Hello,

I am 87 kg and 1,84m. I surf since 20years and srarted paddling 2 of years ago. My last board had 16 L and was a little limiting. I looked at the new 2017 wide bodys. Should I go for the 8.2 or 8.8? Waves will be between knee and maximum overhead waves.

Im the same weight had the older 8'2 widebody. Great board super stable but once it got over 4ft was really hard to hold a rail. I thing the new ones are pulled in through the tail more so am guessing the will hold better. The older ones were quad only i think the pros now have optional thruster set up which would give it some more range when its bigger.

My lasr board was g-whiz from slingshot in 9.0, 33 wide and 163 L. A bit on the heavy side and a very wide tail. So cutties were really diffcult. Rails at the tail were really thick. Wouldn t be 123 L in 8.2 for me 88 kg too small?

Heres an old vid of my 8'2 be worth a demo over the 8'8 unless you after the extra paddle power the smaller size very easy to throw around.

I have the wide body 8'2 2014 we. I like the board very much i weigh 83 kg. Very stable. I would go for the 8'2 if i where you. My wife shot a few movies with the iphone not the best though. The board is the 8'2 wide body

Hi Pampel,
How are you going in your decision?
I'm the manager & a coach at Cronulla SUP, I've been riding the JP Surf Wides since Jan this year. Mostly surf beach breaks & ridden majority as a thruster.
I was on the 9'2 JP Surf then dropped to the 8'2 Surf Wide which opened up a whole new world of surf SUP for me. It is really stable, able to generate speed down the line really easily & so much looser than the 9'2.
I've ridden a heap of boards in the last 12 months including the Naish Raptor 116L, JP Slate 7'6, 8'0 Hypernut & 8'2 Fanatic Stubby.
Although a different shape compared to these vanguard types I think the 8'2 Surf Wide has a fantastic balance of stability & manoeuvrability.
For you I think it depends how much you want to push yourself or if you want a board that will allow you to progress & improve but still provide good stability, the 8'8 is still a good drop in size & volume from your Slingshot.

Pics below are on the 8'2 just over a month ago.
I was 98kg pretty much the whole time I was on the 8'2 & dropped to 94kg recently.
I'm now riding my new board, the 7'11 Surf Wide, which is 106 litres & absolutely loving it.
I'm 34, been riding shortboards for 22 years, been riding SUPs for 3.5 all up.
Good luck with your choice, I think you'll be really happy on either the 8'8 or the 8'2.
Cheers, Larry