Help on picking next board for big guy SUP Surfing on mushy waves

[Big Fat Honu]

Hello -been surfing for 25+ years and SUP surfing for 14 years. SUP the majority of the time after an ACL replacement but still prone with the kids in the summer.

I'm 6'0 and 220 lbs with my 5/4 wetsuit on. Located in NW Washington.

This is how my surfing is broken down -

10% surfing on exposed coast beach break waves
20% surfing on Olympic Peninsula point break waves
70% surfing a gutless mushy novelty wind wave spot outside my back door

My local surf break is a novelty wave that breaks when we get strong winds - (I claim it's the northern most surf spot in the contiguous USA). I'm usually the only one out there but I'm spreading the word as it can be quite fun for those of us that live hours away from any real surf breaks.

The waves breaks only when it's windy so I'm often paddling in very rough conditions with 25-45 mph winds and the best waves you catch are the 2nd wave in the trough between two waves so having a board that is wide helps in the rough conditions and also with paddling to get into the waves as they are tough to catch. A shorter board helps as the steep small waves make it pearl a longer board.

Once you catch the waves you aren't doing much for turns and you're speeding along trying to connect sections for the longer ride - sometimes you can get 30-45 sec rides.

Here is a video with 12 different seasons of novelty waves to show what most of my riding is like -
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH59tMlPWBU

My current board is a 9'8" x 33 x 4.7 168L Riviera El Tigre Wide and it's the golden key board so far for this spot. I've tried a Riviera Nugg 9'2", Riviera Ron House 9'3", (I knew a Riviera Rep) and some other various 10' boards and I found the shorter boards do better navigating the wave and for takeoffs on a steep small wind wave - however the Ron House was only 29" wide and wasn't very stable in the rough conditions and didn't have the paddle power compared to the El Tigre.

My El Tigre has some battle scars though so I'm shopping for my next board. I've narrowed it down to the following but wondering if anyone has any other suggestions and what you think of my choices. Durability is also important as the surf break is only about 2 ft deep at the end and it's all rocks with barnacles.

9'11 x 31" x 4.5" 151 $1100 Liters Paddle Surf Hawaii Ripper - https://www.paddlesurfhawaii.com/products/ripper-911-wood-veneer

This board is longer than I'd like, a little narrower than I'd want, and has less volume but the price is right and I think it probably paddles well enough to catch the mushy stuff.

9'3" x 33 x 4.7" 169L $1250 Hobie Corky Carroll C933 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S80vegnvYY

I'm leaning towards this board as it seems very similar to the El Tigre but is a little shorter in length and I've seen video of Carroll making this thing turn on a dime and he's about my size (of course I'm no world champion lol). It looks like it would work really well to catch mushy little waves.

9'5" x 32" x 4 7/8" 160L $1995 Naish Mad Dox X32 https://www.naishsurfing.com/product/mad-dog-x32/

I like the look of this board and the dimensions - I think it would surf really well BUT it seems to have more rocker than the others so I'm worried it would not plane as well for catching little mushy waves even with the extra width. And it's $$$.

8'10" x 34 160L $1899 Quatro Glide Pro Carbon https://bigwinds.com/products/quatro-glide-pro-sup-surfing-board/

I rode one of these in Hawaii on small waves and it caught them pretty easily and turned really well but I'm worried it's a little egg shaped for my local spot and may not have the speed I need. It also felt a bit corky in Hawaii.

So that's my list so far - please let me know if you have any feedback after watching the video and seeing what 70% of my SUP surfing looks like and if you have any other board suggestions or if any of these boards look like the winner to you.

I recently rode a 9' x 34" x 4.25" Gerry Lopez Surf Music in Kauai and it surfed great but I was surprised that it seemed really slow paddling compared to my El Tigre and it lost the waves at the end pretty quickly compared to some of the other boards I've paddled (even more so than the 8'10 Quatro). So even when I think I've got it figured out by looking at dimensions it doesn't mean a board will ride or paddle the way you think it will.

Thank you so much!

[supmmmm]

Have u tried Sunova? I have a Speeed and Acid models. Surf a novelty wave on a lake in less than ideal conditions as well.
Hope you find your new ride 🤙

[Big Fat Honu]

Hmm those are both interesting choices - the speeed looks like it catches waves easier but I like the shape of the Acid. The 9'5" x 31" speed at 160L is interesting. Lots of volume for a 31" wide board. I'm guessing that nose is how they get to 160L at 31" wide.

Watching this video reminds me of the waves I get and the speeed might be pretty good for these waves.

https://youtu.be/12bZopizK6I

[supmmmm]

Me on my Speeed at our novelty wave.

[Big Fat Honu]

Nice! What size do you have and your weight?

There are a couple of dealers within driving distance of me here in WA - one up in Vancouver and one down in Oregon. No sales tax in OR

My only concern would be the nose shape but I'm guessing the rocker keeps it out of the water. Your stance there reminds me of where I have to stand on my board (as you saw in the video) to keep my speed up on the small waves and the rail engaged in the face.

[supmmmm]

Thanks - that’s my 8’2” x 27” it’s just over 100 litres in volume. I weight around 167 lbs. A little less if I manage my junk food intake 😀
plenty of kick on that nose to keep it from burying in the mushy wave. Helps out at my wave as well to keep it out of the rocks which are just out of the bottom of the frame if I don’t manage to kick out in time.

[TallDude]

It may sound like a broken record, but I've surfed just about all the boards you've listed. Once I surfed an L41 ST 8'8 x 32" 149l I've never wanted to surf any other board. 4 years now and it's never leaked or shown any signs of wear. Build is solid, but light. Kirk is the SUP master shaper. You can talk to him and he will build you the perfect board dimension wise.
It's a mini Simmons so it has a long board outline with a wider tail. It'll catch little mushers, all the way to OH and the speed is amazing. You have to get used to it. Boards with pulled in tails allow you to stick the tail to slow yourself down. These L41 ST's are more like skim boards. You jump on the tail and they take off!

http://www.l41surfcraft.com/models-sup

https://youtu.be/8RrZhUIhTFc

[surfinJ]

Thanks for the vid. Even at funky and small, your own anykine pointbreak right out your back door is a dream.
And perfect for the kids as well. So cool.

I won’t add to the advice given here. Between that and your own research it seems you are well on the way. Good luck with the choice.

[Dusk Patrol]

While you’re in the fun research mode… check out the Jimmy Lewis Super Frank.

[Dusk Patrol]

TallDude - your Church video makes me want to live where you live … 

[Big Fat Honu]

While you’re in the fun research mode… check out the Jimmy Lewis Super Frank.

I have looked at the Super Frank but I think its rocker is similar to the Riviera Nugg which didn't work as well on the small steep waves.

[Big Fat Honu]

Thanks for the vid. Even at funky and small, your own anykine pointbreak right out your back door is a dream.
And perfect for the kids as well. So cool.

I won’t add to the advice given here. Between that and your own research it seems you are well on the way. Good luck with the choice.

Thanks man! It's definitely a novelty wave but I've had some really long rides and 99% of the time I get it all to myself. The nice thing with the wind waves is even when there are 3-4 people out there are continuous waves so never any worry about sharing.

I wish it was a wave that supported turns but most of the time if you turn you lose the wave pretty quickly. Just have to set it and go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F1sp25Gmrc

[Dusk Patrol]

I can recommend Blue Planet’s Fun Stick.  And BP is really adept at shipping from Hawaii.  It looks to be out of stock at the moment, but it’s larger stablemate Turbo is in stock, and seems to be similar to your El Tigre.

https://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,37484.msg431961.html#msg431961

[TallDude]

TallDude - your Church video makes me want to live where you live … 

That was a pre-COVID video. Now days all the spots are so crowded even midweek, because so many people are "working" from home. 

[ospreysup]

You have been given some great choices and can't go wrong with any of them. I have the L41 ST and it is as Talldude describes, an amazing board. I surf it 98% of the time. Best board I have owned. I used to have the Blue Planet Turbo another great board with great stability. I am 6'2 240 and on a windy, mushy day I always go with my Sunova Shroom. It is a dedicated mush board but I grab it whenever the winds are over 20 MPH. Not as fast as the ST and doesn't come close in performance to either board but the stepped rail is deeper in the water giving more stability and it has a really good glide paddling against the wind. The Blue Planet has the best glide of the bunch. The Shroom has excellent down-the-line speed and it turns great. It is limited in bigger or steeper waves. For comparison my ST is 8'10 x 160l, my Turbo was 9'10 x 160l and my Shroom is 8'11 160l. You could definitely go on the 8'7 Shroom. The Shroom is significantly the most stable of the three in high winds and built for mush. Super fun to surf too!