i,m 95kg and want to buy a sup for me to get out on the flat and also to play in small waves, also fore the kids
I dont get much free time so its not going to get used daily, maybe twice a week.
the boards i have seen are a 2009 naish nalu 11.6, this has got massive rails, but looks stable,
them a 2010 laguna bay 11.4, a lot thiner.
then a 2012 fanatic fly 10.6, this is the latest board, but the most $.
any suggestions would be appreciated..

The 10'0 Naish Mana is also a good starting point.
http://www.naishsurfing.com/2012/mana-100.html
There was a 2011 model also. Probably the same board, just different colours.

The 10'0 should be a little bit better in the surf than the 11'6. But I admit, I haven't paddled either. But I have paddled the Mana 9'6/9'5, and the 9'0. I was impressed by the 9'0 actually. But it is a bit small, according to your description above.

What price range are the ones you are looking at?

The Australian Made part of me says, go Laguna Bay !

The biggest McTavish board sometimes pops up cheap too. The 10'0. http://www.mctavish.com.au/surfboards-buy/standup-paddleboards

www.seabreeze.com.au/Classifieds/Stand%20Up%20Paddle/~b2rmu/2011-Mctavish-100-Sup-10-0.aspx?search=A4MW%2fLfizXsLMN3dMz%2fNkg%3d%3d

Starboard Drive 10.5 would be perfect for you.

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trentos78 said...

Starboard Drive 10.5 would be perfect for you.

+ 1

Also for the kids? .. To paddle.. or for you to paddle with them on also?.. How big are they?

DJ

Here's mine....The Laguna bay 11'4" that you could probably be talking about?
It's a bargain and it's a 2011.
I've laid out the big $'s and you get the bargain.
I was offered very close to my asking price by a shop as a trade in but I don't need another sup.
Got the new Balin cover as an optional extra too.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130576729820?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649

I'm in the same boat as you Nemo and around the same weight. I'm about to start to demo a few boards and the first one I'll be trying is the 10'6 surftech soft top. Its nearly 32'wide and 5 inches thick which should be plenty. Beyond that am looking at the Pearson Arrow Laird either 12'or 11' or the 11'2 Surftech Laguna Bay.

To be fair don't forget to mention you're looking at the Surftechs only because you can buy them cheap through someone you know

.

PSH Hull Paddler does everything better than well and you'd easily get away withthe 9'7". $1200.00 brand spanking new with a paddle. Demo one if you don't believe me.

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Cuttlefish said...

To be fair don't forget to mention you're looking at the Surftechs only because you can buy them cheap through someone you know

.

I can get a pretty good deal on one for sure but am going to try out as many as I can first. By the time I'm finished with the demo boards and make a decision I should be able to get a board that I'm going to be happy with for a fair while.
I was told though that the Surftech Laguna Bay boards are very good.
Another thing that appeals to me about the Surftech boards is the construction and the waterproof core.

You're correct about the blank difference but it doesn't mean much in the long run.
If you get a ding with a regular styrene blank equipped board then you dry them out and fix the ding.
You can leave the ding on a Surftech sup as it's not a big deal about water intrusion but it still needs to be fixed.
I've been riding Dick Van Straalen full carbon fibre and regular styrene blank surfboards for years and only had one ding. It sucked no water in the time it took me to get a wave and get out. It's not like it's going to suck up the ocean and explode by the time to you get to shore.
Tully (Laguna Bay) rides a full carbon fibre/eps sup too.
Had other eps/epoxy boards and again no issues.
Of course my hand made Laguna Bay with eps/epoxy and a resin tint (colour in the actual resin) will be an excellent choice and the rails won't be prone to paint chipping like the Surftech with its colour painted on.
The resin tinted hand made boards look mighty pretty beside a plastic looking Surtech and a Boardworks is the poor cousin of Surftech so it would be interesting to see how the PSH hull paddler rails look after the kids give them a good bashing with the paddle blade.

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Cuttlefish said...

You're correct about the blank difference but it doesn't mean much in the long run.
If you get a ding with a regular styrene blank equipped board then you dry them out and fix the ding.
You can leave the ding on a Surftech sup as it's not a big deal about water intrusion but it still needs to be fixed.
I've been riding Dick Van Straalen full carbon fibre and regular styrene blank surfboards for years and only had one ding. It sucked no water in the time it took me to get a wave and get out. It's not like it's going to suck up the ocean and explode by the time to you get to shore.
Tully (Laguna Bay) rides a full carbon fibre/eps sup too.
Had other eps/epoxy boards and again no issues.
Of course my hand made Laguna Bay with eps/epoxy and a resin tint (colour in the actual resin) will be an excellent choice and the rails won't be prone to paint chipping like the Surftech with its colour painted on.
The resin tinted hand made boards look mighty pretty beside a plastic looking Surtech and a Boardworks is the poor cousin of Surftech so it would be interesting to see how the PSH hull paddler rails look after the kids give them a good bashing with the paddle blade.

Thanks for the heads up there Cuttlefish. I reckon a stint on a softop will probably be a good idea so I can get a bit of technique down before I get something newish and beat it up with a paddle. I could imagine the carbon / eps would not be cheap.

My Van Straalen carbon fibre boards held their value incredibly well compared to sups that's for sure.

So worth the money.
Buy an entirely handshaped, custom carbon fibre surfboard made by a legend of a shaper and glassed by a master glasser of the same calibre for $1200.
Pick a carbon fibre paddle of a rack full for $450 plus.

There's this stuff called rail tape that you can use at around $50.00 for three metres. I use cloth tape from Bunnings $3.95 for 50 metres. The PSH Hull Paddler is heavy however, so if it's for kids be aware of that. As for performance it's not far off what Piros can do on the 9'1" Hull Ripper. The more I look and read about them,the difference between Hull Paddlers and Rippers is mainly width and better/lighter materials with a few extra chamfers, chines or whatever else you want to call them. I've got to admit the Surftech Laguna Bays look excellent. Just Demo, Demo and then Demo some more. It's so easy to get sucked in when something performs well to just go "hey I want this now", the only thing is, you hop on a mates board and go "I wish I'd demo'd this first!!" Good luck and have fun!!

I don't know about you guys but I reckon it's a pretty poor deal if you're paying $1500 plus for a board and then find it's rails get beaten up easily by a paddle blade.
I put some electrical tape around my paddle blade when I got my new board and paddle.
The tape didn't stay attached for long but I didn't need it because before long I wasn't hitting my rails and the rails were strong anyway.
That dedicated ding tape is too expensive for what it is.

Hi Cuttlefish. The Hull Paddler costs $1200.00 with paddle, The rails chip very easily because the way PSH save money is to use cheap materials. The rails chip off the enamel covering, so its only a cosmetic problem, Hey I'm a school teacher not a salesman for PSH. Rail tape is far to expensive which is why I gave a cheap alternative. Do the Laguna Bay surftechs chip? I don't get your point unless you're pimping for them. I'm not telling Nemo to buy, I'm saying try everything. If you buy a white Hull Paddler you can't even see the chips. My NSP, McTav and SupATX have all suffered the same fate, because if you are going to surf SUP boards you will make contact with the rail. If you are just into Flatwater, after a very short period of time it becomes a none issue.

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Leroy13 said...

Hi Cuttlefish. The Hull Paddler costs $1200.00 with paddle, The rails chip very easily because the way PSH save money is to use cheap materials. The rails chip off the enamel covering, so its only a cosmetic problem, Hey I'm a school teacher not a salesman for PSH. Rail tape is far to expensive which is why I gave a cheap alternative. Do the Laguna Bay surftechs chip? I don't get your point unless you're pimping for them. I'm not telling Nemo to buy, I'm saying try everything. If you buy a white Hull Paddler you can't even see the chips. My NSP, McTav and SupATX have all suffered the same problem, because if you are going to surf SUP boards you will make contact with the rail. If you are just into Flatwater, after a very short period of time it becomes a none issue.

I agree Leroy. Chips and paint scratches are probably going to happen as well as scrapes and bumps in the carpark . The surftech boards scratch and chip as well.
I was surprised though at the cost of the rail tape. Its expensive enough with the price of the board , a good paddle and a bag. Taping the paddle sounds like a good idea. Although I can get a surftech board at a good price I do believe they are very well made and strong. I had a few surftech longboards around 10 years back because I was sick of the heel dents I was getting in my longboards. I found that even after a year of surfing I could strip the wax off and find no deck compressions at all. In the end I ended up going bck to PU boards because they ride better and you can get a custom. But now that I'm going down the SUP road I want something light and easy to handle that is strong.

Hi SMH, The Hull Paddler is heavy to carry, but is light when surfing. I'm loooking at the new Hull Rippers, 8'10' Starboard Widepoint and the 8'10" Fanatic All Wave. The latter two are apparently very stable , surf well, fit in the car and are very light. Apparently you can get them in Carbon construction which makes them very strong. It really depends on the spare cash you have. I'm not going to buy any of these without demoing them and until after I have my Laminectomy. I think after that a light board will be a must!

i would go for the rail tape, will do for many years, tried the electrical tape and lasted about 2 surfs

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Leroy13 said...

Hi SMH, The Hull Paddler is heavy to carry, but is light when surfing. I'm loooking at the new Hull Rippers, 8'10' Starboard Widepoint and the 8'10" Fanatic All Wave. The latter two are apparently very stable , surf well, fit in the car and are very light. Apparently you can get them in Carbon construction which makes them very strong. It really depends on the spare cash you have. I'm not going to buy any of these without demoing them and until after I have my Laminectomy. I think after that a light board will be a must!

are you planning leo

Hi Matt, How did you guess? You too? I'll give you a ring tonight. I've got Albee on the weekend and don't know about the other two. Hugh's gone to Vietnam with his school.

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Leroy13 said...

Hi Cuttlefish. The Hull Paddler costs $1200.00 with paddle, The rails chip very easily because the way PSH save money is to use cheap materials. The rails chip off the enamel covering, so its only a cosmetic problem, Hey I'm a school teacher not a salesman for PSH. Rail tape is far to expensive which is why I gave a cheap alternative. Do the Laguna Bay surftechs chip? I don't get your point unless you're pimping for them. I'm not telling Nemo to buy, I'm saying try everything. If you buy a white Hull Paddler you can't even see the chips. My NSP, McTav and SupATX have all suffered the same fate, because if you are going to surf SUP boards you will make contact with the rail. If you are just into Flatwater, after a very short period of time it becomes a none issue.

Hi Leroy,
I'd assume the Surftech Laguna Bay's rails chip just as the other sandwich construction boards do that use 2 pac paint. Cosmetic or not it will affect the re-sale value of your board.
BUT I have a Laguna bay for sale that is hand made with an eps foam blank and glassed with epoxy resin. The colour of the board is a resin tint which means the colour is actually mixed in with the resin. So no colour chipping off the rails. It will still chip but it doesn't stand out like a 2 pac finish.
I demoed one sup before buying simply to see if I liked paddling.
Didn't need to demo a stack of boards to figure out which was best when my planned usage was going to be primarily flat-water with kids having a ride too sometimes.
With the possibility of a paddle in small waves on the cards.
People seem to get carried away with the selection process of boards when they are buying their first one and will probably only use it for a few months before figuring which branch of paddling appeals most to them.
No need to get OCD about choosing a basic board for this type of paddling if one has a basic knowledge of hydronamics. A lot of sup riders are surfers who never got to demo surfboards but go weird when presented with a stack of choices. KISS.
At sup speeds for a recreational paddler it doesn't need to be rocket science FFS.
A friend who's a very good sup surfer I know who also happens to work in a surf shop gets crew in all the time talking to him about which paddle they are thinking of getting.
He asks them what they are riding?
"Oh, I haven't got a sup yet". They reply.
LOL!

You're right it all does become a bit precious after a time. In the end it's all about the fun you're having!! LOL I got a bit serious there before, my apologies. Cheers mate and have fun at Sunshine beach or Coolum tonight!!

The rail tape is expensive and I also would never have paid for it in the past, but after buying a board with it already on I wouldn't take a new board out without some rail tape. After 12 months of abuse from the paddle and gravel in the carpark the rails are like brand new still. I also use a rubber paddle guard. Even after 3 years of sup surfing I still whack the rails a few times each session!!

I put a rubber blade guard on the kids adjustable paddle they use and it's worked very well.
No stress about them flailing around with it.
Cheers Leroy...have a great weekend.
Fantastic weather for paddling atm.
I took the kids to happy valley at Caloundra this morning.
There were a few out paddling in the Pumicestone passage mouth on the tiny runners.
The guy getting the longest waves was standing up on his surf ski. (goat boat type for want of a better term).
Trippy watching him standing up and using his kayak paddle like a giant egg-beater.
This is what prompted me to write my previous post about keeping it simple.
What ever gets the job done hey.

Youré right about keeping it simple Cuttlefish. Like anyone else starting out its going to be flat water paddling for a while. I did my first round of physio today after my back op and was talking about getting an SUP and was told I wouldn't be doing anything like that for at least 6 weeks.

Mate that is a bummer.
BUT....
There's plenty of people who've amazed the medical profession with their recoveries.
Be one of them!

At 49 I dont think I'll be pulling off any miracles but I'm not sitting around thats for sure. Been doing nearly an hour of swimming every day plus a one hour walk. Swimming is really boring. Could be worse though. There's always someone else worse off.
The physio told me to keep positive. I guess all that activity will help and I'll have a bit of fitness on my side too.Worst thing was I ordered a McTavish fireball evo 2 before I got injured. It arrived at my door a week after I got out of hospital.
How wrong is that ?

Hi SMH, I'm going in for a laminectomy probably in the next few months, it's not a bone fusion but screws and coils opening up the collapsed discs and coils pushing the spinal cord away from the spinal canal. (Severe Canal Stenosis) I'm trying to get the doctor to put it off till Feb so I can surf through the school holidays. Could you let me know how you go with your recuperation. I cant arch backways due to the condition i have and because a little bit of disc has lodged itself under a vertabrae. They said six weeks of no work, but walk as much as possible every day. They also said no SUP for 6 months. I still have to establish whethter they mean flat water or surf. Everybody I've talked to say don't try too much too early.
Take care and stay upright LOL. Look forward to any advice you can give me.

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Leroy13 said...

Hi SMH, I'm going in for a laminectomy probably in the next few months, it's not a bone fusion but screws and coils opening up the collapsed discs and coils pushing the spinal cord away from the spinal canal. (Severe Canal Stenosis) I'm trying to get the doctor to put it off till Feb so I can surf through the school holidays. Could you let me know how you go with your recuperation. I cant arch backways due to the condition i have and because a little bit of disc has lodged itself under a vertabrae. They said six weeks of no work, but walk as much as possible every day. They also said no SUP for 6 months. I still have to establish whethter they mean flat water or surf. Everybody I've talked to say don't try too much too early.
Take care and stay upright LOL. Look forward to any advice you can give me.

Leroy your problem sounds pretty complicated. I had a micro disectomy and laminectomy which is just a probe that goes into a small incision and it nibbles away at the bulging disc and coats the area with something that covers the scar tissue so the nerve can glide freely. The laminectomy part was a bit of bone removal either side of the disc to leave a bit of room .My injury was the L4 L5 disc but the nerve root was pretty badly crushed resulting in a bit of weakness and numbness to my right lower leg. It is improving though and the doc says I will regain trength and the numbness will subside. My physio told me that nerve regeneration occurs at about 1 centimeter every 6 weeks so its going to take a while. Keep up with the walking and swimming and if you are carrying any extra weight try and get rid of it.
I'll be doing a lot of flat water paddling for a while before I can get back into the surf. Good luck with your op . Sometimes an operation to fix a back problem is the only answer but the technology today is really good. I was told not to rush back into anything as well. I've just done my one hour walk and now I'm off to the heated pool. Good luck mate.