What is a good board for the perth swan river ?

I am looking to get an easy to use sup for myself and friends for use on the perth swan river for cruising and fitness. I am about 6ft 1inch and just under 100kg. I've also seen some adverts for 71 brand sups, and they are cheaper than other brands.

I've done windsurfing in the past, but i think SUP should be a fun way to get fit and get back on the water. If i go for a more expensive board than the 71 brand, then what advantages do i get ? I'm not too fussed about the weight of the board, as all the sup boards seem pretty light to me.

I like the idea of a stable, fast board for the river, and maybe i'll have a play of the waves of some of the bigger boats that are always passing through, also possibly take a kid along as a passenger at times

I've seen lots of brands mentioned here eg hobie, coreban, fanatic, 71, etc, and many sizes. I'm thinking 10.5 ft to 12.5ft will suit me. I'm thinking a good condition second hand board might be a good starter board

I was reading that quite a few of the sup boards eg fanatic fly etc has mast base inserts, so i could also use them as a windsurfer....

Hi Perthriver,

We have a strong paddle group at Maylands on the Swan and train three days a week in the mornings.

The vast majority of our crew ride raceboards. It seems you have been looking at mainly round nosed all rounders which is fine for general paddling and catching a few waves.

If you are into fitness, these boards will do just fine and at ~100kg an 11' board will do fine. The Fanatic Fly's have a mast base insert so it can be used as a sailboard and also as a wave board for catching small waves at Cottesloe or from boat wakes on Point Walter. However, ......

The round noses won't do downwinders if you ever get the urge, and they are slow. A round nose will do about 8.5km/h at full throttle and not much more. This gets a little frustrating if you want to see the river and get a few km under your belt. For river work, I prefer a race board. Yes, raceboards cost a bit more, in fact a fair bitmore, especially brand new, but there are some good options in second hand as Greg said, you should pay up around $1500.

You basically have two main options, to buy a 14ft racer or a 12'6" racer. The shorter of the two is more fun, easier to handle and can catch a wave as they are designed to race in and out of the surf. They tend to be built for stability and speed so a bigger beginner like yourself whould benefit from the wider square tail and wider overall width.

The 14ft boards are a bit faster and are a bit better at downwind (depending upon fetch) but mostly turn like the Queen Mary, are harder to store and handle. If you are into doing long distances, these are a great option.

In our training crew, we have a mixture of 12'6" boards and 14ft boards and most have both. We use the shorter boards for our short race course training of a Saturday and the 14ft boards for long distance training and cardio.

You are welcome to join us and try a few boards within the group of a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday. 5:30am and 7:00am sessions are all free. Within the group we have a wide variety of different boards and paddles. We have a couple of very fast Flat water 14's for sale 2nd hand, and also a couple of fast 12'6"s 2nd hand, suitable for a bigger lad, all under $1500

www.facebook.com/supperthtrainingcrew or drop in to the shop cnr of West Coast Hwy and Brighton Road, Scarborough. We have Perth's biggest selection of raceboards and performance paddles.

DM

Hi PR
Naish, Fanatic, Coreban, DC, starboard, jimmy Lewis, surf tech are all great boards. It is really about personal preference which comes from demo.

Darren has a great range to try - fanatic, coreban and surf tech. Mike has naish, fanatic, starboard and DC. Ian has a great range of starboard boards. Everyone is different, thank goodness, so you'll find a board that suits. Demo, demo, demo u can't go wrong with that range - just don't buy cheap... You will regret it.
You'll find everyone is really friendly and accommodating in this sport, so don't worry about getting out for a demo- the shop guys understand it is about getting the right board for the person.

it seems like the fanatic falcon race 14'x30" $1950 will suit me. I wont be competing, so probably the HRS being about $600 cheaper will be a better option than the $2600 carbon model.

Then i just need a carbon paddle, or maybe a starboard carbon paddle with a rubber insert (to stop the paddle scratching the board)

the starboard sprint 14'x25" is also quite interesting, but i think i prefer having the extra flotation of fanatic for when i might carry a kid along


the fanatic falcon 14"x30" is the latest model, so i suppose there wont be any second hand ones around ?

the mainpeak 71 paddle' 14" race board is cheaper at $1699 (incl board, bag, paddle, leash) though...

I just got myself a new board which may want to consider as a candidate as well.
Naish glide gs touring 12'6".
I have been paddling a Naish Nalu 10'10" and paddle it in our local river.
I chose it as I knew it tracked well and had plenty of volume (201l) for myself (92kgs) and also my 4 yr old son.
Figured I could take it out on small days and ride a few waves to see how that was too.
After riding it in waves I have come to the conclusion that its not my thing to ride sups in waves.
Content to ride conventional surfboards and paddle the sup in the river or bays.
My wife has a 10' Fanatic fly so if I have the inkling to ride some waves again that will do just fine anyway.
So with my focus firmly on the river I decided to change to a board which will be a bit better in the currents produced by the lower tide range and faster through the water to allow me to comfortably paddle in windier conditions.
I also take my son and one of our daughters (11 and 13) on the Nalu and the board is running out of volume with the son and one of the daughters on there if the wind is up or the tide is running.
The GS is 265l (from memory) and so will let me take them all along much more comfortably.
It has a semi-displacement nose which will help cut through mild chop I guess.
Really liked the width throughout the planshape of the Nalu (nose and tail) when there's kids aboard as they don't tend to stay put all the time so stability is a plus.
Therefore I was also after some nose and tail width on the GS to get that same stability for when the kid's are coming along with me.
With the two boards (GS and Fly 10'er) we can go up the river as a whole family (wife, myself, 4yr old, 11 and 13 yr olds) and take a picnic and paddle up creeks to go exploring.
The girls can paddle the boards as well so the whole family has a good time.
Just mentioning this as it's a rewarding thing to do as opposed to when the surf is pumping and I'm off on a solitary pursuit as my kids prefer riding bodyboards in the shallows.
One other thing...about race boards is that they generally don't have a flat deck like the GS touring and so if you do have a passenger along their decks won't be so user friendly.
The GS has a non slip coating up to the nose past the deck grip so a passenger will still have good traction.
It's the little things that can really help make the board you buy a keeper.

Cool.
Demo before you buy is the way to go though.
I was interested in the Fanatic a while back and I took one for a paddle and changed my mind.
If you're going to put a kid on it take the youngster when you demo it so that you know how it paddles with them on it.
Not a bad idea to demo when conditions are less than stellar as well, so that you know how the board handles the conditions which you can be faced with when the wind changes and your battling a stiff headwind and tidal changes combined.
Haven't got my GS in the water yet.
Waves have been too good.