Got a pretty good ding on the tail, poor board was getting beat on.

A weakness of JL boards is they paint chip easily. I suggest rail tape. I have owned a WW they are fun boards in small waves.

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hilly said..
A weakness of JL boards is they paint chip easily. I suggest rail tape. I have owned a WW they are fun boards in small waves.

I have had JL boards over many years for both SUP and kite surf no issues.
I still have the 8 5 Striker which is my favourite and a long term keeper plus a kite surf board both white and all good.
I've had blue and red JL Kwads and no issues.
All my boards are kept in board bags.

Agreed ... my Experience with JL boards are that they are bullet proof and chipping was something that never happened (perhaps things have improved) My SMIK on the other hand chips like a b*tch ....

As it's been said before,paint also adds weight.... put some colour in the resin as some manufacturers are doing.I love JL boards but they do chip, I always rail tape them ,imagine how light they would be without all that paint

Got in a session in decent'ish conditions, knee to chest gutless waves and mild chop. I had a 1h burn in period and then things really started to click. Caught lots of waves and had a blast on the smaller board, feels comfortable now. Thanks for encouragement to buy this board. Super excited to get it out in more powerful waves next week.

I had thought I'd need to catch waves way later on the 8'1" board but it didn't feel very different, actually did better paddling in on my weak side compared to on my longer board.

Could be a narrower width up front on the smaller board allows you to catch the paddle in a better spot without having to contort as much for the heel side. Anyway your stoked to be able to ride something you can turn easier so quickly.

I've been able to get ~ 6 more sessions in on this board so wanted to share experience in case helpful for others making similar volume drops or trying this board, JL Worldwide 110L.

Best part about getting this board is that I quit drinking beers midweek so that I'd lose weight and have an easier time. Lol not sure I lost weight, but I've been sleeping a lot better and saving money.

I'm really enjoying this board and I've had it out in waves from about thigh high to overhead and fairly powerful (~5-8 ft on face @ 17s period last weekend) in conditions ranging from near-glassy to bad chop and bounce. I'm sort of a mix of dialed in and flailing in terms of stability. In bad conditions, I'll have a window early on where I'm not quite warmed up and I fall a lot waiting between sets. This can be pretty frustrating, in the moment. I've been doing 3-4h sessions, and (on rough days) I have a sweet spot in the middle where I have the balance dialed but I'm not yet exhausted. I'll admit that the falling fits make me a little nervous before each session, took my overall confidence down a notch even though I'm surfing better.

On cleaner days I forget that I'm on a small board, except I fall more when changing stance on board to get over whitewater or at end of ride after kicking out of a wave. I need to work on my staggered surf stance; it tires my back leg for some reason, so I'm in a narrow parallel stance when not paddling for a wave. Catching waves is a little harder than on my longer board, but it's not because I miss them or have to catch super late, it's because the smaller board and surfier shape makes it less forgiving when I screw up and get off balance frenetically paddling for a wave. I bury nose sometimes trying to catch waves early.

I'm still getting a feel for the nuances of the board, but overall I love it. Small waves are way more fun on the shorter board, my frontside top turns have gotten way better. Surfing backside feels way easier on this board than my old one; this is probably where I've improved most in last month. The one worry I had for the board was I kept falling on my face when trying to crank frontside bottom turns on steeper waves. I thought maybe it was the thick rails in the middle of the board. But my last session, in nice waves, I focused more on my rear foot placement and realized that was the issue. On my 9'3" board I was super cognizant of my rear foot position and keeping in towards rail on bottom turns. I thought that with this new little hot rod I could just get my foot back and not worry about it. The board looks super pulled in because your eyes see the shape of the full deck pad, but the tail is kinda wide, which is prob only reason I can surf it. Anyway, I'm starting to get a better feel for where I need my foot to be and how hard to press. I got some super fun bottom turns in my last session.

I was going to keep my 9'3 x 31 143L Rogue Shuffle for friends/spouse but lol they can use my inflatable or borrow friends longboard; I traded Shuffle for a Rogue Payout that popped up, 9'3 x 30 129L, pulled in performance shape. Not what I would have chosen as a second board, but thought it might come in handy in spots where bigger surf comes with lots of current and bounce. I didn't wanna sell Shuffle cause Rogue dropped retail price by like $700 in new version (non carbon?), not sure I'd get much for older one.

Thanks again for the nudge to take a risk on JL Worldwide.

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Kisutch said..
I need to work on my staggered surf stance; it tires my back leg for some reason, so I'm in a narrow parallel stance when not paddling for a wave.

Yes, you should avoid putting your leg in constant tension, it can lead to injuries if you have to do a sudden effort on a tired muscle.

One trick is to paddle staggered, but switch foot (rear foot forward) on non-critical phases. You get stability, but it really relaxes the legs to alternate the efforts. The other is the one you are doing: adapting the longitudinal range of your stance to the situation: less for paddling around, more for water movements, whitewater, takeoffs.

You can also sit some between sets during lulls to conserve energy. Probably you already do, 3-4 hr sessions must be nice to be younger. You should continue to improve pretty quick at that rate.

Thanks for tips guys!

I have the 8'9 WW and same height and weight but 12 years older. Super stable but once the wind kicks up under the nose I am balancing and missing waves. Couldn't imagine going that small in PNW conditions. That's awesome. I see very few on boards that small. Summer morning conditions will help you master it.

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Charlie22 said..
I have the 8'9 WW and same height and weight but 12 years older. Super stable but once the wind kicks up under the nose I am balancing and missing waves. Couldn't imagine going that small in PNW conditions. That's awesome. I see very few on boards that small. Summer morning conditions will help you master it.

Thanks! If you are ever on central OR coast you should take it for a spin. Cheers

Lol. I'd be taking it for a swim. Inland surfer here making it out a couple times a month spring to fall. Love that area and check out the cams often to see what I'm missing. GP sells JL now..tempting me to add another.