Anyone, especially CarveNalu and other SUPers, have ideas for dimensions for a 12’ board that could work as a SUP/lay down/tandem/wave-hog board? I want to try falt water SUPing, but would like a very functional surfboard that I could use for tandem rides with friends or by myself as the most awesome wave-hog board ever during those summer months when you need as much glide as possible to catch the tiny little waves. I’ve looked at a lot of stuff in the archives, but realize it’s all for GUYS. And I’d like a board that works for GIRLS. Ingenious idea, no? What I’m thinking in regards to this would be decreased width for my tiny shoulders. Decreased thickness is optional I suppose since it might need to hold more weight if I’m using it as a tandem board.
Throw 'em out there, this won’t be built for a while, probably not until late Spring. Also, does anyone have knowledge of how much these beasts weigh? Not much of a concern for me, but the guy I trick into carrying it for me might want to know. Thanks.
Rachel, you may, in fact in mine mind you are trying to get too much out of one board. It is like asking for a car that gets 75 MPG, can do 300 MPH, and still be easy to park. For a stand up surfboard you want the width to be in the 25 to 28 range, which is hard for even a normal guy to paddle laying down. For two people (tandem) you will need a thickness in the 4 to 6 inch thick range which is no big deal. The length should be about 11’10 or so also no big deal, you should look into EPS since right now this is the only blank you are going to be able to find. On a board that size 6 to 7 inches of nose rocker will work, and about 5 inchs of tail rocker, make the rails soft very round, and tucked in the tail which will make the board easier to turn. I think the only problem you will have is with the width. You will have a problem paddeling a board that is much over 23 inches wide unless you really pull the nose in which might work, and standing up and starting to get the board moving is not easy to do with a board that is only 23 inches wide.
my fiancee’s sup is the 11’0 munoz surftech. Its 3.75 thich and 25" wide. She has ridiculous balance, but I dont see why it wouldnt work for a flat water board. Hell, I can standup paddle it in the harbors. She even crushes on it on choppy days, but after 3-4 hours, she atarts getting bucked.
I would give it a shot at 12’ (if you have to have that much length, you could probably cheat it down to 11’6) 4.5-5 thick (but not over 5, me and J weigh in at 325 combined and have more float than we need at 5.5) and anywhere from 25-26 wide. It will just take the easy learning curve out of the SUP, will be mucho tippy, but shouldnt be to bad in the flats. Just be sure to pull the nose in and give it 5.5-6.5 of rocker. Tandem surfing makes the board want to pearl alot…
Interesting and very helpful replies. Thanks guys! I just chose 12’ as a standard dimension. I saw a couple of EPS blanks on the Segway site and figured that was a good starting point. 11’ will be eaiser to shape and carry so I’ll definitely look into that. I mostly just wanted something to play around on the lake by my summer house. If I can’t be at the ocean surfing I’d rather be paddling around and keeping in shape. 25" wide sounds so much better than the 28" I was seeing a lot of places. I’ll definitely look at the Surftech models. It’ll be probably 1 lb EPS in the style of Hunter’s POS SUP. I really don’t want to calculate the price and shipping costs of a blank that big!
I posted a board a few months back that mesured 12’3” x 20” x 28” x18” x 4”. You could get away by pulling it in to about 26" wide. I rode this both as an SUP and a prone paddler. The trick is to make the deck really flat and use a boxier fuller rail. Check out: Swaylocks Inspired SUP #2 by Uncle D.