Starboard 9' now what?

[toejammer2]

Greetings all!
I reviewed my 9' Starboard fish back in April. Since then I've been lovin it (my buddy also loves his 9"8"fish). Is there anybody out there that was satisfied with this board but has moved on to something even better?shorter ? (considering I surf total junk beachbreak here in Crescent City,Ca.)
At first glance/ride I thought the Starboard  was just a gimmick board made by sailboard makers trying to jump on the bandwagon (I'm a windsurfer too) just to make the $$$. However, I have come to love the carving cutbacks, down the line rollercoasters, real noserides kinda off the lips and carving kickouts one can do on this board with a 46 year old body.

Side note: the other day a guy asked me if I had any surfing experience before I started Stand Up. All I could think of to say at that moment was "just long enough to recall Gerry Lopez , Rory Russel, and  Led Zepplin being my idols when I was a kid!" I'm getting the impression many people think they can  just jump on a  SUP board and rip without any dues to be paid.
I've watched two very experienced surfers this summer try Stand Up and tell me they were about to pass out when they got to the beach cuz " its way harder than it looks".

Cheers!

[csx355]

Hi TJ2 - I have been on the 9'8" since Easter and loving it - I have also ridden the 9'0" and sort of wish that I got that instead as it is a bit more surfy - however I recently picked up a C4 BK Pro 10' and have been on that in 'difficult' onshore lumpy conditions - 1 session and I  spent more time 'off it' than 'on it' just like starting all over.

 BUT caught some decent waves and what a surf board - it's going to be hard work acclimatising and re-setting my balance parameters but that thing fly's. The standing sweetspot (paddling) is minute - a fraction forward and the nose is buried - a tad too far back and the tail is sinking. It has to be kept moving to be stable (at the moment) and I even fall off it Knee paddling.  It's very narrow for me @ 27" x 3 7/8" and realistically  borderline for my weight  196lbs and ability - but I'm thinking maybe shorter is not automatically the way to go maybe width should be considered.