Hi All,

Newbie to the forum, but not a newbie to SUP'ping.

Been flatwater SUP'ping for a few years, and standard surfing for even longer, but looking to get into SUP surfing now, after seeing all the SUP surfers having way more fun in the water at my local break.

Normally ride anything from a 7'8" mid-length singlefin, or a 6'8" thruster surfboard so looking at options for my first SUP surf board.

Typical conditions are onshore 2-5ft (5ft when the stars align!) and my ability is very much intermediate.

Any recommendations?

Love the LOOK of the likes of the Fanatic Stubby, but unsure whether this style is suitable for me.

Unfortunately where I live there are no places I can borrow/hire to try out.

Cheers in advance.

Something around 9'5"x 32" would be a good place to start.. I wouldn't recommend going smaller.

How heavy are you?

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DavidJohn said..
Something around 9'5"x 32" would be a good place to start.. I wouldn't recommend going smaller.

How heavy are you?

Thanks for your response - i'm 80kg

I am no expert but if you can, go used to start. 9'5" x 32" is a good place to start but you are going to burn through boards fairly quickly and soon be into shorter better performance boards. Starting too small though is no fun.......how would I know that?
Bob

You are in a unique situaton. You know how to surf and you have been flat-water paddling for a while - so you should have good balance and leg strength. What is your flat water board? Is it wide and very stable (>32") or narrower (<28"). If it is narrow you may have good balance/muscle memory and you will find the transition to sup surf much easier.

If you can get a 9'5" x 32" cheaply then do that. I suspect you will progress quickly, and at 80 kg, you may get frustrated surfing the bigger board - unless you like going straight, but you have a shortboard, so you will want to turn.

A good friend of mine who is 5 kg lighter than you started on my 9'6 x 32" x 150L. He was a long-time surfer but not a SUPer. Once he got his balance he moved to a shorter board, but still with a bit of volume (8'10" x 32 x 135L if I remember correctly). But recently I got him on my 8'7 x 31" x 125L Placid - and he loved it. He felt more stable on that board, and had much more fun on the waves. Now he owns one.

One of the challenges with surf sups is that volume does not always provide stability. Bigger boards (relative to your weight) can get "corky". The outline of the board, and the degree to which the rails get covered by water, affects the stability.

Just remember, in the surf, when you are paddling out the back and waiting for waves, stay low (lower your center of gravity), stagger your foot position (one ahead of the other for fore/aft stability), and remember that your paddle is there for stability, not just propulsion.

Enjoy!

Lots of good advice, all of which I would agree with. I started on a 9'5 x 32 and quickly wanted to go smaller.
With your past experience maybe going around 9 foot and around 130-140 volume might be a good starting point.

Thanks All - appreciate the advice. Managed to get a great deal on a 9' Redwood Paddle board, (Phenix LTD Wood). My flat water SUP is a 9'8" Fanatic Fly and with me being a long time surfer i'm fairly (!) confident this should be a decent size to last me a while. I have made the mistake before of going too small on my normal surfboards but feel like 9' should be a decent size. The swell never gets too big here anyway.

Appreciate all of your advice. Will follow up on how bad, or good, this decision was in due course