Author Topic: board with good stability and good in surf  (Read 13553 times)

raf

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #15 on: August 02, 2011, 08:06:25 AM »
You hit the nail on the head DW.  You can be the same weight and height as a person, and your recommendation for a progressive board will be dead wrong because of the person's expectations, experience and personality. 

I'm guessing if Beached found the 10x32 Mana to be too small, the Coreban Icon won't be much good at 10x30.  If you are really looking for stability, I don't think it would hurt to go wide, maybe the EZ34.  Try one if you can.  Thats really the best way to know.

raf
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H2Oman

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #16 on: August 02, 2011, 08:41:04 AM »
The EZ will be more fun than the NSP in the surf....depending on the surf.   I've had the NSP in pretty heavy surf in Nicaragua.  I wouldn't take the lighter, wider EZ out in the same conditions.  One too many heavy wave lips to the nose and it might be repair time. Personally I would not move to a 3" wider board just so I could loose a foot or so in length.  Also, depending on your surfing skills, big wide noses are a nice target fir paddles, knees and other body parts when you fall. 

If you really want to step down to improve performance in surf then you will need to get a little uncomfortable fir a few sessions.  That said, some people really have stability issues an that's why the wider boards exsist.

JimK

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #17 on: August 02, 2011, 02:27:48 PM »
Big Guys
I gotta say the South County 9Ft will work great if you need more stability try the Turtle

Don't be afraid of width unless you are SUP'ing Pipeline or something like that

JimK
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mdsurf

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #18 on: August 02, 2011, 02:40:02 PM »
The South County 9er is a fun board stable and rips.  That and the South County Dragon are two of my favorite boards.  My friends like the 9ers a lot.  Good in slop, glass , ankle high or head high.

tautologies

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #19 on: August 03, 2011, 10:47:46 AM »

Man if a 210 liter 32 wide board does not provide enough stability or float for a 210 lb man then I am not sure what board will. I am not trying to be a jackass, but you have a positive flotation of a factor of 2 which is IMO too much for good surfing.

beached

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #20 on: August 04, 2011, 04:54:14 AM »

Man if a 210 liter 32 wide board does not provide enough stability or float for a 210 lb man then I am not sure what board will. I am not trying to be a jackass, but you have a positive flotation of a factor of 2 which is IMO too much for good surfing.


that's what i thought, too. but if you search around a bit, you'll find a few comments where folks say the Naish Mana 9'5", listed at volume of 190 ltrs, is actually more like 160 ltrs. if that's true, i'd say the Mana 10' is more like 180 ltrs than 210. also, what makes a board truly stable? volume and width are certainly factors, but clearly there's more to the engineering of stability than those 2 numbers alone. it seems that 2 boards with those exact same values can have greatly different degrees of stability. 

tautologies

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #21 on: August 04, 2011, 01:39:37 PM »


that's what i thought, too. but if you search around a bit, you'll find a few comments where folks say the Naish Mana 9'5", listed at volume of 190 ltrs, is actually more like 160 ltrs. if that's true, i'd say the Mana 10' is more like 180 ltrs than 210. also, what makes a board truly stable? volume and width are certainly factors, but clearly there's more to the engineering of stability than those 2 numbers alone. it seems that 2 boards with those exact same values can have greatly different degrees of stability. 

Sure I don't disagree that there are many factors, and I am sorry if my comment came off as arrogant. But if you look at the mana shape, wide board, wide outline, low rocker, and a wide squash tail it has more of the "stable board factors" on its side than most other boards.

So, and again, I do not mean to be arrogant, but maybe consider looking at how your stance is? At 210 you should be quite able to paddle the 9'5'' even in quite bumpy conditions. Most people I see that have balance problems on big board, often have a too wide stance. Often they are also often positioned too far back on the board with a paddle stroke that is not very confident.

I do not mean to assume that you have making these mistakes, but it might be an idea to check out those factors too since it could potentially save you some frustration when surfing. So my point still stand that even if the mana would be 160 liters it should float you fine. Btw. it is definitely around the given volume from what I have seen. It is a huge board.

As a context for why I am saying this about the 10 mana. I've ridden the 9'5' and 9'0'' mana.
I used a 7'9'' mana when I was 215-210 lb. I am 190 lbnow  (trying to take off another 10 lb) and use 7'8'' hokua. I am by no means a very good surfer. :-)

In anycase, good luck with the board chase. I love that part of SUPing too :-) 

beached

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #22 on: August 04, 2011, 02:18:10 PM »
i'm a beginner, so i don't take any constructive criticism as arrogant.  i always thought a wider stance was a more balanced stance, but maybe not. i'll try a narrower position. and i never fell off the Mana, even while chasing waves...but i just wasn't very comfortable either. it was a rental and i spent an hour or so on it, not days.

maybe i should stick to kiting, eh tautologies?
   

AJR

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #23 on: August 04, 2011, 03:42:43 PM »
i'm a beginner, so i don't take any constructive criticism as arrogant.  i always thought a wider stance was a more balanced stance, but maybe not. i'll try a narrower position.

I have sucky balance and all I can say is you'll get better with more water time and working on your technique.  I find the following to be helpful:

1. Look farther out (toward the horizon) - never look down.
2. Keep that paddle in the water at all times - use it to help maintain your balance.
3. Play around with where to stand on the board until you find that sweet spot
4. Try pointing you toes in or out and see if that makes a difference
5. Put your dominant foot a little forward - don't stand parallel (play around with how much)

Finally the best trick I stumbled on was to buy an 8'6"x29"x4.25" used board for my 210-215 lb arse.  I kept trying to make it work even in crazy choppy conditions (I fell a lot!).  After doing that for 6-8 weeks I conceded defeat, sold it, and bought a larger board (the Coreban Fusion).  The Fusion was much easier then!

pguidry

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #24 on: August 04, 2011, 06:28:05 PM »
Beached,

I'm 6'2", 235 lbs.  I surf in NE Florida.

I've ridden many of the boards mentioned in this thread.  I rented a Mana 10' and the same day tried the South County 9er (side by side).  Found the 9er to be more stable.  I also rented the NSP 11'6" (for 3 days), that's the first board I could be stable on.  

I honestly think the Wide Point and 10' Mana are very similar in stability.  I can't speak for how they compare on waves as I wasn't able to catch a wave on the Mana when I had it.

I bought the 9er and also picked up a 10'5" Wide Point.  Under knee-thigh high, the Wide Point is my pick.  I glides better for catching waves.  It also tracks better than the 9er.  2 days ago when it was small I paddled 2 miles up the beach (and back), catching waves whenever a bigger (knee high) set rolled in.  It's a much better board for distance paddling (though I'm working on improving my stroke for the 9er).

Today, it was waist high and I started w/ the Wide Point.  It was really choppy and the Wide Point wore me out quick.  I caught some waves and had a good time.  Then I took the 9er out.  Much more stable and on the waves it moved really good rail to rail.  Much better surfing than the Wide Point for me.

From the NSP, you'll probably be happy with either board.  To me, the 9er is more stable and surfs better in thigh high and up.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2011, 06:44:19 PM by pguidry »

tautologies

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #25 on: August 05, 2011, 03:36:19 AM »
i'm a beginner, so i don't take any constructive criticism as arrogant.  i always thought a wider stance was a more balanced stance, but maybe not. i'll try a narrower position. and i never fell off the Mana, even while chasing waves...but i just wasn't very comfortable either. it was a rental and i spent an hour or so on it, not days.

maybe i should stick to kiting, eh tautologies?
   

NOOOO DON'T stick to kiting.
Kiting is fun when there is wind. SUP is fun when there is less wind. Both are awesome in waves :-) 

If your stance is too wide, you get too much leverage to push the rail of the board in, I think it tends to make you exaggerate the movements. My feet are less than shoulder width apart when I paddle. This helps a lot in windy and bumpy conditions. Apart from that the list of tips above is really nice. Btw. this is stuff that even advanced paddlers have to revisit every now and then.

In any case, it just takes time and the smaller board you get the more fun it is to surf, but also a little harder to paddle. Whatever board you get challenge yourself...it is like learning a new trick in kiting. ;-)

Are you on Oahu?

stoneaxe

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #26 on: August 05, 2011, 04:17:12 AM »
I'm 6-4, 270 with crappy balance from having only 1/2 of my vestibular system left. Before I started I was occasionally falling down while walking, was dizzy most of the time and often couldn't drive. When I started on a 12-6 x 30 Starboard cruiser I couldn't stay upright for more than a minute or two. 10 months later I paddled it 28 miles across Cape Cod Bay in the 1st CCBC. If I can do this almost anyone can, certainly anyone with normal balance can.

Boards that feel a little unstable to you at the beginning will feel very solid with a couple of weeks of paddling. If you want hard core stability the South County's have always been focused on stability for big guys. I can go out on my 9' South County even when its crazy choppy, windy and sloppy. It's all about time on the water. These days I even occasionally surf my wifes 9-8 x 30 element....it's underwater until I get on a wave.... ;D

All anyone here can do is tell you of their own experience, you need to demo a lot of boards and find something that feels right to you. If necessary take a lesson and get critiqued on what you're doing by someone who knows what their doing.
« Last Edit: August 05, 2011, 04:23:58 AM by stoneaxe »
Bob

8-4 Vec, 9-0 SouthCounty, 9-8 Starboard, 10-4 Foote Triton, 10-6 C4, 12-6 Starboard, 14-0 Vec (babysitting the 18-0 Speedboard) Ke Nalu Molokai, Ke Nalu Maliko, Ke Nalu Wiki Ke Nalu Konihi

SlatchJim

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #27 on: August 08, 2011, 04:29:15 PM »
All anyone here can do is tell you of their own experience, you need to demo a lot of boards and find something that feels right to you. If necessary take a lesson and get critiqued on what you're doing by someone who knows what their doing.
Sage advice.

I surf a So Co Turtle and stability is no issue at all.  I'll keep it till one of us dies.  Other boards worth a look at are (in alphabetical order by mfg.):

Blair - custom...when you know what you want.
Coreban EZ 34 (they make nice boards)
Eko Thumb, Helu, Ego, and If you're adventurous Goblin
French 9-6 Universal
Imagine Eco Chopper (9-10 x 33)
Naish Mana
Riviera 10'6 and Nugg
South County Turtle, Dragon, 9 footer and Chunky
Starboard Wide Point and Hero

« Last Edit: August 08, 2011, 04:33:34 PM by SlowOldJim »

beaglebuddy

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Re: board with good stability and good in surf
« Reply #28 on: August 10, 2011, 01:29:32 AM »
My opinion is the simplest, just go to the next size NSP, the 11' X 31", it's the board I surf and I'm 6'5" 220#, it's the same rocker and outline you are used to just a tad smaller but it still has the super thick rails that make NSP's so stable.
You could probably trade with somebody.
I like the relatively flat rocker on these boards, it forces you to learn to get back quickly so you don't pearl dive.

 


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