Advice on a new board

[warmuth]

  Hi everyone. Currently I'm riding a 12'6 Voyager and looking to possibly move up a bit. Most of my paddling is done in the ocean on the east coast of Florida so conditions run from smooth glass to 4 foot swells with swirling chop. I do a bit of flat water but would be 80% ocean paddling. The riviera has been good but seems maybe a bit ponderous in the swells and chop, stable as a dock though. I have been reading about and eyeing a naish glide so was hoping to get some input from some vets if it's more suitable to ocean paddling and occasional playing about with waves than the voyager and would be worth upgrading. Also trying to figure out whether to go 12' or 14'. I do value speed but would sacrifice a bit for a board that's better in the swells.
   I'm 6'3 170 and advanced beginner/intermediate at present.

[Fog City Rider]

I'd go 14' over 12'6 at your size because you can get a faster, narrower board without sacrificing stability. 

The 2013-14 Naish Glide 14 (it's 27.25" wide) could be a good fit.  It's slower than a pure racing board but very stable in rough conditions, and overall a great all-around touring board.  The Bark Downwinder could be another one to check out, or any of the "all conditions" race boards like the All Star.

Typically downwind boards with more nose rocker, like the Glide, will feel stable and less "ponderous" in choppy conditions.  Wind & current pushes around the nose of your average displacement board.  The downside is that they will be a bit slower in calm conditions due to less waterline.   


 

[robon]

The Glide 14 x 29" would be a nice progression as it is a bit sportier than Voyager, but still gives plenty of stability in the rough stuff, and it makes for a great all conditions touring board. The downside of the Glide is the weight and the upside is the price in the GS construction. If you can find the Glide in GX carbon you will save about six pounds and the GTW construction is approximately 2 pounds lighter than the GS.

[warmuth]

  Decided to go with the gs glide in a 14. Got a good price on it and I'm not terribly worried about the weight. Reading around on here i get the impression that weight matters most going between the water and the vehicle and less so on the water, especially in the ocean. The all star looked very tempting but was a good bit more expensive so I decided against it. I still have this irrational fear of having a board that's slow on flat water even though I don't particularly enjoy paddling on smooth featureless water. Comes from my first rentals of true all around boards that don't track and dont have any speed to speak of I guess. The glide seemed a bit more open water focused as well as being cheaper so I figured the flat water performance could suffer. I can already see that sooner or later I'll end up with a true flatwater board anyway as ultimately my goal is to do races.