Board advice for new guy

[roymiz]

Looking for my first SUP.
Really like the 10'6" C4 boardworks.
I'm 6'1 - 190lbs.
Looking to use it for both surfing and open water.
Dont plan on taking it out if the surf is bigger than thigh-waist high.
Not looking for a huge (12-13ft) board for super long cruising runs...just for open water cross training sessions.

Looked at the 11' Jimmy Lewis as well...but it didnt seem as performace oriented and I like the built in pad of the C4.

Any suggestions?

[HaleiwaBill]

Aloha and welcome to da forum roymiz. As an SUP newbie I will leave the advice for the experts here, but I can tell you of my own progress.

For me the main thing was trying a few boards (from friends or you can rent them) to get an idea of width, thickness, length and overall feel. We may be decent surfers but this is new deal and not so easy at first. I fell alot and worked muscles not used in normal surfing. I hurt like hell at first.....LOL.........and still have ton to learn.

Then educated myself on each shaper to see what they offer and finally finding a great online forum where I can learn and communicate with experienced riders and shapers. Like this place! You could not have found a BETTER forum!

BTW-I was considering the 10'6" C4 as well. However, after alot of rerseach  I have now decided to go with a Blane Chambers board. We sound similar in what we are looking for and if you are not familar with Blane here is his web site.

http://www.paddlesurfhawaii.com

Anyway, nice to have you here. I wish you good luck and look forward hearing more of your progress.......................bill

[Dwight (DW)]

Looking for my first SUP.
Really like the 10'6" C4 boardworks.
I'm 6'1 - 190lbs.
Looking to use it for both surfing and open water.
Dont plan on taking it out if the surf is bigger than thigh-waist high.
Not looking for a huge (12-13ft) board for super long cruising runs...just for open water cross training sessions.

Looked at the 11' Jimmy Lewis as well...but it didnt seem as performace oriented and I like the built in pad of the C4.

Any suggestions?

Beware going too small, or spending too much time over analyizing gear and talking yourself into buying something beyond your skill

Of course I don't know you, so I can only speak about my experiences.

I have been lending my SUP for demo to piles of my friends, and people I meet on the water surfing. I love to share the stoke. It is rare to find someone who can handle something that small. For example, just this weekend I was surfing my 11' JL and my buddy was riding his 10' JL. Everyone wanted to try his 10 footer, and why not, its the sexy looking small one. Rider after rider was humbled and sent packing. The 11 footer is the board most newbies can handle.

Age is important, height is important, and of course weight. You definately don't fall into the smaller (under 29 1/2 wide or under 11 feet) board catagory.

Surfing skill has little to do with whether you can handling stand up paddling a small board. Every surfer thinks it looks easy, and they are always humbled when they try it.

[Rand]

Hi Roymiz,

A warm welcome to Stand Up Zone!

I am 6'2, 185, so really close to your specs.  I will give you a brief history of my board progression, and make of it what you will.  I borrowed at first, then bought a JL 11'.  I really liked the board.  Extremly stable, fun to surf with, and good to cruise on.  That said, it is not a ripper, and I wanted to progress.  My wife started on a SOS 10'10, and we swtitched off a lot early on.  The SOS was no problem for me to paddle size wise, but I never loved it.  It always felt "locked" to me.  I moved on to a JL custom 9'10 after about 1.5 month.  This took about two weeks of wobbling around to get used to.  Once acustomed however, I finally felt like I was on to something.  I was surfiing closer to how I wanted.  I rode that board for 3 months.  Then I got on Noworrieshawaii's PSH 9'6 custom, and that changed things completely.  In honesty, I was unsure of it, and did not have it dialed after 1/2 hour, but could not quite get it out of my head either.  A few weeks later, I saw the production 9'2 in a shop, and bought one.  I have been riding that and a custom Kazuma 9'4 ever since.  Both of these are more stable than my 9'10 was, due to their flat bottoms (no Vee) and both are insanely fun to surf.

I tell you all this for one reason.  You definitely can paddle the smaller boards you are looking at.  DW is correct in saying that when you first hop on, you will wobble and  fall more than you would on a bigger board, so your tolerance for that will be important.  But, there is no way to learn how to ride a smaller board other than just digging in.  All the practice in the world on a huge board will not do it.

I think that was actually 4 cents, but I hope it helps.

Again,
welcome!

Randy