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Stand Up Paddle Board
- Thread starter 2ski2moro
- Start date
snoWYmonkey
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@Pequenita I mostly use my 12.9 foot racing lake board and it does fine in slow moving rivers with no rapids, however I always opt for my guy's regular board with shorter fins and a bit wider for active rivers and do feel more confident and don't go in at all. I mostly paddle lakes though and don't know the brand you are looking into at all.
I assume that like skis the same exact dimensions can actually vary a lot from brand to brand.
I assume that like skis the same exact dimensions can actually vary a lot from brand to brand.
Yep.
WaterGirl
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@Pequenita sadly my Fanatic just stares at me every time I go to my storage closet at the mountain....
I've still been skiing so it hasn't been a priority. Plus some of the closer lakes to me were not even accessible by road until now. I love the Fanatic for easy mountain lakes, light enough to carry and just enough floatation for me. Remember though it's shorter than what you are looking at.... 7'10" x 28 x 4.
I was looking at the Starboards web site and not sure which exact models you were looking at?
And yes, you have identified your challenge in your last sentence
That and IMHO you really need a goldilocks board 8'6" 26" 3" would be perfect dimensions and so either board is going to be a compromise in some way or another. I think part of your dilemma is that you don't need the volume of board to float you so the narrower board looks more appealing. But I wonder what the exact volume in Liters are for each board?
Have you been able to demo either board?
Are you going to focus on racing? or Are you taking this to multiple lakes, rivers in variable conditions?
If you are racing you would probably want to be on a longer board if you were seriously competitive? The 23 might be a smidge narrow in the more playful conditions you described. Great for distance, not so good for variable water. The benefit of the 28 width is that it's just narrow enough for a smaller person to not have to reach and bend when paddling but adds a bit more stability. The 36" you were on recently must have felt really wide. 23" is what my ocean board is (again just a softech hard bottom 10'6" surfboard) and I'm usually only on it when its flatter and I don't surf it. I like how narrow it is b/c it feels streamlined and I feel a longer narrower board is better in ocean swells for what I am doing (cruising). If I were surfing I would be on a short fat board.
I will say even my one day on Lake Tahoe with the Fanatic I could see the benefit of having more board once the boats started creating wake. Again the Fanatic was more of how small/ light can I go for hiking in the mountains to lakes and still have fun. I haven't been on your river but sounds like there are some interesting rapids and so it seems for playing round I would probably choose the wider shorter board. It would also be the easiest board to re-sell if you didn't like it.
As far as fins, yes large single fin easier for distance. 3 fins (thrusters) easier to maneuver, less power/tracking for distance. But why not have both? Is the center fin removable on the 9'6"?
The Fanatic has 2 small side bite fins permanently attached and a removable center fin (surf fin box) so I am able to put in a longer or shorter fin depending on what I need. Check to see if you can change out the fins on either board?
Can you provide a link for the two boards you were looking at?
I've still been skiing so it hasn't been a priority. Plus some of the closer lakes to me were not even accessible by road until now. I love the Fanatic for easy mountain lakes, light enough to carry and just enough floatation for me. Remember though it's shorter than what you are looking at.... 7'10" x 28 x 4.
I was looking at the Starboards web site and not sure which exact models you were looking at?
And yes, you have identified your challenge in your last sentence
That and IMHO you really need a goldilocks board 8'6" 26" 3" would be perfect dimensions and so either board is going to be a compromise in some way or another. I think part of your dilemma is that you don't need the volume of board to float you so the narrower board looks more appealing. But I wonder what the exact volume in Liters are for each board?Have you been able to demo either board?
Are you going to focus on racing? or Are you taking this to multiple lakes, rivers in variable conditions?
If you are racing you would probably want to be on a longer board if you were seriously competitive? The 23 might be a smidge narrow in the more playful conditions you described. Great for distance, not so good for variable water. The benefit of the 28 width is that it's just narrow enough for a smaller person to not have to reach and bend when paddling but adds a bit more stability. The 36" you were on recently must have felt really wide. 23" is what my ocean board is (again just a softech hard bottom 10'6" surfboard) and I'm usually only on it when its flatter and I don't surf it. I like how narrow it is b/c it feels streamlined and I feel a longer narrower board is better in ocean swells for what I am doing (cruising). If I were surfing I would be on a short fat board.
I will say even my one day on Lake Tahoe with the Fanatic I could see the benefit of having more board once the boats started creating wake. Again the Fanatic was more of how small/ light can I go for hiking in the mountains to lakes and still have fun. I haven't been on your river but sounds like there are some interesting rapids and so it seems for playing round I would probably choose the wider shorter board. It would also be the easiest board to re-sell if you didn't like it.
As far as fins, yes large single fin easier for distance. 3 fins (thrusters) easier to maneuver, less power/tracking for distance. But why not have both? Is the center fin removable on the 9'6"?
The Fanatic has 2 small side bite fins permanently attached and a removable center fin (surf fin box) so I am able to put in a longer or shorter fin depending on what I need. Check to see if you can change out the fins on either board?
Can you provide a link for the two boards you were looking at?
@WaterGirl Well, shoot. One of the boards don't seem to be online anymore. The race board was a 2021 starboard 10'6" x 23" x 4.75" supkid racer deluxe isup, and the all-arounder is a 2021 starboard supkid zen. This Red board is a potential but pricey compromise, if it's available in a 26" width.
WaterGirl
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@Pequenita the Starboard sup kid sup seems like a good all around board for a reasonable price. I would want to know what type of fins you can put in as Idealy for longer distance you would want a longer center fin to help stabilize and track. It does have a lot of volume -- compare with my kids Ripper Air at 138L part of it is b/c it's 4.75 thick. I do not think the other race board is a good option. I do think that the board I have is more of a challenge for more demanding water -- again for me its the lightweight/ access while hiking, and if I were in the ocean I would go bigger for sure.
Here are Fanatic's basic kid options:
Kids All around Ripper Air 7’10” x 28 x 4.5 138L 3 fins
Kids Ripper Tour 10’0” x 26 x 4.5 180L single fin
So I'm going to go in a totally different direction after doing some research...... If were going to do anything in the future it would be to get something that you could also use with a foil or windsurf mast - (assuming I like it lol) while I haven't tired it yet I have found a place near me that provides lessons [female owned] for both foil sup and windsurf sup. Here are the two options from Fanatic I would get which would allow me to go out on windy days in both the ocean and mountain lakes:
Kids Ripper Air Windsurf 9’0” x 29 x 4.5 187L single fin w/ additional middle fin for windsurfing stability
Stubby Air premium w/ the mast foot insert so you can windsurf 8’6” x 29.5 x 4.5 178L has 3 fins so would be a good surf / all around board maybe a bit fat for long distance paddling.
I would look around and try to find some more goldilocks kids boards around 8'6" 28 w/ 3-4 inch thickness..... also have you been lurking on FB market or Craiglist?
I would have never thought I would find a kids board but I did very random!
Here are Fanatic's basic kid options:
Kids All around Ripper Air 7’10” x 28 x 4.5 138L 3 fins
Kids Ripper Tour 10’0” x 26 x 4.5 180L single fin
So I'm going to go in a totally different direction after doing some research...... If were going to do anything in the future it would be to get something that you could also use with a foil or windsurf mast - (assuming I like it lol) while I haven't tired it yet I have found a place near me that provides lessons [female owned
] for both foil sup and windsurf sup. Here are the two options from Fanatic I would get which would allow me to go out on windy days in both the ocean and mountain lakes:Kids Ripper Air Windsurf 9’0” x 29 x 4.5 187L single fin w/ additional middle fin for windsurfing stability
Stubby Air premium w/ the mast foot insert so you can windsurf 8’6” x 29.5 x 4.5 178L has 3 fins so would be a good surf / all around board maybe a bit fat for long distance paddling.
I would look around and try to find some more goldilocks kids boards around 8'6" 28 w/ 3-4 inch thickness..... also have you been lurking on FB market or Craiglist?
I would have never thought I would find a kids board but I did
very random!@WaterGirl Yeah, the Fanatic Kids Ripper Tour 10’0” x 26 x 4.5 180L single fin is the board that I asked my local shop last year if I could demo, and they kept discouraging me away from it and kids boards in general. They wouldn't let me demo it. I have no idea why. I am kid weight. My friend's 10-year-old has started using me as her argument as to why she should be allowed to sit in the front seat of a car because she is the same size as me! (My counterargument is that she has a shorter torso than me; therefore, the seatbelt does not catch her in the right places)
I tried longer, thicker, but same width iSUPs last year, but I found that once the wind picked them up, I got spun around and had to move a lot of board to get back straight. I'm pretty sure it's because there as so much board above water.
I would say that with the exception of this spring/summer and the amount of flow coming down from the snowmelt, most of the water I paddle is flatish. Even the moving water is pretty flat.
I wish the SUP fairy would just drop off a board instead of me being on this 13-year journey trying to figure out what to buy! At least I'm finally over having to buy a hard board lol.
I tried longer, thicker, but same width iSUPs last year, but I found that once the wind picked them up, I got spun around and had to move a lot of board to get back straight. I'm pretty sure it's because there as so much board above water.
I would say that with the exception of this spring/summer and the amount of flow coming down from the snowmelt, most of the water I paddle is flatish. Even the moving water is pretty flat.
I wish the SUP fairy would just drop off a board instead of me being on this 13-year journey trying to figure out what to buy! At least I'm finally over having to buy a hard board lol.
AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Very late to the SUP party but I finally got here !!
After coveting one for the last 10yrs DH finally got me one for my birthday so yay for him.
We took it out to one of our local lakes the other day and what a blast, I've only done it once before (10ys ago) so was pretty impressed with myself that I didnt A) fall in and B) I stood up in first minute of actually getting it in the water.
I did however spend the whole day with the paddle round the wrong way
but hey I'm a total beginner !
Going to take it out again tomorrow and see if I can inflate it without help, I did quite well the other day but DH had to do the final few pumps.
Anyhow so while you're all enjoying the skiing I'm taking on our 30 degree heat and getting amongst it x
After coveting one for the last 10yrs DH finally got me one for my birthday so yay for him.
We took it out to one of our local lakes the other day and what a blast, I've only done it once before (10ys ago) so was pretty impressed with myself that I didnt A) fall in and B) I stood up in first minute of actually getting it in the water.
I did however spend the whole day with the paddle round the wrong way
but hey I'm a total beginner !Going to take it out again tomorrow and see if I can inflate it without help, I did quite well the other day but DH had to do the final few pumps.
Anyhow so while you're all enjoying the skiing I'm taking on our 30 degree heat and getting amongst it x
tinymoose
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Beautiful lake!!Very late to the SUP party but I finally got here !!
After coveting one for the last 10yrs DH finally got me one for my birthday so yay for him.
We took it out to one of our local lakes the other day and what a blast, I've only done it once before (10ys ago) so was pretty impressed with myself that I didnt A) fall in and B) I stood up in first minute of actually getting it in the water.
I did however spend the whole day with the paddle round the wrong way
Going to take it out again tomorrow and see if I can inflate it without help, I did quite well the other day but DH had to do the final few pumps.
Anyhow so while you're all enjoying the skiing I'm taking on our 30 degree heat and getting amongst it xView attachment 22325
AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
We're super lucky to have this one and several others all within a short distance from home. I sometimes get immune to just how stunning our landscape is then I see a pic like this and remember that some people spend a lot of $$$ to experience it so I should never take it for granted.
There's a new luxury lodge overlooking this one ...... super pricey !! I think they gave away some freebies at the Golden Globes.
Flockhill Lodge | Serene Wilderness Retreat in Canterbury NZ
Discover a serene wilderness retreat in Canterbury, New Zealand. Enjoy nature's beauty, indulge in luxurious accommodations, and experience tranquillity at Flockhill Lodge. Book your escape today.
www.flockhillnz.com
Tvan
Angel Diva
We travelled in New Zealand in 2005 and it remains the most beautiful place I've ever been. We experienced several days of walking tours in Canterbury, based in Stavely, and absolutely loved every second of it. Thank you for sharing the link to the new lodge - new bucket list item!We're super lucky to have this one and several others all within a short distance from home. I sometimes get immune to just how stunning our landscape is then I see a pic like this and remember that some people spend a lot of $$$ to experience it so I should never take it for granted.
There's a new luxury lodge overlooking this one ...... super pricey !! I think they gave away some freebies at the Golden Globes.
Flockhill Lodge | Serene Wilderness Retreat in Canterbury NZ
Discover a serene wilderness retreat in Canterbury, New Zealand. Enjoy nature's beauty, indulge in luxurious accommodations, and experience tranquillity at Flockhill Lodge. Book your escape today.
AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I know Staveley well we have friends that have an Airbnb there and my husband did a lot of work on the walking track there several years ago.
AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
OMG I go to Rangiora weekly ( I went to high school there as well) what a small world ! And yes a skiff of snow came though yesterday and last night so there is a bit of nip in the air today. Hopefully we're back to summer temps tomorrow and I can take my new toy out for another paddle .... busy You Tubing for more tips
AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So I just had day 2 on my new SUP and yup I'm hooked !!
Due to the wind I ended up at the same lake as day one and it was stunning today, heaps of birdlife incl the now infamous Puteketeke (our "Bird of the Century" as made famous by John Oliver).
I spent my time just cruising around and playing around with my balance and also practised falling in and trying to get back on it which I think some onlookers were bemused by
It ended being a bit of a multisport day as I went for a lovely swim after paddling and then did a quick 3.5km walk around Kura Tawhiti (Castle Hill Rocks) on my way home.
Here's my questions for @WaterGirl and any other SUPers .... I struggled big time trying inflate it to the correct level, try as I might I could only get it just past 10 and not up the required 15. It seemed stable enough but should I be trying harder (although I dont think I could try harder !!) to get it up to 15 or is 10 ok ??
The other question I have is regarding the leash .... do I need it when I'm just on the lake and paddling close to shore ??
Here's a pic John Oliver dressed up as a Puteketeke for your viewing pleasure x
Due to the wind I ended up at the same lake as day one and it was stunning today, heaps of birdlife incl the now infamous Puteketeke (our "Bird of the Century" as made famous by John Oliver).
I spent my time just cruising around and playing around with my balance and also practised falling in and trying to get back on it which I think some onlookers were bemused by
It ended being a bit of a multisport day as I went for a lovely swim after paddling and then did a quick 3.5km walk around Kura Tawhiti (Castle Hill Rocks) on my way home.
Here's my questions for @WaterGirl and any other SUPers .... I struggled big time trying inflate it to the correct level, try as I might I could only get it just past 10 and not up the required 15. It seemed stable enough but should I be trying harder (although I dont think I could try harder !!) to get it up to 15 or is 10 ok ??
The other question I have is regarding the leash .... do I need it when I'm just on the lake and paddling close to shore ??
Here's a pic John Oliver dressed up as a Puteketeke for your viewing pleasure x
I have a hard board so can't help with the inflate except...electric pump that uses your car lighter or other adapter.
I like the leash. Depending on how you fall off the board you could be swimming for a while to get it. If it's attached to you, it's not getting away.
I like the leash. Depending on how you fall off the board you could be swimming for a while to get it. If it's attached to you, it's not getting away.
AJM
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thanks @Jilly, from what I've read they still suggest to try and get those last few psi's by hand even if you use an electric pump, I'm finding it ok getting it up to around 10 but any more than that seems impossible for me. Maybe I should take a break for a few mins once I've got it to 10 then try again.
I hear you re the leash, the reason I ask is that I keep getting caught up in it esp when I was practising falling in and getting back on my board. Maybe I need to keep practising !!
