Recommendations for a narrower 11"ish board?

[yugi]

mitten kitten,
The Naish Nalu 11'4 is a low volume sister of the 11'6 and has better glide. I believe it's the one Robby uses on his Amazon river tidal bore wave ride.

wendy,
Apparently it's the thickness that gives an iSUP rigidity. So you might want to try out how a 4" thick model handles. For flat water touring you want length for speed. So check out the Red Paddle 12'6 Elite which is 26" wide. It should be pretty quick. I know a girl lighter than you who races on Red Paddle and beats all the other girls. Red Paddle iSups aren't light but they are more rigid (a good thing).

[gtcali]

Ron House 11 x 30 Coastal Crusier off the rack.

Or go custom as mentioned earlier.

[raf]

to Mittenkitten:  Boga makes a nice shape 11'er that is 30" wide.  Their 10'4 is slightly narrower. 

to Wendy:  Starboard's inflatable race boards are what you need.  12-6 Astro racer is 26" wide.  Its a killer board, and if you don't race it its not a racer


raf
owner of Soposup, the only dedicated SUP shop I've ever been to or heard of
Boga and Starboard dealer

[Fog City Rider]

to Wendy:  Starboard's inflatable race boards are what you need.  12-6 Astro racer is 26" wide.  Its a killer board, and if you don't race it its not a racer

raf
owner of Soposup, the only dedicated SUP shop I've ever been to or heard of
Boga and Starboard dealer

+1 on what Raf said, Wendy.  Just get an elite race inflatable & it will make a perfect all-around touring board for you.  Starboard, Red Paddle Co., and Fanatic all make narrow 12'6 models for a petite lady like you .   

[sharkies]

I've got an 11'2 x 29 1/2 Gerry Lopez Big Darlin. Great board in the surf and pretty good in flat water as well. Also have a Laird Pearson Arrow 10'6 thats 29 3/4 wide but I believe the 11 footer is 29 1/2. Thats the Surftech model and you might have trouble getting one now that they are made by another company. The Laird surfs really well and also paddles well in flat water.

[robon]

The Amundson Cross series seems to fall right in line for what you are looking for at your size.

Both a 10'6" and 11'0" version. Looks like the 2014 models have tie downs up front and the 2013 models didn't. Amundson offers a lot of bang for the buck in their line up.

[Wendy]

+1 on what Raf said, Wendy.  Just get an elite race inflatable & it will make a perfect all-around touring board for you.  Starboard, Red Paddle Co., and Fanatic all make narrow 12'6 models for a petite lady like you .

Hi Raf and Fog City Rider,

I'm sorry not to have replied sooner - I had pretty much given up and so had not logged in for awhile.  I really appreciate your suggestions.  I had previously looked up the Red, and it is 6" thick.  I just went and checked out the Starboard, and it is also 6" thick.  I did like the narrow beam, but just wish they were not 6" thick.  I tried an ULI 12'6" x 4" thick and it felt the "right distance from the water," but was just too wide.  Also tried a Hala Nass that was 6" thick and I know it sounds weird that 2" would make so much difference but it felt like I was a mile from the water.  And the thing is, I don't need the thickness.

I may be wrong here, but here is what I'm thinking:  As long as a given board will work for someone who is, say 6'2" and 280# (or whatever is typical), then it's almost got to be much too wide/thick/buoyant/what-have-you for me, or anyone else my size.  That, by definition, is what makes it good for the bigger/taller person (right?).  So it seems to me I'm going to run into the same problem with any board (it will be narrow but really thick; or it will be thin but wide) unless/until a company makes a board with the same intention but in two versions (say one for under 150# and one for over 150#).

Kayaks are somewhat similar:  A "race" or sport kayak that only came in one size (hence would fit large men) would never be racy or sporty for me - it would be like paddling a bathtub.  Luckily in kayaks, there are "same purpose" boats that are simply made smaller and less voluminous for smaller men or women.  THEN they really do live up to what they are supposed to be (racy, sporty, low-volume, whatever).

It's a bit frustrating, and somewhat self-perpetuating, as folks like me will either not buy one or likely find "SUP-ping" to be too cumbersome, slow, unwieldy (when it really isn't, but it would be like a big guy on a board that was 12'6" long, 38" wide, and 8" thick - imagine how awful that would be).

I'm still hopeful there is something I haven't found, but otherwise it seems like my choices are a low-volume, sporty kayak intended for folks under 150#, or a sort of "throwaway" SUP that I know will be wide/thick (but I'm not going to spend $1500+ on a board that doesn't fit me).

I DO very much appreciate your trying to help, and I hope that comes across.

Wendy