HI - arrived home new years eve - been 11 months on road round Australia - surfed some aewsome spots - see previous posts! had some health issues toward finish and flew home from perth to mid north coast NSW. i need to now look at a different board - I have gone from 93 kilos to 79 kilos and my current two boards ( which are, or have been ) absolute killers, they are now too big! I have a shortboard and a longboard - both Smik Bonzer about 145 litres. So 145 divided by 93 gives around 1.5 or 1.6 ratio. To maintain roughly same comfort zone I need a 125 litre board - BUT - Iam getting older and less agile - so go for 130 volume, 31" wide, 9'3" to 9'5" with hybrid nose - maybe flattish rocker for paddle speed - surf mainly knee to shoulder high beach breaks with a bit of chop sometimes. Also a local point break if the crowds thin out. Any recommendations - maybe custom? Good shaper on qld coast?

Hi mate, not many if any stock boards match your chosen size range that I can find.

I had a four hour surf yesterday on my SMIK Hipster twin 8'6x31.5 at a beach break that has a ton of water moving around all the time. And found it very stable despite backwash, rip currents and side wash off a rock face trying to throw me off while waiting out the back.

It's well below your length range, however it's a super stable board that can cruise a wave or pump and turn as hard as you can push it.

So if you want a little longer the Hipster Twin Longboard in the 9x30 or 9x32 would be a great option. Seeing as you are in the SMIK family it would be a good choice.

All the other stock boards in your chosen size have a lot more volume than you need. So a custom might be the only option if you want the extra length without the extra volume most stock boards have.

Cheers.

Steve.

P.S SMIK will do you a custom, I had a mini Style-Lord that was a custom around the size you are looking at. I picked it up secondhand might be worth checking out that option.

What about the Sunova Ghost designed by Rick Weeks - he is a "mature" supstar who designed the Ghost to make supping easier and more enjoyable and he rips on his sups?
I'm waiting for my custom 8'10 to arrive

Haha i thought ghost would be straight up but a close second behind smik twin is pretty good.
... but,
I think smiks generally are quite rockered ie designed for better than real old boy supster world waves.

Never enough attention given to rocker over other shape factors (my frustration with the good old paddle like fark dont even catch the bastard syndrome talking)..

But geez it's important to have a fast rocker, if you can, in normal supster world waves (ie not waves that theyd put on a promotional video! Maybe some Naish stuff but hawaii power doesn't count)...

A bit of footwork on takeoff goes a long way.

Btw stehar the custom Deep 9'1 chined quad fish vee speed green machine that i bought off your mate is a beast in slop catches and hoots in anything and everything with twin keels plus darc drive. I'm 6ft 85kgs (i believe).

Shop around and get advice far and wide is what i say.

> 9', 31" and around 130 litres.... I cannot think of anything stock within those constraints. There is the Starboard longboard - close, but not quite at 9'5" x 30" x 124L

I have a 9'2" x 30", 126 ltr. Kalama Perfomance that I absolutely love. I'm 77 Kg and find it very stable even in chop. It does not have a flat rocker but, I find that it is still fast enough on small, weak waves. Also, the rocker makes the board smooth and easy. If I am late on a takeoff or am not all the way back on the tail during a turn, the rocker compensates for my lazy surfing. That said, it does have very thin rails. So, If I am more precise with my foot placement, the Kalama can make amazing turns.

I have the Smik Lord Bonza 145lt 9.5x32 and Hipster Twin 9x33 165lt I think and I am only 76KG and they are great in chop, very stable and surf really well. Why would you need to drop to 130lt in the first place, at our age do we need to rip like a young fella or is it about having fun and staying upright? If you want another board just for the hell of it great get one but just because you have lost weight does not mean that your board is now to big for you, you just need to adjust your style to now suit your weight and enjoy the waves on your new board and old boards. You may put weight back on over the years so you will then need a bigger board if you use the same logic?

Hi Mate, My two bobs worth.. I surf in similar conditions to you here on the Gippy coast. I would highly recommend looking at the Sunova Flow V2. Im 98kegs +/- and getting old... I find this board pretty stable and absolutely awesome on a wave. I have the 8'8x31x126lt and honestly find this pretty comfortable in all but the ****tiest of conditions. The flow is the best board I have ever owned and is awesome on a wave.
Ive also got a casey revo at 9x30x127lt also a great board and would suit your weight. Surfs differently to the flow, Iam probably to big to nose ride it successfully but it is so much fun and with the fine rounded tail can rip when you want.
At your weight I wouldnt go any bigger, I wish I could lose 5-10Kegs and get an 8'5 flow ..

maybe just starting eating meat pies and drink beer you'll soon get those kgs back ,
but if that does not work ,a custom board is the way to go maybe ,

there is a sunova 9,4 acid ,31 and something wide x 135 litres ,paddles awesome .it likes smaller waves ,

But I m with supchick on this one the ghost ,life was meant to be easy ,even though Rick has added some volume to them
he still throws them around ,9,1 is up your alley . I just like to tell you ,I find long boards harder to surf than shorter .but when i mean short i mean under 9 foot

I am now riding a 8,7 x133 litres vs my 8'8x 126 litre ,I can throw the 8,7 around harder so volume seems un important to me now ,
Basically most of the Generation pro boards seem to have way more volume than you would expect on a 8,7 or the 8'8 wedge at 140 litre ,its to keep them moving and on the plane ready for the next lip bashing manoeuvres I hope your health has improved
and it sounds like you ready to hit the water again stehar

I'd keep the the longboard Bonza and have that as your choppy day board or as your point break cruisey board. Having the pin tail also means it can handle bigger stuff too if you do go out in OH+ stuff from time to time.

Higher volume is not so important on longer / bigger boards - as in it doesn't affect performance as much as you think. If the rails are well designed, it'll still ride sweet.

For a more peformance oriented small wave board at your weight i'd look at a few:

8'5" - 8'8" Sunova Ghost - haven't seen one yet - but appears to be a good fit.
8'6" Sunova Skate - waaay better board than most realise in the smaller stuff. Super stable for its size and super easy paddle into waves.
8'6" Hipster Twin custom - maybe with a faster exit rocker. Scotty did one for himself a while back with a wider tail than stock also.
8'6" JL Super Frank Lean (or 8'0" wide)

As you already know the Sunova's or Smik's are easily customised to suit size / volume etc if req'd.

I know these are boards are smaller than what you stated, but for the sake of $2500, if the new board is similar dims as your Bonza, but just lower volume, you are wasting your money IMO. Better off going for performance in a smaller board (whilst still being conservative) and having the bigger board to go back to when you need the extra stability.

Or go north and speak to Dale about a custom : dcshapingco.com/custom-boards-1

Your close enough to make a trip up to the folks at surffx where you can look at and compare a sh1t ton of good boards and offload one of yours as a trade if you want. Scott et al bring heaps of sup surf experience and feedback from their customers to help you refine your options and decisions. Well worth a run up the new highway (until you hit the goldy traffic!)

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backbeach said..
You're / enough to make a trip up to the folks at surffx where you can look at and compare a sh1t ton of good boards and offload one of yours as a trade if you want. Scott et al bring heaps of sup surf experience and feedback from their customers to help you refine your options and decisions. Well worth a run up the new highway (until you hit the goldy traffic!)

Yeah /nah,there trade ins are not realistic tried this many times got sick of the long drive for the consistent financial let down !yeah I know it's business but they don't have any opposition they can charge what they like and get away with it !

9'2 JP Fusion?

No wucks JAW but a trade is just an option and the mob at Surfxx will straight up advise to sell privately and have recommended SB to me to do this also. I go in with eyes wide open as we all should. I have no affiliation btw, just my experience.
The point of my post was the huge array of different boards and brands and sizes you can look at and compare and then yarn to sup surfers about not only their experiences but their customers feedback also. Add into this forum feedback as well when your looking at the different boards, feeling the rails, running your eye along the bottom curves and contours and looking at the different plan shape that a few inches makes to the same model. Feel the weight and how it feels under your arm-pure board porn
Honestly it's a sup surf theme park experience that you don't get looking at piccies on a computer screen and for me it's really refreshing walking into a surf shop that's about surfing and not clothing etc. Their prices are on par with everyone elses I reckon when you compare online, no demons in their pricing but yeah to have an actual shopfront that you can walk into and talk to someone who surfs and is paid an aussie wage may have an influence but there's no demons.
Same goes for talking to a shaper also but there's nothing like physically handling boards/designs to help with purchasing decisions especially when your laying down huge bucks for sups.
For a bloke thats just travelled around Oz like Stehar, a trip up the coast on that 2 lane non-stop monstrosity (bringing the city to all our locals) is no biggie.

Back beach ,I totally agree with your comments the store is full of eye candy !and after a long drive,nice to spend some time wandering ,and doing all that you described,that part is a rewarding experience

I'm late 50's and 83kg. 109 to 115ltr is my sweet spot. So, have 7.10, 109ltr smik hipster, and a 7.11, 115ltr infinity wide speed, for when it's choppy. The latter is great, really comfy on my back and knees, 3hr sessions are not a problem, without sacrificing too much performance either.