Board recommendation to take my dog out

[pguidry]

I'm 6'2" and 235 lbs.  I'm looking at a board to take my lab on he's a puppy now but should be 60-70 lbs in a few years. I'm thinking a Starboard Atlas or NSP 11'6". He'll go in the waves on small days and on flat water trips.

I live in Florida so it will be my "small" wave board.  I'll ride a 9 x32 for good surf.

I rode the NSP for a weekend once. It was stable and cruised well. I have a 10'5" Starboard Widepoint  but haven't seen an Atlas.

The NSP  11'6 x 33 wide and 224l. The Atlas is 12' x 33 wide and 236l.  Another option is the Atlas Extra at 12 x 36 and 254l.

I'm thinking the extra length on the Atlas would be better. Not sure I need the "extra"

Any inputs?  Any other  boards I should consider?

[WaterDog]

My first board was the NSP (11'6), great first board, very durable and floats well even with my wife or my two Labs.  I really liked the fact that the deck pad went all the way forward, gave the dogs something to sit on and didn't scratch the fiberglass. 

[RainWaves]

  Hi there pguidry. I imagine either of those two would be fine, but I advise to stay away from the Extra. Too wide, and will be slow, especially after your pup gets full size. No surf around here for comparison, but for cruising you'll want a faster board. That extra weight (full grown) may not be much, but you can tell the difference once underway.

 I'm similar in height, but 30 lbs less, and my Lab mix is around 67 lbs. We started on a BIC E-Comp 11'6", which is great stability wise, but not the fastest thing out there (even by myself). We moved down to the 10'6" version, which is much faster, and still held our weight just fine. But, I wanted to go farther with her, so I finally started taking her on my 12' Glide, and this really was what I was after. We have our balance figured out, and can make good time. We did a 3 mile tailwind run last weekend, and made 4.5 kts going with an ebb tide.

 Since your dog will be growing up "on board", and not new to the whole thing, I'd recommend going with the fastest cruising board you can find, and one that'll do the trick surfing for you too. Not sure how the Starboard Widepoint does in flat water, but maybe it might work with the dog as your "small wave" board, and possibly you might look into getting a true "cruising" board for the flat water adventures. Going slow is no fun Hope this helps, and good luck!

[freetobeme]

Starboard SUPer 12'6x30 - do it all board with some float and full deck pad.  

I've entered rec races, had more than one person on it, my dog, can fish off it, and windsail it if you get it with the mast option

Just looked at SB site - new 12'6 SUPer does not have full deck pad like mine from last year....maybe go used???

[andygere]

Check out the Dawg models from Angulo, sounds like they will suit your intended needs.

http://angulodesigns.com/boards/the-dawg/

[dietlin]

Bark Expedition. 

[pdxmike]

Someone posted on an old thread that his dog just sticks one of those suction bath mats you use in tubs on the front of the board when he rides along.  A board with a full pad would be great, but that's an easy way to overcome that, short of permanently adding more pad.  That could expand your board options.  Just be sure to call it a "board mat" and not a "bath mat". 

[upwinder]

Highly recommend the 12'0 x 33 Atlas for those purposes. I'm your height and a bit heavier, my Atlas carries me and my 8yo kid, glides surprisingly well in flat water cruising (esp with a big keel fin) and is a hoot in surf up to 3-4ft with a big guy on it. I've declined a couple of offers to buy mine, it's too much fun and too versatile to part with it - my go to board for general fun, family, beginners, coastal holidays, recovery paddles after racing etc etc.

[finsider]

My vote is for the NSP based solely on the fact that you can almost always find the big 11.6 on craigslist for pretty cheap, and used you won't mind as much if your dogs scratch it up a bit.

However, without money as a factor, the Starboard would be the better choice IMO.

[newton333]

yolo yak  only board for this.

[dietlin]

bark, bark, bark...expedition.

[TEX_SUP]

I was in the exact same situation a few months ago.

I researched and tried out several boards.  Ended up buying a used NSP 11'6 from a rental place.

It floats us both, has a full length traction pad for the dog, and is very durable. 

As a long time surfer and never a sweeper, I'm glad I did it.  Great exercise for me and the dog and now I have something to do when the waves are small.

[pguidry]

Went to a Starboard demo today.  Got to paddle the Atlas, Atlas Wide, and Avanti along with my 10'5" Widepoint.

The Atlas Wide and Avanti weren't much better going into the chop than my Widepoint but lots more stable.

The Atlas felt stable enough and had the best glide.  It should catch small Florida waves better than my Widepoint and be stable enough for my dog to ride with me. 

One note, the 2012's have extra side fin boxes at the midpoint of the board for windsurfing. Kind of mini daggerboards.

[JF808]

NSP, inexpensive and full deck pad