SIMO review (or learning how to surf it)

[karl]

Hey

Though I'd do an extended review of a board I've just made, and it'll be more about learning how to ride it for those thinking of downsizing to Minion/Tomo/Simmons inspired boards.

Here's the build thread.
http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,27044.75.html

I'm a prone surfer of 30 odd years in my late 40s, and ride small Tomo/Simmons type boards in the surf (25 to 38 litres). I've been recreational racing on 14 footers for a couple of years, so moving onto a surf SUP has been to do something different.

The board is 7' by 28", and about 108 litres or so. I'm only 70kg so put lots more volume in it to learn on.

First session
Knee to waist high waves, high tide back wash, 10 to 15 knots offshore. Not really a good place to start. Managed to stay on it for 30 seconds a couple of time, but fell in a lot! At this stage I was wondering if I'd made a mistake!

So took it for a prone surf and had a ball. It went well, skating all over the place, trimmed out well on the soft high tide sections, but very turny and fast on the steeper sections. Thought I better learn to paddle it properly because its a keeper in the surf.

Second session
Went to the sheltered harbour beach next to where I live to get some paddling practice. This went much better. Jumped straight on it and paddled around for 20 minutes without falling once! Even paddled the 500 metres back home into a light wind and waves no trouble at all.

Helped to review the threads here on how to trim and paddle these shorter boards.

A few more sessions in rougher harbour conditions and I'll be back into the waves.

Here's a few photos taken by my daughter. I'll post some more once I've got it sussed in the waves, then review the board design...

[karl]

Nice calm conditions, but water on 13* C so didn't want to fall in..

[karl]

Spins around real well..

[karl]

Gets along with about 3 strokes on each side ok..

[karl]

Quite stable when paddling, but will need a bit more practice standing still, especially in the ocean...

[supthecreek]

karl.... looks great.... that board should be fine for you.
It will just take some "adjustment" time
The flatwater will only have marginal effect on improvement.....

Just hit the crap conditions in the ocean and take a licking.
It's the beating that builds the skills and the musculature used by the small twitch movements.
There's really no substitution for it.
I went from "no frickin' way" to "I got this" in 2 weeks of tipping in the nastys.

Your board is comfortably over the 1.3 "factor" and  28 wide should be fine for your age and size.

Just go out with the goal of getting stronger balance skills.... getting waves is a bonus, but not what builds the skills you need to get solid on that board.

[beached]

i think this reaffirms the notion that these tomo/vanguard/minion style boards are not magic...they do not equate to incredible stability at very small sizes. i know i couldn't stand on that thing for a second. but like STC said, at your size, practice should make it work. good luck and awesome that you can build your own.