Good Board for Rental Fleet

[gmac]

I'm considering starting a SUP weekend rental/lessons/tour business.  If I go forward, I'll be in the market for 6-10 flat water (lake) cruising boards.  Any good suggestions on boards that would be good for a rental fleet?  Obviously Price, Durability and Stability are the my three primary concerns. 

Thanks

[jdmotes]

 I'd have to recommend plastic sups like the ones Corran Addison (Eco-Imagine) sells. They are bullet proof durable, yet stable and inexpensive. Plus; they have many different styles and sizes...    Later,    JD

http://web.me.com/imaginesurf/eng/plastic_standup_paddleboard.html

[exetersup]

I'm a big believer in Inflatables for rentals. They are fairly inexpensive, pretty lightweight (think carrying/transport), can be stored easily (when deflated and bagged), and will do the job perfectly for beginners/flat water. Coreban makes a solid one, as does Uli and C4. You can literally drag it across the ground, abuse it to a certain extent, and not have to worry about  renters (who don't know any better) scraping/dinging/destroying it. The Eco Imagine plastic boards are sweet, too. It comes down to how much you want to invest in the rental fleet, how durable the boards need to be for your target group, your storage capability, and reliability/dependability of use.
Even though the inflatables have to be pumped up and "maintained",  all boards require some degree of maintenance in order for them to last. I wouldn't want renters/campers trashing a nice glossy-finished (and more performance?) type of board.
FYI, I'm also considering a similar endevour, so I've given this some though. I'm likely going with a couple of 9'8 and 8'8 Coreban Inflatables
http://www.coreban.com/inflatablesups2010.html
Good luck

[DavidJohn]

The 10' x 32" Naish softskin Mana is another good option.

Here's an old post about them.. http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=6358.0

DJ

[RainWaves]

 The BIC ACS should be in the running for what you're looking to do, also. Have you taken a look at them? They are kind of aimed at the beginning and rental market.

http://www.bicsportsurfboards.com/products/sup,3,74.html

My search for the most durable SUP around lead me to them, along with the E-Comp Jungle line.  This is the type of construction I was  trying to find for my Barnacle infested waters.

[Easy Rider]

I have both the Naish Mana 10' in Soft Skin and the new Starboard 10' in Sup Slick in my demo fleet and they are both great.
Virtually bomb proof - yet still paddle like a "real" board.
Not nocking inflatables or plastic boards - but they do not paddle the same as an epoxy board.
These 2 are the closest I have found.

[AJR]

NSP or Isle would be good too...

[bigdom]

SB make a whopper for rentals with nose and tail bumpers

a good choice as very stable

[JimK]

We've been REALLY happy in both cost, Durability & Performance with our Demo Fleet of

Fanatic Fly's
Naish Mana's, Glides & Some Nalu's

JimK
www.extremewindsurfing.com

[Linus]

I've been using the same demos for over a year and they look, well, new.  I have a running joke with Deb from Stand Up Paddle Sports in Santa Barbara every time I do a demo with them "hey Deb, how long have I had this red/white/blue 11'6 Cruiser in my demo fleet for?"  She laughs and says "as long as I've known you - a year and a half."  I keep demos for a long time and am proud of how perfect they look after A LOT of use.  You can never go wrong with quality - always a good investment.

[CCSUP]

The Starboard Slickskin is a great choice....whopper outline in a true softtop. Another great choice, and what I'll be using this Summer in my rental fleet, is the Angulo "Suppah Slippah". It comes in a 9'8" and a 10'8", is a soft top, but has a good (ie not slippery) deck pad, and hard rubber bumpers on the tips and sides. The price includes a paddle, and they retail for $749 and $799 respectively. The plastic boards are great, except they are so heavy...it's really a detriment. I have a few rapidfires, and they are good for rentals being super stable, but they're nearly 50 lbs, and they're smaller than the bigger boards. The weights I saw for the new line is extremely heavy IMO.


~CCSUP

[kwhilden]

Plastic boards are perfect for rental fleets because they are indestructible and quite inexpensive. As a rental owner, you will *never* have to worry about fixing dings. Our boards are blow molded in the USA. Blow molded plastic is significantly tougher than rotomolded plastic, and it is also less expensive.

Regarding weights... I just weighed our new Surfer model, which came out at 45 lbs exactly. This is quite manageable and about the same weight as a similar kayak.

The Rapidfire is indeed a heavy board because it was designed for heavy whitewater, where abuse with rocks is extreme. It weighs about 55 lbs. Aside from that, I wouldn't recommend the Rapidfire for rentals anyway because it is designed to turn easily in whitewater, which means it doesn't paddle straight on flat water.

The Surfer is an ideal rental SUP, because it is so beginner friendly. It's extremely stable and paddles in straight line quite well. We also offer a 'Rental' specific version with a molded-in front grab loop that makes it easy to run a chain through the board for security on the beach at night.

I think it's probably good for a rental fleet to have an option for epoxy SUPs as well.  You can charge a premium rental fee on those boards. But for high volume rental fleets, plastic is hard to beat.

[CCSUP]

Even 45 lbs is heavy.....I have super durable softops that have held up well and never ding that are just as user friendly on the water, but weigh less than 30 lbs. And if you're not an average size male then 45 lbs is a no go....my wife, who is small, but strong, can't handle a 45 lb board off the rack and into the water for the renter.....we know, she's tried. Durable and affordable, yes, but out here on the "front lines" daily I am here to tell that anything over 30 lbs is a hard sell at any price. The ladies simply can't handle it, and most men don't want to. I've been paddling Corran's craft since the the Corsica Matrix he did for Perception (I think that's what they called it.) I had one of the first Scorpions in the NW many years ago when I still lived in Idaho. Though the Kix and the Sick weren't my favorite boats, the Glide was unreal, and the Disco was a great boat. Corran knows his stuff....and I know he knows weight is important, I still have the hangtag that Riot used my picture of Jeff Trauba tossing an Ultra Light Disco up into the air. I'd be stoked to bring the touring models ya'll are producing in....they have a lot of great and innovative features. But please, ya'll gotta put them on a diet!

[kwhilden]

CCSUP,

I'm sorry but market facts disagree with you. 45 lbs is no heavier than the average kayak. In fact... that *is* the weight of an average kayak. The market for kayaks is huge, and weight is not stopping anyone from buying them.  According to the Outdoor Industry Association 2009 Paddlesports report, there are $100M worth of kayaks sold ever year in the USA, which equates to about 220,000 kayaks sold every year.  How many of those kayaks weigh less than 45 lbs? Probably only the whitewater playboats and the kid-sized recreational kayaks. Perhaps that is 5% of the total kayak market. 10% if you are generous.

The OIA report also states that 44% of kayaking participants are women. How do they manage it? While 45 lbs might be too much for some women to handle alone, it is not too much for two women to handle together. Or a woman and a man, or a teenager, etc...  let's not forget that the majority of people don't paddle alone.  Helping each other load boards/boats on the car and carrying them to the water is how it is done in the kayaking world. This can happen in the SUP world too.

Finally, I completely agree that weight *is* an issue. It always will be, along with durability and price. You know the old joke... "You can have a lightweight, durable, and cheap SUP, pick any two."




 

[CCSUP]

Kevin,
This is not kayaking. Many people do SUP alone. I've been in the paddling industry since 1989, on both the manufacturer's side, the guiding/instructing, and now the retail side. I interact with potential buyers and rentals daily. There's another saying that reference's the viability of statistics that Mark Twain famously said.....I'm sure there's no need to write it out. Sure 44% of kayaker's are female, and sure the average weight of a kayak may be 45 lbs....but that means that there are plenty of kayaks that weigh less the 45 lbs and has anyone separated out the data to see which particular boats most of the women paddlers purchased? I thought not. Bit of a straw man you gave me there.

Ya'll are doing some cool things, SUP's are not kayaks, and more SUP'ers paddle alone, and the number one complaint I hear from females about boards is about excessive weight....it also ranks up near the top for men. My wife, who is a massage therapist (that means she's strong....she does about 30 hours a week of deep tissue work), a rock climber, and a SUP'er cannot handle the boards over 40 lbs to get them off the rental rack and down to the water by herself. As a shop owner that leaves me with a couple of choices.....the boards that ARE lighter, just as durable, and  and just as cost efficient, or I can hire an extra person all the time (my wife won't be doing this herself for long.) Perhaps inland, where more folks getting into SUP come from a kayaking background, weight won't be as vital, but here on the coast, with surfers crossing over, heavy boards don't fly nearly as well.

Incidentally I put one of the rapidfires I use in my rental fleet on a scale....47 lbs. And they are fine for flatwater rentals....I just put a 10" fin on them and they track quite well, and handle the biggest people that come in.