SUP Equipment
Beginner
We call this our Cruiser Model, because that’s exactly what it’s designed for – easy learning, river cruising. The Cruiser ranges in length from 11ft to 12ft, is between 29 and 31 inches wide for greater stability, and is four to 41/2 inches thick for better flotation.
This board can handle any body weight up to and even a bit over 100 Kg, and is the perfect beginner board, or a long distance paddler, you can even take a passenger or your dog! Works great on small & full waves.
Intermediate
We call this one our All Rounder because it suits intermediate to advanced surfers, so you’ll get long use out of it. Between 10ft and 11ft 6 inches long, between 27 and 29 inches wide and three to 31/4 to 4 inches thick.
It surfs pretty much like a longboard and is great for pivot turns, walking the board, nose riding and rail to rail turns. It will handle a rider up to 100 Kg and still paddle well.
Performance
Within this category we’ve got two quite different boards, the Pro and the Quad Fish. The Pro is shaped pretty much like a performance nine foot longboard, but a lot wider of course. Built to handle huge turns, floaters, roundhouse cutbacks, helicopters, you name it. Dimensions are 10 ft by 28 inches wide by 31/2 inches wide. This board is for advanced riders up to and around 80kg.
The four-finned Quad is a nice, loose and easy performer that can be used by intermediate riders as well as advanced, and even by light beginners who have some natural balance. The quad fin setup makes for a very loose feel in the surf, good for big turns and rail to rail adjustment. Its dimensions are 9ft 6 inches to 10 ft 6 inches by 28 to 29 inches wide by three to four inches thick. Suitable for experienced riders up to 100kg, others no more than 80kg.
Foam Glass Vs Epoxy Mould
SUPS boards come in two construction types, either a custom shaped foam/fibreglassed board from a local shaper, or a moulded epoxy board generally from a mass produced factory. SUP Noosa offers hand shaped glass boards by many Australian shapers. Our range of boards from Southpoint, Naish, Surftech and NSP are all epoxy derivatives mass produced in factories. Each construction method has its merits and may help you in making your decision to go SUP.
Foam Pros
Foam boards are custom shaped and are leading the industry in innovative and up to date designs. A foam board is generally heavier which allows better glide through the water in windy conditions. The glass on the rails is much more durable against carbon paddles and will last much longer with basic care (see example below). Any dings and scratches are very easy to fix and are cheap if professionally done.
Foam Cons
Foam boards are generally more expensive than an equivalent Epoxy board due to its labour intensive construction. A foam board is heavier which is a hindrance when manhandling the board. Paddles are not usually included in the board price and adds overall cost.
Epoxy Mould
Epoxy boards are generally made from moulds in factories. These moulds are created by top class shapers from all over the world. Examples of this are from Jeff Timone for Southpoint. These boards make the general surfing population better access to top quality boards. Epoxy boards use a 2Pac paint system to gel coat the outer layer of the board. Although this looks nice it is proving to be delicate against the hard carbon paddles leaving scratch and scuff marks (see example below).
Epoxy Pros
Epoxy boards are cheap due to mass production and come with paddles. They are light to cary to the water and are excellent for beginners.
Epoxy Cons
Scuffs easily from the paddle. Can get blown away easily in strong winds. Shapes are 6-12 months behind due to long production to market times.
The example above shows a Laird Surftech Epoxy Mould board (on the left) after extensive use against a Foam Glass Laguna Bay board (on the right) with similar beginner lesson use.