Step Up
Alongside the all-round and compact shapes on offer, brands and shapers will often have a ‘Pro’ range. Earlier we talked about compromise, it’s in these ‘Pro’ ranges that the compromise balance starts to shift towards performance. Let’s keep this in perspective though, most of the top 10 sup surfers in the world aren’t going to be buying from this range just as most of the rest of us aren’t going to be buying the boards that the top ten use. Economics dictate that the ‘Pro’ ranges will not be so out of reach in use that they won’t see an investment in purchase from the sup surfer looking to step up their game. In general ‘Pro’ ranges narrow down the width, reduce the volume and up the rocker in nose and tail to give us the best chance at those searing turns and hollow wave ventures. So how much is too much in terms of performance or rather how low can you go in volume? For me, at 95 kgs, I’ve always found a good rule of thumb is my body weight in kgs + 10 = the minimum amount of volume for a performance board with ‘useable’ stability. Anything between that and my body weight in volume is ‘doable’ but does depend on the water state (current, chop) and my energy levels – is it my second surf of the day or was baby up all night? There is a caveat to this rule though and that is the anomaly of the lighter rider, my wife for instance is 65 kgs, yet can ride at an advanced level most of my boards. The message here is when you do get down to small performance shapes, they offer such a refined high level ride that you don’t necessarily need to reduce volume so radically if you are light to still get a high degree of performance.
Width wise, most pro boards start at 29 inches and scale down inline with length and rider ability. Increased stability comes with experience and technique but I’ve never found these boards ridiculously unstable and rest assured that as I mentioned before, that just wouldn’t make commercial sense for any producer either. So don’t see these boards as an out of reach goal, they’re not, they’re just another rung in the progression ladder that you can climb as long as you take it step by step. And let’s face it, if we don’t challenge ourselves every now and again we can lose interest in our progression, an apathy that I have seen be the downfall of many aspiring riders. Equally don’t bite off more than you can chew as that can lead to an equally distasteful loss of appetite for progression. Shop demo boards and brand ‘come and try’ events are a great way to get a feel for what boards you like and are within your range but don’t forget one of the easiest ways to try a new board is ask a friend or someone you see at the beach for a ride on their board. It’s a great way to start a conversation and meet a fellow sup surfer and part of the deal of any sponsored rider is to give up the rights to their own board for a few minutes for a potential customer!
