Looking for stability in my next board...

[ukgm]

"My current board (a Naish Maliko 14ft 2 width)..."

Wow, your balance is really good

Lol ! 26 I should say.

 I have the balance of a drunk so if I can say I can paddle that with confidence, anyone can.
Obviously it's a custom Naish, but no natural roll at 2" is remarkable

It must be those chines on the rails of the 2017 board.

Mind you, ukgm is a pretty impressive physical specimen, so maybe that's a lot to did with it too

[ForeverBlue232]

A Allstar 28 will be too much board on most kinds of water - even for a novice. A 27 may be a good compromise though.

Lately I paddled for a very (short) bit an AllStar 14x27 while my friend tried my down-wind board.
This is a gigantic board with I think 322L of volume. It hated the experience, it felt like if I was on a barge along for the ride and everything felt as it was happening in slow-motion.
In comparison, my Ace-Gt felt like a surf board.
My friend likes the stability and it is not a slow board but now he is starting to reconsider...

If a 27" Allstar feels like a barge, try racing with a 32" Bote Rackham...    If I'm not racing on my Valhalla, Ive been racing on the Rackham.  That's a barge!  A month ago I did a 2 mile race with it.  Average speed of 4.3, max of 5.4.  The next day I did another 2 miler, but on the Valhalla.  Averaged 4.7, maxed at 5.8.  The water was a little rougher, and I was doing enough balance checks I wasn't much able to really put my all into my strokes.  I'm thinking if I can get just get enough stability to feel comfortable putting more into my stroke, I can bump up my speeds, even if I lose a hair for being an inch or two wider than my Valhalla.

At this point, I seem to dust the other noobs, but can't reach the decent racers.  I'm kind of in that in between land now.

[Jacko]

Sounds like you could go a dugout board no worries and they are a huge step up in performance. If you are not surfing waves with it then i would foresure  be leaning this way. If they fill with water then they take about 30 secs to drain so not really a issue.
All the boards you have mentioned will be fine but you could also look at ONE SUP as we do a flat deck an dugout board in all models and there is very good reason behind this.

You really have to look at how much time you are going to spend in the bumps compared to flatwater as this should lean you more towards certain boards for example the Sunova you mentioned sits with our Storm board and the are amazing up and down wind and still go pretty good in the flat but are not the best at course racing due to not being the best turners.
From what it sounds like you are chasing a Strom or the Sunova would work but then so would a flatwater dug out board as they are super quick in the flat but can handle some small bumps as well but they are no where as much fun to ride in the bumps but the glide in the flat is amazing. I have a heap of videos on the different boards for us so you can see them in action on my Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/onestanduppaddle/
Or go to my youtube page https://www.youtube.com/user/jacko5469

Hope this helps.
Cheers Jacko

[Eagle]

"What I want is a board with more stability, but still with good speed/glide, and better ability to handle minor chop."

1   More stable
2   Good speed/glide
3   Better to handle minor chop

Personally would go with a used Maliko 26 or used Bullet V2 and keep the Valhalla for flat.  Either of those boards would add a ton more versatility.  The 26 and 27 wide boards may not be as stable as you hope.  But the hybrid AS28 should provide more stability if the Valhalla is kinda tippy for you.

Is very hard to know exactly firsthand without ever trying.  So can appreciate that.  Out of the 3 would go with the more stable priced ok All Star.  If you had found the Valhalla already stable and just wanted a better performing AW board -> then the NSP or Sunova might be better suited.  ukgm raced the Maliko 26 and did fine on that type board.  So really just depends what your skill power and balance levels are.  We have the V2 and it is a stellar board and hugely popular for AW use and small DW.

The hybrid AS will provide a ton more speed than the Rackham and get you a lot closer while your balance improves. 

[Eagle]

Here is an idea what the V2 can handle with aplomb.  Yesterday wind was about 15 kts in our normal chop and slop ocean conditions.  Got a few nice glides -> so was actually kinda fun.  No way would I want to be out on a narrower or tippier board.  The M14 would have even been ok.

But as you can see -> really depends what you need your next board to do.  No board is good in everything.  Some all purpose boards are just kinda crappy in everything.  So we llike specialty boards.