Hello All, or G'day mate or whatever,

So I've stepping down on board size for a while. I'm 103 kg and I'm down to a 7'0x30 120L custom that I'm now wishing I ordered smaller, but its a little daunting thinking about getting down to neutral buoyancy. Anybody have any tips for paddling and balancing on a board that barely floats you?

I reckon to ride a neutral buoyancy board you need the balance of a cat or have super clean conditions to surf. I am 85kg and tried a custom Deep Paddlepop 7'4 x 27" x 4" @ about 85L-90L. In glassy water it was ok to paddle but when I surfed it the sea was choppy and it was a nightmare - could hardly stand up on it let alone catch a wave! If it was clean it might have been ok but I learned that neutral buoyancy is for the young, the light and the pros. My smallest is 104L Deep Minion and I am at the water line on that, but I am riding a Sunova Acid @120L a lot as I like the ability to relax a bit and get into waves early - which is the biggest advantage of SUP surfing.

At the recent Vic State titles I think 2 of the three podium finishers in the open division were on board volumes near or below their body weight, in mixed conditions. But these were very young men with the necessary chops.

My question is what are you aiming to achieve? 7'x30 @ 120 ltr would suggest to me a fairly thick board throughout. In my opinion at 103kg (dry?) you would be better off up in length a little and thinning down Board. 120ltr sounds about right, but then again it's your money. As far as tips are concerned standing on neutral buoyancy board, "don't look down"

Good to have a board down or neutral buoyancy in your quiver for the glass day. Practice like a kid when taking off side wheels of his push bike for the first time;Don't give up that's worthing it, get closer and closer of the wave curl that way.

Keep one board fatter for the average choppy days like your 7'0x30 120L .

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micksmith said..
My question is what are you aiming to achieve? 7'x30 @ 120 ltr would suggest to me a fairly thick board throughout. In my opinion at 103kg (dry?) you would be better off up in length a little and thinning down Board. 120ltr sounds about right, but then again it's your money. As far as tips are concerned standing on neutral buoyancy board, "don't look down"

Good question. The 7x30 is kinda sim/fish hybrid for playing in mush. In nicer surf I ride a 8'10 JP Surf that I wish was a little shorter and turned a little tighter. The trick is that the next size down is 113L, which between my weight and the board's weight is just a couple of liters above neutral.

When you get close to neutral buoyancy, every detail counts.

I am 100kg, 55 years (in my experience, age is important for the ability to go narrow) but at a time my stable board for chop was a 110 litres 8'1" x 30", fish style (wide nose & tail). But I had a living hell on glassy water with a 110 liters board, but with a pointed nose and 27" wide...

Another example: I had 4 similar boards: 6'8"-6'10" all 120 liters of similar main width (29"-30")



the 3rd from the left is one of the stablest board I had. the 4th was quite hard. centimeters counts ...

I have now in my quiver a negative/neutral buoyancy board (105 liters does not float my 100kg + 7kg board + paddle + wetsuit), but which is manageable as it is wide everywhere (Tomo shape, 7'6"x 29")
me on it:


3rd from the left:




Note also that reducing the volume makes wonder for safety in hollow, powerful waves, but drastically reduce the early entry on takeoff.

So having a neutral buoyancy for a "kinda sim/fish hybrid" makes a lot of sense, but "playing in mush" may not, as the paddle speed and glide on weak waves will be noticeably impaired. For instance, my "Tomo" is no fun in weak waves, for these I would use 15-20 liters more (like the 2 boards on the left).
And for neutral floatation boards, be careful to add shape features that help a lot the stability (wide in the nose & tail)

Good information Colas, thanks!

This new board would need to have a more pulled in outline and be used and cleaner days that were head high or so.
I feel like I have my 8'10 JP wired and can move down. The kicker is that most performance orientated production boards I've seen in the 8'6 range are around 110-115L. So I'm trying to figure out if I can make a board that size work or if I should just save my money.

check out Eric's blog and podcasts on paddlwoo. He has had numerous pro's commenting on their board shames, sizes, volumes, preferences etc. He has recently been giving tips on going down in volume. seems the lower you go a lot more is involved in even getting up on the boards. But if you have the good waves worth the effort.
shape definately affects a board.
short, thick, bit longer, thinner, narrow, wider, thomo, wide tail, rail shape, rail thickness. all play a part and as you read on here everyone likes different.
good luck, let us all know how you go on the journey to the lowest.

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exiled said..
So I'm trying to figure out if I can make a board that size work or if I should just save my money.

It will definitively work, if you have enough width forward of the feet. In my experience the width ~ 2' in front of the handle is key to the stability.
You can play it safe with a Tomo-style board, or at least with a confortable nose.

In my opinion, a board is hell when it is unstable everywhere. The trick is to have some "stability reserve" somewhere, some "safe spot" to find security in wobbles. With some width in front, you can paddle with the nose a bit high above the water and know you can lean forward to regain balance. With a Simmons, you would step back a tiny bit to take advantage of the huge tail. But if standing on your board is like standing on a small rock amidst quicksand, it would get tiring and not fun very fast.

Even world cup riders tend to have some width in the nose, see Caio Vaz and Mo Freitas:





Or my latest board for good conditions, the narrowest I would go in the nose for this volume: 7'5" x 120 liters for my 100kg. If I was to drop volume, I would widen the nose.

That's a sweet shape!

All of them are right around 8.6x29 115l

I'm thinking the wider tail on the Rawson makes it a winner for stability, along with having a touch more volume. That little gong board does look pretty nice. Too bad a trip to France isn't in the cards for me.

Hi Exiled,

I've just recently gone on this mission, and really been worth it.
I'm 6'6 and was 102kg, which now has dropped to 98kg (which makes a huge difference on a marginal board)
I surf a Naish 8'10 x 27.75 at 107 litres. I also tried a Fanatic 7'10 x 31, and found the longer narrow board much better to paddle and surf.
The re- learning to stand and get up was the hardest bit, and I looked like a complete novice for about 2 weeks. Now I still struggle a bit when there is a lot of moving water, but def manageable.

I'd recommend you get a narrowest board ( and not necessarily the shortest) that is neutral now (your weight + board). You'll end up losing a few Kg's due to the extra work, and then it will be about perfect.

I've also found a short paddle is 100% necessary to help with balance - eyebrow height for me.

Cheers
Chris

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exiled said..
All of them are right around 8.6x29 115l

I'm thinking the wider tail on the Rawson makes it a winner for stability, along with having a touch more volume.

Yup, and the starboard should be good also with its confortable width 2' forwards of the handle.