SUP for Very Large Paddler

[bigmak]

Well, I'm 6'5" and was 340lbs when I started SUP'ing.  I'm now 300lbs.  My first board was a Starboard Avanti.  Second board was a Joe Blair 11'3"x37.75".  It's a BIG board and would be great for your friend (and reasonably priced).  It's what I really learned to surf on at 335lbs.  I also rented a Naish Mana 11'6" in Maui and it worked really well.  I'd also recommend the Atlas Extra.  My latest purchase is an AW 9'10" at 190L and I honestly think that anything under 200L and under say 34" wide would be way too hard for him to learn on.  I think he'd get frustrated.  I'm 39 and pretty athletic and am finding the AW to be challenging.  While it floats me fine and is 33" wide it's very unforgiving compared to both my Avanti and JB.  I spend way more time in the water on the AW, especially if there's any chop.  Just my 2 cents.   

[PonoBill]

mak, if you get a chance, try a Foote Triton 10'4" X 34". Not quite as stable as that Joe Blair (Joe's boards seem particularly stable to me no matter what width), but similar performance to the AW and more speed. I really like the allwaves, but they're challenging in chop and hard to get out through the whitewater. They seem to punch their nose in and stick. .

[stoneaxe]

Yikes....I was 325 when I started but he has 7" on me. I struggled on the 12-6 x 30.5 Starboard for a bit but I also had far worse balance than anyone else here.  Eventually though it was fine. So you don't have to go mega wide. If he's athletic and is mostly interested in flatwater I don't think he wants short and wide...I'd go 14 x 30+ depending on rocker, tail width and volume distribution. That new Starboard stealth also sounds interesting if he wants to go shorter than 14.
The best bet of course is to demo whatever he can. Even if he can't demo exactly the board he might eventually buy he'll get a better idea of what shape and size work for what he wants to do. If he just wants to go out and get on the water and cruise...big and real wide may be the way to go. If he wants a workout.....the less stable a board is the better the workout...and it will get more stable with TOW.

[ffchadbo]

I have the LPC River Rover 14x32 I'm 6'9" and 290 lbs give or take a couple pounds.
I take my 50-60 lbs lab out on the board and it has no problems floating us.
Okay I never get to say this: DAM THAT'S A BIG DUDE!

http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrSbgkXtzdWDA0AhjNXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyaWgzb2Q5BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjA5MzRfMQRzZWMDc3I-/RV=2/RE=1446520727/RO=10/RU=http%3a%2f%2flpc-sup.com%2fwp%2f%3fgallery%3driver-rover/RK=0/RS=gchF9NTKtSa_XpK7koXcGATds10-

[BWilliam]

I'n not as big as the prospective paddler being discussed, I'm 6' 6" and an athletic 260 - 265 pounds. I've tried and sold a number of boards and one of those that I've kept is the LPC River Rover. I use it more for Winter paddling here in the NE, but it's a good candidate for someone that big in mostly flat water. Rated up to 350 pounds so he won't be maxing it out and it actually glides quite well. I have no problems keeping up with my smaller buds on 14' Javelins and such...

Write up here...

http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,25627.msg261313.html#msg261313



Will

[stoneaxe]

Damn we need to start a zone football team...I'm the little guy in this group and that's a rare feeling.

[PonoBill]

Strange, everyone I've met (a lot) other than talldude has been on the small side. Must be the topic bringing out the meese, mooses, mice, whatever. I'm a featherweight 233 today, and it's fast day tomorrow. Ate like a pig today. Airline food plus Colleen's. But the airline was Hawaiian and we lucked out on cheap first class tickets, so the food was good.

[robon]

Some gigantic individuals on here for sure. Informative thread.

I was going to throw out the 14' X 31" Tahoe Tallac initially but the numbers are all over the place on the web. Tahoe lists the max capacity at 340, while other dealers list the capacity anywhere from 300 to 350. Depends on ability I guess, but seeing how so many large guys approaching 300 pounds are paddling these days, the Tallac is another option for the big guy who wants to tour.

The best way to know is to actually paddle as many boards as you can, and as PB suggests, just get on a board like the Amundson TRT and see how it goes. Might work out fine, might be too low in the water, but you don't know until you get on one. The obvious problem is not always being able to test out a board before buying if said board isn't available in your area, and this is when going for the highest capacity board is the safer bet.