I don’t know if I will put any cushion (EVA) at least initially, I’ll try it first without, and see if its an issue. Maybe just some extra glass over that standing area. Its not a board that is going to get a lot of use.
I’m thinking of trying to preserve the sign theme graphics as much as I can.
A couple of the guys ride boards down to 7’2" and about 28" wide. I don’t know how thick they are, but I’d say close to 5", definitely over 4". Other guys are riding boards over 8’ long, and couple are riding SUP with foils.
Wow thats thick!! At 9’ I am hoping this is thick enough. Maybe I will go 30” - 32” wide. 32” is the widest I’ve seen, and doesn’t seem uncommon.
I think as they bring the length and width closer to a standard surfboard they have to add volume somewhere so they do it with thickness.
Just curious, are these older guys like myself? What are the guys in their 60s and 70s riding there in Hawaii??
I’m seeing old guys on 8 - 9 foot SUPs, but staying wide for stability.
For waves and guys between 70 and 80kg sups i make are 3.75 to 4 inch thick, 26 to 30 wide. They want now deck flat, beveled rails.
So I’m getting closer to doing this, but still not 100% sure. If I do, and it works out, it would be great to get some more mileage out of these home made boards of mine. I’m kinda attached to my favorite boards, so I’m not real keen on selling them off for SUP money. This alone makes the idea appealing to me.
On the other hand, I’ve not yet caught a wave on an SUP, so there’s that. And nobody to my knowldedge has successfully cut a finished surfboard down the middle to add foam and make it an SUP. Which could also be a plus I guess, in that the boards would be unique, I have always felt one of the benefits of making your own boards is that you can make boards that are unlike everyone else’s.
I actually have in mind 3 boards specifically I am considering. One has already been mentioned, the others are a very thick 8 foot swallowtail quad, and a not yet completed 10’ 6” balsa glider.
Huck, you have ever cut a blank to add a stringer no? I do this often, to add foam for a wider blank for sup or windsurf build. I bet you also repair boards cut in half. All in all what you want to do is same. There is no reason it will not work. Just probably a bit more weight.
Here i do opposite, center part from an old windsurf board with mast track, fin box, daggerboard, i add foam both side shape and lam, go very well.
For prone riding, consider whether your hips/legs may have difficulty with kicking (swim fins) for take-offs.
Paddle in take-offs might feel/work better.
So you might prefer something in the 5’ (+?) range.
Lemat, that is a cool project: recycled stringer, new foam.
Agreed, what I am proposing should work. But there are always a few niggling issues & doubts. Thickness being one. Fin placement another. Alignment of the pieces will be more critical working with a finished surfboard vs a blank. And even the graphics & how to make it look right.
And maybe the biggest doubt is me, my ability to get the hang of this new (to me) sport.
Good points. My legs seem ok, I can swim. But I have yet to try on some swim fins. I have a prone board project in mind, but it will require kicking into the wave.
I love those belly slider boards, like a very thick shortboard, ridden prone, so that might be a good option for me. A lot of unknowns at this point.
Hey Huck,
It’s an interesting proposition. I can’t see why it wouldn’t work. Like anything it will be a compromise, you may not end up with a PERFECT SUP but may create something usable that let’s you explore the concept. I would imagine the balsa option would be the easiest and if necessary could be reversed if not successful? Cutting into a foam board may render it useless if it doesn’t work? Give it a go, I think it’s worth the experiment. It would be great if you can make it work and get back into some waves. Keep us posted.
Fins can add new stressors for sure.
Walking in fins is a substantial challenge for good hip joints.
My hips are functional — getting into the surf with fins on is a real pain in the a$$. (That’s why I designed the 5’6” paddle-in channel bottom.) I tend to use the shorter boards to launch off the sand bar in smaller surf (barefoot).
Fairly easy to gauge launch depth with the following info if you are good at estimating wave size.
Water depth for breaking waves depends on wave types (Galvin, 1968; J. Geophys. Res.)
For plunging waves, d = 0.9h
For spilling waves, d = 1.2h
Where
d = water depth
h = wave height
Of course you’ll have some difficulties to do it but nothing impossible. It’s what make challenge interseting.
Is it work for you? Only way to really know: try it.
I wouldn’t cut up the balsa…. While alot of guys are riding smaller, I think if you wind up 4”x 32” at 9 or 9’2 . You”ll have something that is pretty normal for a surf SUP. Poly doesn’t have the buoyancy of EPS.
Just thinking: its tough to convert a surfboard to an SUP because even adding foam up the middle, you can’t equal the volume of an SUP.
But why do you need all thar volume? Its to support you standing up at less than surfing speed. But what if you didn’t stand up, what if you were just kneeling? Lower center of graviity.
I can’t pop up from a prone position because of my bad hip. But getting up from a kneeling position is a lot easier, I wonder if I could do that. Then I might not need all that volume of an SUP. Maybe halfway between a surfboard and an SUP.
Just a thought.
On low volume surf sup guys i see often use knee paddling.
I know surfski (=wave kayak) one of my old friend is a long time surfskier, at 15km we have a surfski shaper that was world champ, and world level surfski rider here and there. It’s an amazing sport, they go really fast, in hollow waves, best take wave deeper than bodyboarder then go faster than everything else and do amazing curves. I try it a bit not easy LOL, too hard for my fucking shoulders. If i have to choose i probably go to surfski more than sup. Open new horizon: efficient flat water paddling, river, etc…
Another thing to consider is a “blow up” SUP. I see them for sale on Craigs and other places. They have dropped quite a bit in price, both new and used. You can blow them up hard enough to support a really big guy.
Can you ride/paddle your modified board seated using a kayak paddle? Much lower center of gravity.
Add foot braces and a very low profile seat.
I love the paddling speed of my inland waters kayaks.
Years ago when I used to surf Malibu quite a bit there was a big Hawaiian guy who used to be there almost every day riding a big inflatable SUP. He had a little car, and he would blow it up with a little electric pump. He rode it very well, I will add.
I have been thinking about this also. Not for flatwater paddling, but for tooling around the lineup.
So if I had a lower volume SUP (possibly made from a modified surfboard) I could knee paddle while paddling into a wave, from the kneeling position popping up to ride a wave should be much easier for my hips than popping up from a prone paddling position like normal.
But SUPs typically troll around the lineup waiting for waves, unlike surfers who sit and wait, which I find a bit irritating. You can’t generally sit comfortably on an SUP because your legs can’t straddle the wide boards. And you can’t really rest in a standing position, the board has to be moving, at least a little. So they paddle around incessantly.
So I would think if you had a knee-paddler board, you would want to be able to paddle from a sitting position also. I am thinking of getting a kayak paddle and trying my SUPs in a sitting position. Thinking if sit-paddling works out, I could kneel, sit, or lay down, which for me seems better than just constantly standing and paddling the whole time out.
Its all just kinda researching the possibilities at this point.
