Which board type?

[Stand Up Pittsburgh]

We are a shop that sells boards for flat water paddling. No surfing in Pittsburgh unless your behind a boat. We push displacement boards since we are on flat water.
We are looking at doing rentals with another company and I would like to hear the Zones opinion on the following:

1.   Should we only rent displacement or both displacement and planning?
2.   The planning boards should they just be soft tops?
3.   Should we charge more for the displacement rental since it is a more expensive board?

Thanks for your help

[spookini]

I'd say offer nice-and-wide planing boards.  First-timers want to have fun and don't care about speed or glide.  Race boards are less stable and harder to turn, right?  Seems as a SUP rental you will get lots of newbies.

What is your storage situation like?  I'd think about the new-style inflatables rather than soft-tops.  Impossible to damage or ding, and a hell of a lot easier to store.  At the end of the season they will still look like new and have resale value.  Maybe a small upcharge to rent a raceboard..  Tell ppl it's faster but they might be falling off

(As a Pittsburgher transplanted to Boston, let me give a quick shoutout:  GO STILLERS!!.  Training camp will be here soon; the Bruins and their fans are truly a miserable bunch of CHUCKERS!!  

[Wetstuff]

sup..  The local fed. park, canoe rental went from half decent boards (1/2 is generous..) to rotomolded POSs because their typical customer was having difficulty with the better ones. (I have seen canoe rentals where two passengers were facing each other and paddling..one backwards)

I suggested they get a couple of really decent boards that would be 'luxury' for the 'already paddling, board owner' and sell a book of tickets (metaphorically or real..) on a time share basis .. maybe a decent racer that someone can really go out an book some calories on without having to extend themselves.   ...like rowing shells in some places. 

Start a club, recruit people with rental type boards (BIC always come to mind..) where you share the rental fee ..maintain and store them for them.  In a 'hurry up and wait' business your time must be worth zero, so anything you can do to limit your capital exposure is best.



Jim