We tested these 16 SUP boards:
Hardboards:
Inflatable boards:
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All topics in this test:
The test report
2023 is the year of the new SUP test. Instead of comparing a large group of similar boards with each other, we set out in search of particularly exciting products. Because while decor and price are often the deciding factors in the 11-foot all-round board segment, there are still special boards to be found in the almost endless SUP range - for demanding paddlers or for very specific preferences. Where the riding characteristics stand out from the sheer mass of SUPs on the market and take centre stage. For paddlers who are looking for more than just a private bathing island. These can be inflatable boards or laminated, narrow racing boards or sustainable tourers. There is even a board specially designed for owners of water-loving dogs.
All test boards are hand-paddled and inspected by the SUP test team. Only what we really want to recommend makes it into this selection. We test all boards on local lakes, in mirror-smooth water, but also when the wind is blowing. The test protocol includes tipping stability, how firm a board is, how light, fast and safe it is in different turns, but also how fast it can be moved with a fixed paddle power setting - a kind of tester cruise control that adjusts over the years.
Test with GPS measurement
That's why it's always there on days with smooth water and no wind: the GPS measurement. Although speed only plays a subordinate role for most paddlers, it allows us to be sure whether a board is really very easy to paddle or whether we are perhaps just a little lazier and slower across the lake and therefore feel less pressure on the paddle. A short sprint then shows the speed potential. The test in this issue is less about which 14-foot iSUP is the fastest and more about the average kilometre performance per hour of the different board classes.
In unagitated touring mode, at medium speed so to speak, the inflatable 11-foot all-round board covers around 5.8 kilometres, the fastest tourer 7.2 kilometres. At 29 and 30 inches, the slightly wider 14-foot hardboards are very close to the narrowest 14-foot iSUPs. However, the narrow inflatables are significantly more wobbly and more challenging to paddle. For similar tipping stability, an iSUP should be one to two inches wider than a hardboard. In terms of top speed, the boards are also a good two kilometres per hour apart - that's a speed advantage of around 20-25 percent for the sporty 14-foot board, both over long distances and in sprints.
Which board size is the right one?
Depending on the size, weight and balance of the paddler, the width is the most important criterion for a suitable mix of safety and paddling fun. Nobody wants to be constantly fighting not to fall in - especially in cold water - but it can be a bit challenging. Little can be done about the size and weight, but regular paddling will noticeably train and improve your sense of balance. If you think you are talented, perhaps buy a size smaller.
As a rule of thumb for iSUPs, 28 inches is the lower limit for really experienced paddlers to go on tour safely. The most versatile boards, even for occasional paddlers, are around 30 to 31 inches wide: with a sporty feel, but also safe for a little more wave action on the lake. If you are tall or heavy or don't see your sporting strengths in balancing exercises, you should go for 32 to 33 inches. 34 to 36 inches are the carrying capacity for very heavy paddlers, or a lot of luggage or very rough water.
The width formula: Due to the continuous round edges and the greater thickness (tree trunk effect), inflatables of the same width appear more wobbly than hardboards. With an otherwise identical outline, you can choose a hardboard about one to two inches narrower.
With hardboards, you can deduct one to two inches due to the lower stance position (lack of tree trunk effect) and the often sharper edges. A 27-inch hardboard does not pose an insurmountable challenge for light, experienced paddlers and at the other end of the scale, a Naish Touring with a width of 32 inches already seems very stable in this test. For comparable safety, an iSUP would have to be at least 34 inches wide. However, the easiest option is to test it in practice at a hire centre. Regardless of the brand, you'll realise in an hour which board width is the most fun for you, which can be transferred to other brands and it's a good investment of 15 euros if you avoid a bad purchase.
Accessories for iSUPs
If the board is not only transported to the water in the car, the pack sack is very important. The choice of materials and workmanship appears to be really good in all the bags - only the Glory Boards, which are offered at very favourable prices, are somewhat less well equipped, but sufficient.
The Starboard bag is made of soft but durable material made from recycled plastic bottles. Paddleboard puts the board in a large waterproof, welded expedition rucksack. This first transports the board to the water and then your clothes on the board. The Fanatic rucksack is particularly light and compact, is so small that it disappears behind the back of even normally trained paddlers and, with the lightweight Diamond Air Pocket, the whole package is really suitable for commuter trains even without wheels on the rucksack. In an outdoor shop, you would probably not be able to get past the till for less than 100 euros with comparable bags.
Not necessarily suitable for hand luggage, but helpful when inflating are the large double piston pumps that LiteVenture and GTS supply as standard with their boards. Fanatic, Indiana, JP, Naish, Norden, Paddleboard and RRD pack high-quality fins made of carbon or GRP with their boards. The fins from LiteVenture and SIC can be snapped in without tools.
Test of the hardboards
Hardboards offer significantly more design freedom than inflatable boards. The selection of models presented here is correspondingly large and varied.
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Almost any shape can be milled or sanded from a foam block - and almost any hardboard can start life as a cuboid block. This allows much more freedom of shape than with inflatable boards, which can only be the same thickness from front to back and have the same edge rounding throughout. In this group of flat water boards - i.e. for inland lakes, but also for coastal areas without large breaking surf, i.e. also for a tour along the Baltic Sea beaches, for example - there are three interesting and very different approaches, which can be fundamentally differentiated according to outline and, above all, bow shape.
Pointed or round bow?
The martial, sharp-looking bow sections clearly originate from racing and are borrowed from canoe construction: for a maximum waterline length and reduced drag. Both goals that also appear to be worthwhile for touring boards. This genetic lineage is most clearly recognisable in the boards from JP-Australia and Starboard, where the deck has also been lowered. Extremely narrow racing boards become paddleable in the first place thanks to the increased tipping stability, while touring boards increase riding comfort and safety in moving water. Fanatic, RRD and SIC are somewhat more discreet in their use of these features. As a side effect, narrow noses that cut through the water often subjectively convey an even greater feeling of speed than the speedometer indicates. The Naish board, on the other hand, prefers to glide over the water, the wide nose pushes itself over smaller waves. This also allows you to get off the mark quickly, with significantly more stability, both on the line and in the turn. Norden, the brand with its roots in surfing, takes a very unusual approach to touring. The outline, rails and rocker line (deflection of the underwater hull) of the Glider could also be located at a surf spot and, at 12'4'', it looks smaller on land than it actually is. The pointed bow rises boldly into the air on the lake, the board also looks like a wave rider on a quarry pond and is suitable for paddlers who are not too heavy, but also for SUP tours. The selection tested here is therefore large, you have to make a choice.
Compact class: Test Inflatable Boards
Hardboards are unbeatable on the water, but inflatables are lighter, easier to handle and easier to stow away. These are also available for every area of use and here are some very special models that are almost incomparably good.
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These boards are incomparably good because they are - each one in its own right - genuine specialists in their particular discipline. No off-the-shelf products from the third aisle on the left in the DIY store, but developed for the very individual requirements of water sports brands. You will find particularly light or super-compact boards that can be stowed away, such as those from Fanatic, Glory or GTS: for easy handling on land and on the water. Other boards are built much more robustly, appear firmer and even stiffer, such as the really fast sports tourers from Indiana, LiteVenture and Naish. Three tight, narrow boards in 14-foot lengths for demanding, experienced SUP paddlers. But you will also find a new, particularly stable and stable touring board for long distances here with the 13'8'' paddle board, which was developed together with an extreme paddler. Plus a hybrid from Sport Vibrations for paddling and windsurfing or the new generation from Starboard, a bold new board concept designed for flat water, but also for (occasional) surfing in small waves.
