Hi all, any posts on this topic were at least 4 years old that I could find. So new thread here. I'm heading off on a long road trip focused on wing foiling. I don't have room for my 8-5" 112 litre Sunova Speed, which I love. I'm an intermediate level SUP surfer, 85k, 185 lbs. I recently sold my 8-10 130 litre Speed, finding it sluggish compared to the 8-5.

I would like to bring an inflatable on this trip that I can put into a roof box and surf every so often, when the option arises or paddle around when no wind. Can anyone provide recommendations or advice? I know that an inflatable will not compare to a hard board, but I'm just looking for a back up way to have a little fun and that packs down small. I would also expect to use it to scout out bottom conditions to avoid underwater hazards to my foil.

What about the 8'0" 2-in-1 foil board from Sunova??? It's not inflatable, but it might be Swiss-army-knife kind of option for you...

I called into 2nd wind Sailboards on Canning hwy, Freo, the other week. Jezza was heading off to Cocos Islands with an inflatable board designed by Scotty Mckercher(SMIK) for Wingfoiling. I'm not sure if it's a prototype or in design, but Jezza had it inflated and finned, ready to go, and was on the phone to Scott when I walked in. He should be back by now, give him a call and ask. Wing foil isn't really my thing so I didn't pay too much attention to it, but it's a great looking board.

www.tripstix.de/en/

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Grantmac said..
www.tripstix.de/en/

?1499 plus shipping, is this the most expensive wave sup ever?

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airsail said..

Grantmac said..
www.tripstix.de/en/

?1499 plus shipping, is this the most expensive wave sup ever?

No idea, but it's the only inflatable that comes close to hard board performance.
That price might include VAT.

Hey 3TOB,

An inflatable is a floater like a raft and thus bobs in the surf. It doesn't cut through the wave so in any height becomes way to Bobby. Like a surf rescue boat. Rubber ducky. Aqua marina have wave model as well as some European brands, As for flat water any cheap Bcf or mail order board will suffice. pump.

Inflatables lose a lot of speed in turns due to their shaping constraints (imprecise rocker, thick rails).

So they do not work well for top turns, but modern, good quality ones can work surprisingly well as long as you do not expect to generate speed nor attempt vertical surfing. They are OK for kind of "relaxed longboard" surfing. I have a friend that has a 10' one, and he has quite of fun with in small waves. The added volume make him take off on anything.

Look for:
- no more than 4" thickness
- pulled in nose, (wide nose tend to stick to the water on inflatables), and maybe tail if not on micro waves
- hard edges on the rear (otherwise they have a lot of drag) with rubber rail edges
- max stiffness: basically, the more pressure the board is rated for, the more the manufacturer trusts the quality of its buiid. And the more you can inflate them, the better
- short length: longer lengths will amplify inflatable issues in surfing (especially fuzzy rocker), shorter lengths somewhat mitigate them.

In this video you can see a modern board in action. Look how it doesn't flex under the 100kg of the rider, and how he can dig the whole rail in the wave without too much drag



Compare with the same brand 6 years ago: you can see the progress in stiffness (that happened with most brands)



And this vid show what to expect with an inflatable: 8'5" enhace handling, but digging a rail/nose is still not the same as on a hard board. Note that this model didn't have yet the hard rear rails, so is noticeably slower than a modern board with them.

Decathlon/Itiwit 10ft long board surf sup, 140ltr, 4 inches thick very stiff, I learned on this model a couple of years ago. It has 'hard rails' around the tail. Don't know about availability where you are. Think the UK price was 500?. My wife uses it now and is doing well with it.

Probably a bit late now but if not check out the HONU BONDI 9'3" . Australian brand recently upgraded. Supboarder seem to think they are pretty good.