Longboard Style SUP: Yes, but wich one?

[Area 10]

And of course, here’s the most famous SUP longboard vid of all time, with the man telling you to go 10’6”-11ft

https://youtu.be/Dcuw4xGLaNk

[Timi]

Thanks again for your replies everybody!

Thanks @surfinJ for your insight. I have never surfed anything over 9'9. The 9'9 (SIC Reckon) already felt long for me, and i liked the easy glide on and into the waves. That was the initial reason for my longboard quest.

I found another really tempting board: The Deep Ocean Jackson Close Pro Longboard 10'1x30"x4" @ 133l. Any opinions on that one?

https://www.supcentre.co.nz/product/657/deep-2018-jc-pro-longboard

I also found a video of Jackson Close surfing it (probably the 26" version). Absolute perfection...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=Lisozy-v-As

[TallDude]

I've surfed the SIC Reckon. It's not a long board and I personally found it corky and didn't like the way it surfed. That Deep board is a true nose riding long board. Straight rails and a concave in the nose so it steers from the nose when it's nose ridden. The 30 is good, but if you could handle the 28 even better

[mrbig]

+1 Talldude! SIC not a longboard at all. Even though it's long!

Jackson Close Deep awesome! SMIK Style Lord
awesome.

The incredible popularity of the 10' Club Competition class in Australia has led to some
excellent performance longboards

[Area 10]

The SIC Recon (not reckon), is intended to be an easy-to-use and versatile all-round board, not a dedicated surf SUP. If you are a decent surfer wanting to surf longboard-style then don’t get an all-round board, get a longboard SUP. Most good longboard SUPs are necessarily a little slow to paddle because of the spoon noses, thin rails etc.

[Bean]

Hey Biggie, it would be nice to see some 10' competition here on the east coast.  +- 10' performance SUP's are really a great choice for most riders and most days here.

I totally dig my 9'6" JL Black and Blue, it's a true noserider, and as such, really only works well when the waves are cooperating.  And on those days, I want nothing else.  But, our waves are consistently inconsistent, so my performance longboard, 10' Stylemaster gets the nod for most days.  A longboard can take many different forms but noserider and performance shapes are really the two main longboard categories and we branch out from there.  Remember there is no right or wrong in longboarding just fun and even more fun...

[linter]

  just thought i'd drop this here: some of the most stylish small-wave sup noseriding i've ever seen.  surfers are both gong guys, i think: gwen cristien and xavier leroy.  the vid is something i cobbled together from other videos.  pure toes on the nose, no baloney.  and no music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGuCDSymfGg

[TallDude]

Great stuff Linter. The guy in the video that does the drop knee turn move reminds me of a Telemark ski turn. Same move.

[WhatsSUP]

Awesome vid Linter!  Love the super swaggy back cross step back to stall and turn....very stylish! 

[Timi]

Thanks again for your input guys, very much appriciated.

I'm totally aware the SIC Recon isn't what i'm looking for. But i'm happy i tried it (swapping boards for a couple of waves) and discovered my need for glide that way.

Thanks for posting the video @Linter, impressive stuff! Gong might also be an option.

[Area 10]

Thanks again for your input guys, very much appriciated.

I'm totally aware the SIC Recon isn't what i'm looking for. But i'm happy i tried it (swapping boards for a couple of waves) and discovered my need for glide that way.

Thanks for posting the video @Linter, impressive stuff! Gong might also be an option.

I have the Gong 11’ NFA longboard. It’s a lovely board, built well, extremely cheap for what it is (compared with other boards in Europe), and performs very well indeed. It’s a great mix of a traditional noserider and a performance longboard, and is crazy stable and easy to ride. It’s a hoot in small waves in particular.

[coldsup]

Thanks again for your input guys, very much appriciated.

I'm totally aware the SIC Recon isn't what i'm looking for. But i'm happy i tried it (swapping boards for a couple of waves) and discovered my need for glide that way.

Thanks for posting the video @Linter, impressive stuff! Gong might also be an option.

I have the Gong 11’ NFA longboard. It’s a lovely board, built well, extremely cheap for what it is (compared with other boards in Europe), and performs very well indeed. It’s a great mix of a traditional noserider and a performance longboard, and is crazy stable and easy to ride. It’s a hoot in small waves in particular.

How does the NFA compare with the Stylemaster you have?

[Area 10]

They are quite different boards - and are intended to be. The Stylemaster is fairly low volume for a 10x30, at around 130L (I think). The NFA is 1ft longer, over an inch wider, and 30L more volume. It makes quite a difference. The Stylemaster is aimed at a surfers who know what they are doing and want to develop their skills, whereas the NFA is designed to flatter everyone who rides it. A comparison between the 10ft NFA and the 10ft Stylemaster would be a more interesting proposition. But if I was looking for a really high performance longboard I’d go for the Gong Zero 9ft Pro at 115L. That might be the highest performance production SUP on the market. And only weighs 16lbs!

https://gongsupshop.com/epages/box1707.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/box1707/Products/GON9SUPZERO90PRO115

The 10ft Stylemaster is high performance, but is still useable by the average guy or girl. I imagine that the Gong Zero Pro would require another level of skill beyond that.

But why make it harder than it has to be? I had an AMAZING session on the NFA 11 back in the summer. The waves were only 1-2ft but clean and long, and the NFA caught them easily and allowed me to walk all over the board, perfectly relaxed, yet easily turn whenever I wanted to. There were a couple of other guys out on boards in the 8-9ft range and they couldn’t even catch the waves. But I was just picking them off at will, and then cruising past them. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

[mrbig]

From 11 to 9. Hmm.

Infinity New Deal 9' Gong 9'. Really?

In certain circles this is known as style drift.

Does anybody know what Timi wants?

Not sure my self !

Perhaps he can help sharpen our collective focus just a little bit.

[Area 10]

From 11 to 9. Hmm.
Infinity New Deal 9' Gong 9 foot.
In certain circles this is known as style drift.
Does anybody know what Time wants?
Not sure my self !
Perhaps he can help sharpen our collective focus just a little bit.

The most common longboard sizes in surfing run from 9ft to 10ft, so I think this just reflects the way in which SUP board dimensions are getting ever closer to surfboard ones. Gong make a 12ft longboard too (and I owned one of those too). So they have all sizes covered, from 9ft to 12ft, with multiple styles for everyone from beginner to pro. That brand is pretty obsessed with longboard SUP. I also owned a high performance low volume (and quite narrow) longboard SUP they did about 8-10 yrs ago. Can’t remenber the name or exact details but I think it was around 9ft 6” long. So longboards in the 9-10ft range is nothing new to them. The Gong Zero longboards actually look more user-friendly than some of their SUPs from around 10 yrs ago!