Dungbeetle said..


In my opinion I don't think you should be looking to plain on a SUP .It's more about slogging out with a small sail and catching heaps of waves and staying in the fun zone so a wave oriented SUP is the go for me. Any lighter wind = SUP or surfing. Any windier = Wave board with a bigger sail.
See article from Peter Heart "the long and the SUP of it"

I reckon this is a good point, I have a 9'2" Fanatic allwave, 32" wide ( i am 95kg). Have put a sail on it and is great fun in light wind & small waves, great for practising new moves. But when the wind gets up the width makes it a handful , plenty stable enough for learners. A slightly narrower drawn out shape would be more comfortable if you want planing comfort. I think you'll have to get a least 2 boards

Picked up a second hand 9'2 Fanatic Allwave (160L) just prior to Christmas and have used it twice now in waves at Whiterock/Brown Water and Makaha. It's good fun on a marginal day and I find it much easier to sail rather than paddle onto a wave. If you want a board for windsupping I recommend going a little bit longer and more floaty than you might otherwise opt for.

Wish I had had the sup for sailing at Wanda at 5pm yesterday as can't say I enjoyed slogging on my 90L board to catch a few waves in a very patchy 15 knots. Would have been much easier and more enjoyable to paddle out a surfboard with a bit of volume or on sup with a sail.

Dibbsy23 said..

G'day gonebush. You have me thinking about getting one, would you recommend something about 180L or bigger? Something to take the kids around the harbour or lake would be good too

Depends how much you and your kids weigh. I've got a three year old and reckon I could paddle her around on a lake and I weigh about 83 kg. assuming you're about the same, somewhere between 160 and 180L is probably the go. 160L feels like a bit of a boat once you're on a wave but I'd be on a surfboard if it was bigger than 3 ft or punchy anyway.

A competent sup rider my weight could probably get away with 110L or less but that kind of defeats the benefits of a sup in small waves to my mind.