Had my first go of a gong 5'3" Hipe, all good except for the odd touch down which resulted in a couple of body slaps
Hard boards handle touch downs better in general?

I have zero experience but if you simply look at the nose of a hard board the front profile is thinner than an inch for most boards so it will pierce the water more. An inflatable has a rounded but 5" thick front profile. Way less likely to skip.

Think of skipping stones. Which works better. The thin one or the round one?

Since I've switched to the 2022 Fanatic 5-6 with it's shovel type nose , I would never ride anything else. It only glances on a touchdown, no nose pressure or spray from the front its amazing plus it just glides over whitewater and broken waves in the surf. It would be almost impossible to get an inflatable nose like that. I've looked hard at inflatables for boat trips but never pulled the trigger just for that reason.

Inflatables are definately harder on the touchdowns. I ride them quite a lot at work (a school), you cant really go back to inflatable if you've had a hard board.

Thanks, I bought the inflatable for travel. One place I go to involves a small aircraft and inflatable or sinker is only option and need to be able to self rescue.

G/f rides hard RRD 102 liters maybe 50 days...used inflate RRD 105 11 days recently in light, gusty Puerto Rico.
She does not foil thru jibes, so touches down halfway thru jibes.
Is a difference, but lighter weight of inflate offsets a bit of difference in touchdowns. Lighter weight allows easier leg pumping to stay up in lulls.