Hey guys, i ride a naish mana 8'10 x 30.5" (133L) on the sunny coast. i'm 5'10 and about 75kg. it's my first and only board, and i started sup in Jan this year.

I ride on the sunny coast, beach and river breaks, in anything up to 3 - 4 foot (6 foot faces) at least three times weekly.

lately i find i'm frustrated with the apparent sluggish turning and slow reaction of the board. it's great fun in the fast steep stuff where you set a line and ride on the face, but in anything else i need to really stomp on the fins and pivot on the tail to turn the board. it bogs in and stalls when i try to dig in a rail and snap a turn.

i have bugger all knowledge of sup boards, but intuitively i feel like a board with more rocker, harder rails, less thickness and lower volume would result in a snappier reaction and greater liveliness under my feet.

am i better to work on technique, or step up to a different board? i reckon it is just as likely to be my lack of experience with sup as the board design itself, but to be honest i just don't know.

Thoughts anyone?

I'm 100kg and ride a similar literage board. I test rode a a couple boards around 120l and the difference is amazing.

You being 70kg you could drop to a way smaller board.

P.s I'm from the coast too

I agree with Nugdam above... I am also 100 kegs and my smallest board is 8'5 and 136ltrs... if you have the balance and stability wired.... start dropping volume (and width). See if you can demo some boards locally and go crazy... see how far you can push it and then find the sweet spot in the middle somewhere.

Maybe even consider moving down in 2 steps, perhaps via a secondhand board as a stepping stone. e.g. something like like 8'6" * 29 110l or thereabouts.. and once you have that dialed in move close to or under 8' board circa 90l. If you are paddling as much as you do, then a board of this size is easily doable given your weight/height.

stamp said..
thanks for the input, everyone. i will try to demo a few smaller boards.

i don't think i'm ready to step down to 90-ish litres just yet, but i guess it depends on the board shape too...

If it was me,

Id step down to 115 - 120ish first then go down again when you feel like you have it under control.

The 122l 8'6 x 29 vex pro isnt too bad of a board if you are after something to try for awhile. They also do a 115l 8 footers.. They get pretty cheap when they have a sale and sell quickly 2nd hand around here.

great topic, and am pondering the same question. I retired and moved to hawaii and basically started trying to paddle surf about a year ago in waikiki. I am 52 and 145 pounds. I bought a used 106l 8'5x29 starboard pro on craiglist and after only a few months wonder how much smaller I can go.
I now see a 7'7x27 92l board for sale on craigslist and wonder if I can ride it?

kaylan hovers between 53kg to 55kg .her purple 7ftx25 Garrett custom sup run at 68 litres,6/10 coral is 76 litres and blue 7//25.5 72 litres and I wouldn't skim anymore foam on her next board ..if you want a sup that works ,talk to Chris Garrett..

Emeboy said..

burleigh4220 said..
kaylan hovers between 53kg to 55kg .her purple 7ftx25 Garrett custom sup run at 68 litres,6/10 coral is 76 litres and blue 7//25.5 72 litres and I wouldn't skim anymore foam on her next board ..if you want a sup that works ,talk to Chris Garrett..

68ltrs!! That's a prone shortboard for me!

My longboard is 64l ha.. that's crazy

I thought that despite volume, much performance revolved around the rails - thinner at the edge for surfing etc.