I’m currently using a Kalama downwind 8’ x 19 for foiling waves.
I love it because it gives you the ability to get up on really small bumps, but I know I’m losing some
Performance and lots of swing weight.
I wanted to check with everyone here to see what works for them. I see guys on YouTube on tiny 5’ SUP boards but I feel like that would kill my glide.
I’m on the east coast of Florida so I don’t wanna go too small and lose the ability to pop up easy.
This might interest you !
Hah I was about to link you to the thread I started on the same subject but @LaPaloude beat me to it!
I can actually add a little bit extra info now as in the past week I picked up a smaller SUP to finally find out if I could feel a difference at all.
I went from a 7’10 x 19.5 @110L board to a 6’10 x 20 @95L board so it’s not apples to apples with the volume but I can report back even at these early stages of getting used to a new board, it surfs and pumps much better!
I have definitely lost a bit of paddle speed so not sure how it would go in really small conditions but in the waves we had over the weekend I was getting 35 decent waves a session so it’s still a wave catching machine.
I don’t think I could go all the way down to 5’ though but can say I definitely noticed the difference of 1ft shorter and 15L.
Thank you! This is exactly what I was looking for!
The real fun happens at under 5’6" or so, but you really need foot straps to make it worth your while. And forget about paddling straight or anything in terms of easy. But then again, an 8’ x 19" is not exactly easy to swing around and late drop!
I was gonna mention this exact video! How do you guys paddle out, there are no clips of that. I tried to do this on one of my 5’4" wing boards and it was brutal! I guess as you said it isn’t easy! What board do you recommend?
For me, I start out on 5’4 to 5’10 to now 8’. I used a front foot strap on the 5’10 and that help paddle through the whitewater. Without foot strap, it’s definitely harder and also you don’t get the leverage on the turn. Learn j paddle stroke and paddle bracing and a lot of practice.
We all learned to SUP foil on those short pig boards. 5’ x 28-30 wide. I was doing it in Florida. Had tons of days where I missed more waves than I caught. Foils were draggy pigs. Boards were draggy pigs. New Smyrna was the best place because it has more wave energy than other spots, but it’s also a nightmare for standing due to wonky current nearly everywhere. You actually feel like you go nowhere paddling your ass off. It’s only the kick in the ass from behind by the wave that overcomes all that drag.
You are so lucky today to have missed those days!
I’ve tried out my buddies 7’ v1 dragonfly a couple times. Fun in the surf and also still paddles decent enough to get up in DW bumps. East coast FL as well.
I have a 5’4" x30" 120L supfoil board the is a kick in the pants to ride on a wave and pump around like a short sup board can - but absolutely sucks for catching waves as you talked about above.
Its for sale and nobody wants it. Anybody want it? SFBay area, going cheap, all carbon, watertight, front footstrap, it is a sick board from back in the day. I don’t use it because of the above reasons, not the tradeoff I want for everyday foiling. I’d use it only on certain days where the waves are great, but those are rare where I ride.
I recently moved from an F-One DW PRO (7’5/120L) to a custom KT (6’2 x 24” / 120L). It’s a big trade off between ease of catching a wave in favor of carving and pumping to link waves. The pop up will feel very differently and you can really only pump-paddle to catch the wave at the critical point when the wave is picking you up. So position in the line-up becomes a lot more crucial. For me it’s a fun trade off as linking waves is my main progression goals right now. I would still keep the long board if possible, on crowded days it’s nice to take off way before the line up.
In terms of paddling out, I find that paddling on my knees works best. If you’re in a spot where the paddle out is very long, the trade off might not be worth it.
I have a 6’8x21" Kings DW Shape Hybrid and just finished a 8’x20" Franks DW board copy. Our break is about a 300-500 yard soft mushy ride depending on where you can take off. I much prefer the longer DW board as I can catch the bumps earlier and pumping back out is kind of a waste. I would much rather paddle leisurely back to the takeoff spot than try and pump either board 300 yards. I sit on my knees or just sitting down and puddle back out slowly. With the DW boards I am not able to just stand there standing for hours like I can with my normal SUP boards.
Thanks for all the feedback. Sounds like I’ll be keeping my 8’ board and add something between 6’6"-7’6" to my quiver for the bigger/better days.