10.6 vs. 11.6 for surfing waist high waves

[covesurfer]

And suppatime, it's not the equipment, it's the nut behind the wheel. The woman who bailed her board into me today could have been on anything and it still would have hurt.

+1 on that. For me, it was the tall woman on the green nosed Stun Gun that nearly paddled into a head high right that I was already going down the line on. I warned her 'no, no, no, no!' and as I dropped just under the nose of her advancing board she said, 'I've got this', she'd been watching me come towards her down the wave. WTF?!? I was having such a good morning that I did not want to spoil it by going up and chatting with her but maybe I should have. Those chats never seem to go well.

Honestly, what the hell is going on with some of these people? There were plenty of waves this morning and an honest mistake is an honest mistake but seeing someone coming down the line and consciously paddling into the wave to drop in on them? Someone could end up in the hospital which would really suck. I also saw a guy that could barely control his board doing the same thing to other people, including to a very good prone surfer that got one of the waves of the day, catching a big one at the outside peak and riding all the way to the lagoon on the inside, a good ways past the guard tower.

Sorry for the rant and thread hijack. On point, if you're going to ride a big tanker, do make sure you can handle it in the conditions you go out in. Although it may ultimately depend on the operator and their skill level, boards of differing designs have their optimum conditions and those under which they can be a real handful.

[Badger]

Boards over 11' should not be ridden anywhere near other surfers. The whole purpose of having a big board is to take advantage of the waves nobody wants, far away from the beach break and crowded areas.

[surfinJ]

It's not the article or the setting, it's the user. 

I've ridden longboards my whole surfing life.  Longboard, single fin, twin, thruster was my evolution and up until sup they all stayed in the mix. Today my sup quiver is just as varied.  If you can handle your board and not scare or intimidate the other surfers ride what you want where you want. It'll be obvious (or should be) if that's working out.

If you haven't had much longboard surf experience the big boards may be hard to control.  But if you surf away from the crowds, enjoy yourself.

I'm 6' 195# and this 200l 11x31 girl is so much fun.

[Bean]

+1, maintaining an arbitrary size limit on any surfboard is just silly...

[Badger]

I wasn't asking for a ban on super long boards. I was just saying that in general, the really big boards should give other surfers a wider berth. I wouldn't think of surfing my M-14 in a crowded line up. It's just common sense.

[Bean]

That's more like it Badger...we have a local big-guy who absolutely rips on his 11 footer.

[supkailua]

Thanks PonoBill, based on your post I am starting to feel like 12' or just under is probably the best size for me. I do want a board that is designed both to paddle and sail, so that makes my choices more limited.

You mentioned your Ku Nalu has a mast track, but the ones in the photo you posted do not. Are you having them add a mast track custom for just for you, or do they have a model that comes standard with a mast track?