Hi, I'Ve been looking at getting a 14' board now for a few months. I've been on the hunt for a 14x30 fanatic or similar but they are few and far between. There seem to be more of 27-28" boards around.

My question is this, how much more stable is a 30 compared to a 28? I'm 6'5" and about 106kg.

Regards

Paul

Shredder

Depends on where you plan to paddle, if its in the ocean then you will need the stability, if its on flatwater then you may get way with a 28" wide board.

I'm 6'2" 127 kgs and have a 2014 Naish Glide 14' x 29", it s a great cruising/fitness flatwater/ocean board for a heavier bloke. I test drove a few varieties of Fanatic boards during my search for a 14' board and they did not seem to be as stable as the Naish boards with a heavier weight on them.

I have mentioned in a previous post that for a heavy paddler of say 90kgs adding a further 16kgs of weight certainly makes a difference to the boards performance in all aspects especially stability, in my case I add another 37 kgs. For a 90kg bloke it would be like sitting 1 or two 20kg bags on concrete on the board whilst paddling.

I also have a Suplove 11'2" x 29" and a JP fusion 10'8" x 34 that I use in the surf. I originally purchased the SupLove as a hybrid but found it too slow on the flat water and a little unstable in the surf for a person of my weight. The JP is really stable but not quick for flatwater paddles. I test drove the new Naish javelins and they seem to be quite stable but for my money the glide is best suited for a heavier bloke.

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My question is this, how much more stable is a 30 compared to a 28?

Quite a lot. The difference is certainly big enough that you should give it some serious thought, at your size. As a rule of thumb, I think most people are happiest in choppy seas on boards that are around 2" wider than they can use in perfectly flat water. So it matters a great deal what you intend to do with your board.

Stability isn't just width. I have a JL M14 for example...it is 28 wide but very stable because of its hull shape. I have a friend who has a Starboard race board which is 27.5 wide and and same length and he finds it wobbly until he is paddling. We both have reasonable balance and around same size.....I am heavier.....but I can stand on M14 and take pics in calm water with little difficulty. They are not boards meant for the same thing but just to demonstrate that width isn't th only thing to look at.

Width, length and stability, and how they relate to each other is interesting to me. I have a 14' 404 Zeedonk Green Label, which i bought hoping to use for flatwater to downwinders. At 28" wide with the piercing nose, it did not do well for me in chop and bigger conditions (over 3') going downwind. Then i purchased an SIC F14 (30" wide) and it has become my go to board for every condition. I also purchased a Jamie Mitchell Latitude 14'x30" in Pro-Elite construction last week as well. Today was our first downwinder of the season. I took the SIC and my 18 year old son took the JM 14'. Conditions were about 20-25mph wind and 18" to the occasional 2' chop. The SIC is pure magic to me. It glides effortlessly. My son is quite new to downwinding and struggled to find the sweet spot on the Mitchell board. He couldn't keep up with me, and the other 2 guys also struggled to maintain pace. We switched halfway through the paddle and i took the Jamie Mitchell. Now, both the SIC and the Jamie Mitchell are the same length and width, but the SIC is WAY more solid feeling. I like the Jamie Mitchell, but it will take more wind and slightly bigger conditions to get it to break free. Perhaps a fin change will help.

My point to my essay here is that i am amazed how 2 boards, with the same length and width, can perform SO differently.

For reference. .. i am 46 years old, 6'4" tall and about 225lbs.
My son is 18 years old, 6'3" tall and about 205lbs.

Thanks for all the input. It's good to hear from people who have paddled a few different boards.

Sounds like I need to broaden my search criteria and take some notice of the shape. Coming into winter I don't think there are going to be too many demo days to work with.

Thanks again.

I've tended to find that squarer rails really assist with stability, but potentially at the cost of a little bit of speed. I'm taller and heaver than you and ride a 2014 Glide GS 14x29 - in my mind it's about as stable as it gets (haven't ridden the 30 though) whilst still being pretty quick. Love the board. Another one that's worth a look would be a the Starboard Allstar in the 28" width, great board but a touch tippier than the Glide...

You're right, not too many demo days in the coming months, and before too long there'll be 2016 models to tempt you!!!