this is following on from an old thread about big boards for the surf. haven't been on the water for ages so decided to pick up my sup that had been sitting at the shapers for, well, a while now.....

just need some traction grip and i'm away.
i got the shaper to put a centre box in it so the kids can sail it like a long board.
wifey will sup it, and i'll sail/surf/sup it.

now all's i need is.... nothing, not waiting for the wind anymore, oh there is the issue of spare time.

dims are 9'8x31" widow maker fish tail.

pretty happy vegemite.

Nice job - it was an after market jobbie wasnt it - I get so much use out of the 9'8 starboard but its just soooo big in the close outs and scary coming off the top in bigger waves

What sort of cost to get it done - would love to do the same with my Coreban 9'0 fusion or 8'9 PSH

Hi Russh,

yeah, i'm really happy with the finish.

board is a local shaper jobby. the guy that builds all of my boards. i'd used his smaller version in small surf and wanted a little more volume so we upsized it very fractionally.

got a carbon shaft/ glass blade paddle for $200 and selected the fins while i was there.

from memory his website has the boards retail at about $1500. full wood and hardcore foam deck and hull vacuum bagged. so built like a windsurfer but still very light.

as it was built from scratch, i asked for the centre box and the 3 fin setup.

he could drop a box into one your own boards. probably cheaper though to get one of the local guys to do it.

can't wait to get the pads for it. love the idea that i can head to the beach with the familly with one board and not worry if the wind is only light.

edit.

forgot to mention, we went through a pile of old boards at the back of the factory and found a 5" pink thruster fin from an old bombora that is perfect for the centrebox so he threw that in for free and the the kids are happy.

Cheers Gestalt - it was a custom - I thought it was an aftermarket.

Looks like it would be great fun in some nice light cross off days

im thinking of getting a AHD summer board, does it all, but more specifically for sailing

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Gestalt said...

got the shaper to put a centre box in it so the kids can sail it like a long board.
wifey will sup it, and i'll sail/surf/sup it.

I just finished putting mast tracks into a 9'6" and a 8'5" second hand SUP boards.
My mast tracks are a lot further forward than where you have yours.
My test is that the boom needs to line up with the back foot strap for water starting.

Both boards are around 130 litres and I can use them in conditions where my regular board (112 litres) may start to sink a bit.

I had planned to put foot straps in both the boards but now I am thinking that if I need foot straps I am on the wrong board - swap to the 112L.

I am happy to sail out into surf underpowered, turn and catch a wave back in..

@jsnfok,

i like that ahd are trying to move things forward. would love to try one.


@ makesurf,

1250mm from the tail is about standard for a windsurfer. i measured mine and that's where it's at.

i'm not so sure i'll put straps in it. i'll only be going out in small surf and i like being able to walk around on boards like this. makes it feel more like surfing a mal.

but will try it out a couple times with straps in some stronger winds and see how it feels. the shaper recons go with the straps. you're right though, they are not built to plane at speed.

shapers board is a little smaller than mine and he's had it in 2m waves. said it was fun. these shapes are built specifically for surf so there is a bit of rocker and plenty of kick in the tail. rocker looks like a mini mal to me. just that there's a lot more thickness throughout the rail etc.

you're 8'5 is pretty much a wave board at those dims. there was a time where that would have been considered short for the surf.

my first wave board was 9'2", how things have changed.

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makesurf said...

Gestalt said...

got the shaper to put a centre box in it so the kids can sail it like a long board.
wifey will sup it, and i'll sail/surf/sup it.

I just finished putting mast tracks into a 9'6" and a 8'5" second hand SUP boards.
My mast tracks are a lot further forward than where you have yours.
My test is that the boom needs to line up with the back foot strap for water starting.

Both boards are around 130 litres and I can use them in conditions where my regular board (112 litres) may start to sink a bit.

I had planned to put foot straps in both the boards but now I am thinking that if I need foot straps I am on the wrong board - swap to the 112L.

I am happy to sail out into surf underpowered, turn and catch a wave back in..

I went for an "end of the (real) seabreeze season - lets get into SUP session" with my son and after a light 5-10knots breeze came up we put a sail on the board and more or less accidentally discovered that it was the perfect way for not_so_hardcore groms to get into wavesailing. I can only recommend it.

excellent vid showpony,

i like that, hey there's 5 knots, lets whack a sail on it and see what happens. that's what it's all about i reckon.

no doubt soon you'll be searching out some clean peeling waist high lines

Personally I use 2 foot straps on my old 9'8 starby when sup sailing - only on the wave riding side - it makes a huge difference with the amount of leverage in bottom turns off the top and cutties - you slide in as you take off- wouldn't ride half decent waves without them

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russh said...

Personally I use 2 foot straps on my old 9'8 starby when sup sailing - only on the wave riding side - it makes a huge difference with the amount of leverage in bottom turns off the top and cutties - you slide in as you take off- wouldn't ride half decent waves without them

yea you definetly need something, i just use the front strap as it allows you to move your back foot in the bottom turn, good till it gets head and a bit higher, after that it gets a little sketchy

hey russh'o im considering killing three birds with one stone in getting into sup, getting the miss's re inspired to have a crack at windsurfing and teaching the weens when they're ready.
now im 100kg, my wife is 15-20kg less and all the talk seems to revolve around length rather than volume so what board "size" am i after in a sup?
stoked if you could help

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pilchard said...

hey russh'o im considering killing three birds with one stone in getting into sup, getting the miss's re inspired to have a crack at windsurfing and teaching the weens when they're ready.
now im 100kg, my wife is 15-20kg less and all the talk seems to revolve around length rather than volume so what board "size" am i after in a sup?
stoked if you could help

If you can get your hands on a 2009 or so 9'8 starboard or a good price whopper or wide point 9' plus around 150 + liters to start out (not sure of sizes) in AST they have mast scrws and foot strap holes. Not sure if there are any for sale but a good reliable crossover - crew may have some other ideas

I reckonHAAK had a wide point you may want to look at that - it's been a while since I saw him tho

Ive got a 7 ft 6 inch 130 litre AHD sealion that is really light to handle in low wind and a 10ft 140 litre exocet longboard with thin rails that can grip large steep waves to small ones like in this vid.

I'm wondering whether most SUPs are a little too wide to provide grip on walls?

Awesome versatility overall (SUPs with sail)

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pilchard said...

hey russh'o im considering killing three birds with one stone in getting into sup, getting the miss's re inspired to have a crack at windsurfing and teaching the weens when they're ready.
now im 100kg, my wife is 15-20kg less and all the talk seems to revolve around length rather than volume so what board "size" am i after in a sup?
stoked if you could help

If you're going to use it for teaching beginners I'd get some form of centre fin option fitted, otherwise they will be very frustrated.

Thanks to you knowledgable crew, now I need a killer tax cheque

i guess it depends on the design. you can have a wide board that grips fine if it has a good rail shape/fin setup. the width seems to affect the turns most. as does the length. the longer boards kinda stall at the top of the arc because there's a lot more swing weight.

but that's the longboard feel and why you end up drawing larger radius turns

what could probably be a bigger issue for sups is the construction being too light for wave sailing and/or not enough rocker. like most flat water sups.

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matcoburn said...

Ive got a 7 ft 6 inch 130 litre AHD sealion that is really light to handle in low wind and a 10ft 140 litre exocet longboard with thin rails that can grip large steep waves to small ones like in this vid.

I'm wondering whether most SUPs are a little too wide to provide grip on walls?

Awesome versatility overall (SUPs with sail)

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matcoburn said...



I'm wondering whether most SUPs are a little too wide to provide grip on walls?

Doesnt make sense your rails are in the wave face - maybe more prone to slide out off the bottom with wide tails - the SUPS I have are designed for wave riding and work as well on a wave face with a sail or without a sail