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Messages - marvinhecht

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1
Foil SUP / Re: Do 4-in-1 foil boards have too many compromises?
« on: December 19, 2020, 07:27:55 AM »
Hey all, thanks. So let me focus on foil boards that are 2-in-1 for SUP surfing & wing.

My one hesitation: My buddy bought a 3-in-1 says that getting up on a foil using a windsurf sail is the easiest way to learn to ride the foil. He says a wing is much harder because there is no stable point to hang on to. But I'll rely on what you people here in the 'trenches' say. I do like the fact that I could start learning the wing using a skateboard in a parking lot or on a frozen lake with iceskates.

Is it definately easier to learn with a wing first before attempting SUP surfing on a foil? I would imagine so...

Oh, also my dad has a metal fishing boat with a 15 hp Mercury outboard.. it's way to underpowered for waterskiing but could it pull me on a foil?

2
Foil SUP / Do 4-in-1 foil boards have too many compromises?
« on: December 17, 2020, 07:07:18 PM »
Hi guys,

There may be some "classic" threads on this already, if so please point me in the right direction. I love SUP surfing and I've decided that instead of going from a 10"6 to a 9"1 (or 155L to 130L)  I'd rather just get a foil. I SUP surf on the great lakes and it seems like getting a foil would be ideal for the temperamental, mushy, weak windswell we get, and make more rideable days of the year.  Two friends have bought foils, and the one friend is close enough that he will let me try his in spring. He bought a 3-in-1 Slingshot Shred Sled with Neilpryde foil, and is going to use it mostly to do windsurf foiling and wingfoiling. He is not really into SUP surfing (yet) but he wants to eventually try his foil in the surf after learning using the windsurf foiling (he calls it WWF and he is a fan of Reef Warrior). So my friend bought this 3-in-1 board for the purposes that suit him. He wants to get me into the windsurf foiling to - but to be honest other than learning to get up on a foil my main interest is in SUP surfing a foil, and I really like the idea of a 4-in-1, e.g. the Starboard 4-in-1 Hypernut. Reason: I'd love to take just the board and use it as a SUP surf on big days- because I've never had a small surf SUP before.

Here is the problem though, we had in intense discussion. It seems like 3-in-1 boards are shaped VERY boxy, are very fat and thick, and the rear end has that shape that rises up (like the back bottom of an airplane) - is it called the "channel", and are designed to minimize problems in splashdown, and maximize performance on the foil, since the board is out of the water most of the time. However, once you try and make a board that will also serve as a surf sup, it's gotta look a bit more like a traditional surf sup or shortboard - egg shape or pointier nose (at least slightly), hard thinned rails, and to make the trailer quad fins be were they normally are, you can only have that "channel" in the center portion of the board, like the Hypernut.

So my question is: do 4-in-1 boards have TOO many compromises? Are they jack-of-all-trades and master of none? Or.. not having actually foiled yet on anything, am I splitting hairs and starting an academic discussion about something that really doesn't matter.  A slightly separate question is - are 4-in-1 boards harder or easier to learn than 3-in-1 or 2-in-1 foils?

3
Classifieds / Re: FS: Laird Carbon Surrator 8'10"
« on: December 17, 2020, 06:46:38 PM »
Very nice board! Getting rare to find these.

4
Hey I just checked this thread, such awesome information. I have a lot of homework to do!

Clay and SupTheCreek- I subscribed to your youtube channels and I am looking forward to checking them out.

Clay - So you had a custom SUP made from this company in Santa Cruz?  http://www.stretchboards.com/boards/sup/

I lived in San Francisco for 13 years but that was before I took up sup surfing (or surfing) but I love the VWs and vibe of the town. I would also visit the Pearson Arrow Surf shop -- I think the Pearson / Laird shape with pintail is one of the best shaped designs EVER, the pintail makes it so maneuverable!!

I don't know what a stinger tail is -- I can't find it listed here. Is it a very pointy pintail?
        https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/the-different-types-of-surfboard-tails


SurfCowBoy - yeah I was in Hawaii for 5.5 years, now in Southern Ontario, Canada - and days with good surf are so rare and limited to perfect wind conditions. Seems like the people here are behind the times - there are mostly prone surfers (who get even less wave time than me on a longboard SUP), and I have not seen a single person on a foil. That being said, I have 2 friends who just got foils and they'll be trying them out in spring.  They are foils that can be used to SUP surf but these 2 guys will also be using free wings, and/or a small windsurf-type sail, at least to start off. I hear it is easier to start foiling using wind (or behind a boat) than trying right in surf. My dad has a fishing boat with 15 hp motor, is that enough to pull a foil - my friend thinks it might be, since foils have much less drag than waterskis.


SupTheCreeek - Hey I am German heritage and appreciate German engineering (have owned BMWs, Porsche's) so Sunova sounds like my kind of company. I have never been to Thailand but I do know about their beaches / surf (like most people I thought of cement and factories when I grew up hearing about Thailand, I just did not know!) And I remember there is that one company in Thailand that manufactures 99% of the SUPs in the world from Naish to Surftech and everything else, maybe Sunova is now giving them a run for their money? :) I will study up on Sunova and email you to see what board might be a good fit for me. I saw my first Sunova in Toronto and did a double take - it looked more like a nice piece of wood carved art, then a traditional SUP! That model (I think a Speed was only 105L) and the guy who owned it was pretty thin - and my other thought was - I will never be able to get on that POTATO CHIP lol. Then I saw other youtube videos of guys larger than me (I am 5"9, 200 lbs) shredding it up on Sunova boards, even ones that seemed quite low volume for the rider. I'll definately be checking it out and be in touch!!

Anybody know of, or see boards that could double as both a small surf sup AND a foil board, kind of like the Hypernut?
Also, is it worth taking my 10"6 and having someone insert a foil attachment box? I am told I'd outgrow it very quickly. On the other hand, I might be able to borrow a foil from one of my friends and quickly learn SUP foiling without having to do all the wind stuff first? (I may need to ask this in the foil forum..)

5
Oh wow you guys are great! I know it was a lot of reading but I am glad I explained where we are coming from.  Oh cool the Grand Palladium looks PERFECT. I see their next SUP retreat is May 4-8, 2021, hey maybe we'll all be vaccinated by then and instead of waiting a year we can go earlier! I am checking out now, finding and loading up the Youtube videos...

6
Hey all,

Well I may need to take a different course after all. I got excited and started telling my wife about all the information I found out about CR and Nasara in particular. She said she thought this anniverary trip was turning into something "all about me" - I was putting my need to surf above her wants and desires to relax, eat, drink, and have fun. So I thought I'd turn on Youtube and show her Nasara. It looks interesting, cute, lots of nature, little earthy, not very commercial. She (and I) were disappointed that the beach itself has no hotels (or anything on it). It kind of reminded me of when we went to Hanalay Bay on Kuawai and I was like - uhh where are all the hotels? This looks like we are in the TV show Lost. I was pretty annoyed that even the surf shops in Hanalay Bay were way back downtown, you couldn't just rent a surfboard like in Honolulu on Kalakawa Ave and walk across the street and hop in the water.  In Waikiki my wife loved to shop while I surfed. For our 20th anniversary even though we lived in Honolulu, we stayed in the Sheraton right on the beach and loved it- I went out to populars and came back in to eat lunch, then went back out again. I did see that Tamarindo Dirinda beach resort is RIGHT on the beach kind of like Waikiki, not sure if you can rent boards in the hotel itself? But on Youtube at least, it did not seem particularly luxurious or exciting. Hard to tell even on video. We also saw videos about Cabarete, DR, and it looked OK, kind of similar to CR but not particularly luxurious, but more windy with a lot of kiters  hmm when I'd go to Kailua there'd be a lot of kiters and I almost got my head taken off by one. I may not be watching the right  youtube videos but in any case my wife was non=plused.

I go OK, let's search Youtube for BEST ALL INCLUSIVE RESORTS around the world and maybe a few of them are in a place I could surf. We came across some really nice looking resorts in the Maldives, a lot of those looked really cool with the little huts above water, and they seemed to have good surf breaks nearby. I know Rogue One (Star Wars) was shot in Maldives, and I bet it really is nice - just kind of far! We came across some favorable reviews of other places in Costa Rica: Kalon surf resort, Dreams Las Marias, Westin Golf resort looked nice (except I am not into golfing). Cancun Playa Mujeres looked fun (we almost went to Cancun for our Honeymoon but chose Montego Bay Sandals instead), many places in St. Lucia looked really beautiful, and 1 in Antiqua. My windsurf buddy says St. Lucia is gorgeous and makes Hawaii look like a dive - I said wait a minute, have you been to Oahu North Shore or especially Kuwaii ? He then admitted he had only been to Maui, and ment Maui not Hawaii.  I still need to go back and challenge him on that- there are some really nice places in Maui maybe he hasn't seen. Anyway, he said St. Lucia is very very beautiful and great for windsurf but not sure about surf spots since it has a lagoon around it. Reviews seem to indicate that too. Hope he and I are wrong - anybody know of any good surf spots in St Lucia? :)

Then I hit pay dirt with my wife. We saw several videos about this new "Grand Velas Cabo San Lucas" in Mexico. We agreed that the place looked beautiful, seems to have beautiful views, seems ultra luxurious, gives you that feeling like you are being pampered - and it was noted that the food and even alchohol is top-notch, even thought it is an all-inclusive. We lived in San Francisco for 13 years and love Mexican food, culture, Cinco De Mayo, Rita's and Fahita's, so this struck a cord. I see that Cabo is down that part of Mexico called the "Baja" peninsula and I figured the pacific ocean probably sends some nice waves there. It seems like where this hotel is in Cabo it is on the wrong side and only gets south swells, and I don't think south swells come in December (could be wrong). Also it seems there are not many swimable beaches due to steep dropoffs and rip currents. So .. hhhhmmm.. I am not sure I could surf at the time we go in Cabo near that hotel (I hope I am wrong). There is some other hotel even more luxurious near a surf spot called "The Monuments" but it is for experienced surfers only, and I am intermediate. Well in any case that hotel looks so nice I'd probably just go there and enjoy it and stay on the property, maybe even forget about surfing!

But.. I would like to surf at least some of the time.. so I kept looking.  I see there is the Mexican pipeline area (Puerto Escondido, Oaxana) = but I read that is also big surf, for exports only. it does seem there are good surf spots along the Baja pensinsula for intermediate surfers = I am reading about a lot of LEFTS cool!! Many of these surf spots on the Baja peninsula seem to be in small fishing villages or small towns (Manzillo Bay? , La Ticla?, Punta Conjo ?) , and from what i can find out don't have that vibe that comes with lots of people and/or a really luxurious resort. I might be OK if the surfing was good ... but my wife would be bored or not have fun. One brigth spot  -- there seems to be another "Grand Velas" resort in an an area callled Niyut - and that area seems to have some good surf spots, that could be it! Hoping it has the vibe/excitement of the other Grand Velas resort but right close to (or on) surf spots? I'll continue my quest but any thoughts / comments on this area of Mexico? I think I could be be pretty happy to go with my wife and SUP surf at least some of the time! I don't doubt that Costa Rica has great or better waves, I just may need to visit it some other time -- either on my own or with a surf buddy...

7
Travel, Trips, Destinations / Re: Mellow Wave Destinations
« on: December 06, 2020, 02:47:48 PM »

Looks like you decided (great) but I was going to suggest Waikiki (Honolulu, Oahu)? (We lived there for 5.5 years. My favorite wave is Populars, in front of the Sheraton - nice slow mellow rollers. And of course canoes right in front of everything - every wave is a party wave and newb's are welcome. You may be able to get onto Queens on the left as you have better skill - I could only do that on rainy weekdays when it wasn't busy. You could also take the family for a catamaran ride. Down in front of Starbucks is where the kids (and some adults) bodyboard, always has some waves. Apparently the McDonalds had to stop using trays - too many kids would take them to bodyboard on :)

Sounds like your choice is great, we may also go to Costa Rica for our next vacation, per my other thread in this topic people are recommending Nosara over Doria, although the resot in Diria looks cool!

8
Now researching Nosara more, based on the suggestions above, and asking friends- regardless of if I go Dec 2020 or (most likely) Dec 2021. A friend also advised avoiding Tamarindo saying it is a busy concrete beach town. I have emails into Blue Zone SUP - but their camp dates may not work and their residence is less 'resort-like" than we are hoping for we will see. Someone above mentioned look into Nosara Paddle Surf they also offer not only SUP surf camps but individual lessons / tutoring, and a bonus is that they use Infinity SUPs. I went through the list of hotels above and looks like the Guided Iguana and the Lagarta Lodge have Jacuzzi's, Lagarta Lodge also has Aerial Yoga which we like. Looking into Yoga studios and SUP Yoga too - my wife and I both do that, and she likes little shops etc. Thanks!

9
Hey devon_sup_surf,

You had mentioned in my thread on that 2019 Naish that you regretted going to small, so I am reading this entire post and looking up all of the boards others mention. Not sure if you decided on anything yet, but I like the guy who suggested to consider SUP foiling instead, as a way to have fun in crappy surf. I'm thinking along the same lines also, and 2 friends who are just gettting into foiling: one with a Blue Planet SUP surf foil, and one with Slingshot 3-in-1 foil (SUP surf, free wing, windsurf foiling). I've also researching boards that I could throw my fins on and use a Surf SUP on really good days (albeit a very short and boxy one), and stick a foil on during crappy days, such as the Starboard HyperNut 4-in-1. If I'm serious I'll need to stop foilin' around and go check out the foiling forum.. :)

10
Hey Night Wing,

Those are really, really nice looking Blue Planet boards and GL2 fins!  I did a double-take reading this thread, I didn't know those GL2s came in that greyish color, is it honeycomb? Do they have some flex? My own GL2s came in black/red and are quite stiff but I am told they are made out of fiberglass and/or fiberglass plus plastic, not sure.

My board came stock with 5 grey honeycomb GL1s, and my GL2 set did not come with a center fin. I had lost 1 fin from each set in the ocean, and called futures fins to see if they sell individual replacements. I got luck and I was able to purchase a replacement left rear black/red GL2, but they told the me the GL1s will never be back in stock.

11
Exactly. Also, the inflatible (my friend's daughters board) was a Jimmy Stykes and it had a some nice nose rocker (way more than my own board has) so I could get on the waves and speed down them without pearling. But it was a little wide (34") and the tail was very wide without rocker and it felt like it was dragging. Yeah, and right in the middle of the going down the wave it felt like the SUP, because it was filled with air, felt to me like it was bending to fit the wave shape, I think the air was shifting around, not sure. I do remember once meeting an airline pilot SUP while surfing in Hawaii and he also had a Gerry Lopez shaped board, but it was inflatible - I think called an ULI or something. It was not as good as a hard board, but not bad...

I realized that I left out some other things that changed in my comments above: FCS II fins seem to be much more common, even standard now. Also, I think the reason we are not seeing foil attachments on every board is that they would  interfere with the center fin, plus it doesn't make sense for all but the shortest boards to run them with a foil.

12
Hey, I am curious if y'all think SUP technology is still advancing with every year. My SUP knowledge is kind of stuck right around 2012-2016 when I lived in Hawaii and had been SUP surfing a lot. Brought my board back to Canada but didn't realize I could surf here until this year,  so I was out of the scene. I am starting to think of "downsizing" to a smaller board (or is that "upsizing" since you need more skill ?) and I was thinking something like a Naish Hokua, didn't really care about which year. I am a Laird fan (and nearly got his board instead of the Lopez) and I recently came across a Laird Surrator on eBay. Then I found a shop which may still have my "dream board" in stock: a 2016 Laird Hybrid Surfer - the one that is the Pearson Arrow Laird shape, but with a pointy nose and multiple colors on the board (looks less boring, more cool).

Except, I am beginning to realize SUP technology has changed, and/or is changing -- still. From reading other posts I just found out that most boards don't need rail tape anymore. A friend has a 2019 Starboard Pro, and I started watching review of various Starboard boards for 2021 - seems like the construction materials are getting lighter but also stronger. Seems like they are figuring out new and different ways to make "channels" in the back of the board, ways to make even thinner rails (or Infinity SUP - the Blurr has stepped rails). Then companies I don't remember have popped up - e.g. Sunova - they seem to be based out of Thailand, but have some famous engineers from the US? On their boards seems like they have various "steps" near the end of the tail - in the old days only surfboards had that - SUP were just "normal" shaped. Carbon or carbon areas seems to be a lot more prevalent in boards - it used to cost a LOT more and was limited to top end models. I am seeing various decks in SUPs now (domed vs flat). I did think (or hope?) that many or most boards would also start coming with a box to attach a foil so you could sup surf it or foil it.. that doesn't seem to have happened except for isolated models like the Hypernut. I have paid even less attention to racing SUP technology, but it seems like there is a trend to put more weight in the nose so they look like a torpedo, and then hollow out an area where the person stands that is lower than the rails etc. Some companies like Naish have focused more on foiling, free wings (new invention), and windsurf foiling (it seems) and some companies have become less prominent (e.g. LairdSup is out of stock and not sure if new models will come out). Then there are other companies I haven't hear of like SMIK, L41.. they seem to be new. Tom Carroll now has a whole line of boards not just one...

Let me know what I might have missed, what's coming, and/or which companies I should look into for my next board, and whether you think SUP technology is really changing, or if these are gimmicks (old wine in new shoes). Oh even the people doing SUP reviews have changed. It used to be "realboardsports" doing a lot of youtube videos, now it's "Sup Boarder" Oh i also forgot to mention the trend toward inflatible has continued to the point that it seems to be hard finding new hard boards to buy (sorry for the pun).  I did try a friend's inflatible and these new ones with more psi are bit better, but sorry, in the middle of surfing a wave I could feel the air shifting around and didn't like it, arghghg

13
Gear Talk / Re: rail tape vs paddle guard
« on: December 04, 2020, 09:24:33 PM »
I also question why do I use the board bag. For trips to my local lake I don't use it. When driving to surf spots (90-120 min) I'll usually use it, but don't think I really need to. It's not like the thing will suffer if it is rained on, it's meant for water! Maybe when it snows I should use it to keep it warm.

I think I use it because I feel like my straps won't dig into or create marks on the rail if it's in a board bag. I try to never pull my straps so tight that it would, I think occassionally I have. And I have those THULE foam pads on the surf racks so if it pulls the board maybe a little tight it will just push down on the foam pad a little more, right? Or, does that bit of material by keeping it in the bag protect it a little more, which it may need? Believe it or not, I've debated this a lot in my mind, just never told anyone!!

14
Gear Talk / Re: Anyone downwind the Bark Vapor Ghost Carbon ?
« on: December 04, 2020, 09:16:40 PM »
I did a SUP race using a similar looking board a long time ago. It was white and orange and was just called the "Bark Downwinder". It had just come out (this was around 2015). It was fine and did the job. Very tough and sturdy like all surftechs. It didn't seem particularly special or better than some other DW boards I was riding like the Blue Planet Carbon Downwinder, or the Laird/Bark 14" Surftech Pro Elite, but it was fine.

15
Hmm.. even if Kai looks skeptical .. the proof is in the pudding and if it worked for Jaws and he's alive, I am not going to argue. I see those Rears are pretty close, because the board is a gun and very thin, so they are acting a little more like a thruster. I'd imagine something about needing extra grip from the rear for massive waves is the reason, but what really puzzles me is that MFC made a set with larger rears for normal surf too. I'm trying to find out what they know and/or have learned...

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