Stand Up Paddle Surfing

just keen to find out what people are riding these days...there has been a lot of boards come onto the market lately. Just wondering if the epoxy boards were turing out to be any good? Im on a PU board at the moment and havent tried any epoxy ones yet.


I started on an old 11ft tandem board that was so ancient it almost had barnicles on it and started paddling with a homemade wooden paddle. Now Im riding a 10ft Laguna Bay fish shaped by Tully in Noosa and I love it. Compared to my first board, its just like riding a shortboard with a paddle!
It absolutely carves.

Its interesting how the differnet boards are holding up. We have been using a range of different epoxy and glass boards over the last 18 months in our school doing both river lessons and surf lessons and have been suprised at the differences. While in most cases the Epoxies are lighter - the Polyester Glass boards like the Laguna Bay models are still really lightweight and seem to be a lot more resistant to rail shatters.
The epoxies seem to chip and scratch a lot easier when going in and out of the SUPS van and when being hit with the paddle.
Check out this page:
http://standuppaddlesurf.com.au/content/view/14/31/ to see what i mean.

There are definitely exceptions to this rule though - the Naish boards are holding up very well and seem to be really durable.

Ive been riding a 11ft Jimmy Lewis in the surf and on flat water.This is a great first time or cruiser type board.I have just purchased a Jimmy Lewis 10ft,but have only had it out on the lake as yet while I get used to the 28" width compared to the 30" width of the bigger board.I havent fallen off it yet but I know I would have trouble in anything but glassy surf.By the way I paddle in the area south of Newcastle.
Cheers.

I'm riding a Dave Boyd custom from Noosa Longboards. 11"6', 29'wide and 4 1/2. Its my first board and seems to be a good all rounder, good on the flat and the surf. I surfed Double Island Point today in small windy conditions with a mate on a hired Southpoint epoxy. We swapped boards around and found the glass board surfed better and was less effected by the wind. It was, however a very buoyant and stable platform.

I'm riding a Dave Boyd custom from Noosa Longboards. 11"6', 29'wide and 4 1/2. Its my first board and seems to be a good all rounder, good on the flat and the surf. I surfed Double Island Point today in small windy conditions with a mate on a hired Southpoint epoxy. We swapped boards around and found the glass board surfed better and was less effected by the wind. It was, however a very buoyant and stable platform.

An update on what I ride.I have been riding the Jimmy Lewis 10FT er for a while now and I love it.With the pulled in nose and nose rocker its great for beach breaks and hollow reef breaks.Ive been dropping down the faces of some 6ft waves the last couple of days with the swell down from QLD and it handled it no problems and whats more it paddles in early giving me time to set up with great speed.
I now also have a Laird 11FTer which is great for when I want the longboard feel and glide but still with the ability to carve a good turn.It's about the same stability as the Jimmy 10 so I have no problems with the transition.The Jimmys 28inchs whereas the Lairds 27inchs wide.They complement each other well and there both blue my favorite colour.
Cheers from Newcastle.
PS its was great to have a paddle surf with Sandy from Noosa today as well.

Snappy,

Good to see others paddling on the Central Coast. I hear Tom Carrol frequents Soldiers on the paddle board.

I had a good surf on the left hand bommie at Norah Head on the 11ft Oxbow. It was 4-5Ft and it handled it well. It was choppy which made wave positioning hard.

I saw a few good 6ft dropins on the 10ft Jimmy Lewis. I would compare the 10'6 Naish to that board. It too has fine rails and a large rocker. Really loose on the tail too.

I noticed hand straps on the rails. What are they for?

To comment on the 11ft Oxbow. I am really happy with the board. It is really well constructed and quite durable. I paddle it on the brisbane river and it is very stable. I have surfed it in clean 6ft+ Currumbin and it went really well. Smooth board.

When it gets below 3ft i take out the side fins and i surfs like a longboard. Taking out the side fins in small is a must. Much smoother riding.

I would also recommend a deck grip on the board. Just makes it that whole much more comfortable.

Cheers

Sandy

Hi Sandy it was cool to paddle with someone else for a change.One of the longboarders said here comes another one of your kind and I did not know what he meant till I saw you.I purchased the handle kit from the wet feet webshop so as to enable me to quickly pick the board up out of the shorebreak before I get clobbered.I use the 10ft Jimmy on beach breaks and steep bombies and a 28" inch wide board a legrope and a paddle can be a real struggle at some of the breaks I surf at when I am getting in or out of the shore break.The handles are also good to carry the board to one of the breaks as well especially if the wind gets up.They never get in the road when I surf or paddle.
The Jimmy came with a pad but I liked the look of the Laird so much Ive been reticent to instal a pad and also it makes for a change to stand on the wax which due to the rolled deck its not a problem.
Had a good SUP surf down at Umina today and surprise surprise there was another guy there on a Naish.The Naish looked more like a flat water paddler to me,way to thick like a boat, pretty scary for the surfers around it.
Anyway cheers and see you next time your down.

Long in tooth surfer,shaper and old manufacturer.Decided to go back to the basics after starting SUP on a 26" wide tandem mal.Got Bob McTavish to make me a 12'6" 30"wide 4" plus SUP.
Bob modified some of my suggestions,longer boards have some intricate details and Bob made an absolute perla of a 12' gun years ago.So I new the best to shape one would be him, now his SUP surfs great.Two weeks of SUP and the DVD from Paddle surf Hawaii has me at last catching waves SUP _style_.
As to width Iam 5'7" 100kg,and wider would be better. If you study ship design the taller you go you have to add lenght and width so maybe there is something to that we could all consider.Being 50 plus Iam amazed at the young guys and the narrowness of their boards,go for it I say but to us older fellas be kind to yourself and go for stability.Not so much in lenght at this point but at least in width,30 min.Taller I say wider still. Tom Carroll is riding 26-27 in and he is way smaller than most of us so centre of gravity is important!
Iam going to shape some 8'6" and really max the width to see how wide I can go,Anybody wan't to give me a thought.I have been riding 23wide and 8'6" and 10'6" and 4" thick for surfboards for years so i can't see any probs going to 5"..

Almost 50 % of population is allergic to epoxy resin, so to fix our epoxy boards poses a problem for some.Even if you use the hardware 5 min epoxy my skin goes into blood blisters.
Yes I get inchy from sanding fibre glass but thats fixed overnight with an epson salt soak.
So I had to opt for pu board.
Heavy out of the water but surfs light for a 12'6".Now Iam get used to paddle assisted turns it tuns great.Doesn't chip but has shatters from my early days but now I stroke calmly the rail hits are almost non existent.