We tested these 15 all-round boards:
"Compact touring boards are the real all-rounders", as GTS man Thomas Richter had already proclaimed before last year's test. Many other brands take a similar view, which is why this group is the "all-round" class for us in 2017 - for SUP beginners and also for more experienced paddlers who not only want a stable paddle pontoon for their first attempts at standing up, but also a board that is still fun in its second and third year. "The Touring 12'6" x 32" is our best-selling board, followed immediately by the Blend 11'2" x 32". The Whopper 10'2" x 34" has slipped way down the sales list," reveals Flo Brunner from Starboard.
These shapes are sporty and suitable for touring at the same time, in contrast to the much wider, even shorter and rounder shapes - you can hardly grow out of the new all-rounders. The example of Red Paddle with the same model, namely the "Sport MSL", shows very nicely that the shorter models are also slightly wider than the Sport Tourer 12'6". So these are not simply shrunken shapes in all directions. On the one hand, longer boards of the same width are naturally a little more stable in the water, while on the other hand the additional width increases the board's suitability for beginners and the range of use in choppier water. However, very light people in this group still prefer the narrower boards. After all, if you weigh less than 65kg, you probably don't need a 32" board in the long run. The step from 32 to 30 inches makes up around five centimetres in width.
The often cryptic, Anglo-Saxon inch specifications always include the board thicknesses. And this is where the answer is hidden as to why there are often extremely favourable online offers that are exactly the same length and width as the boards in this group. You can be lucky with such offers and "snap up" a decent board. In many cases, however, these boards are only four inches thick. And this is probably perceived as very soft and wobbly by 90 per cent of all paddlers. Just a bit of number crunching explains why there are noticeable differences between four, 4.75, five and six inches. That's only 10 or 15 per cent - you might think. When calculating the stiffness of a beam - our SUP is no different for a technician, as sad as that sounds - the thickness is calculated "to the power of three". A six-inch thick board is therefore theoretically twice as stiff as a five-inch board. Practical experience shows that boards with 4.75 inches, depending on the width, are still completely normal to paddle for paddlers up to 80 or 90 kilos. At four inches, however, the lower limit is exceeded and the board is only about half as stiff as a 4.75 inch board. Our test crew - with years of SUP experience on boards of all classes - has been on the water extensively with the boards from this test - from short trips on Lake Wörth to long distances on Lake Garda - and can assure you that there are no such total failures in this selection.
The details of the SUP all-round boards:
Three of the boards are also suitable for learning to windsurf and for windsurfing tours in light winds. With a mounting option for the mast foot on deck, and the Mistral and Siren have an additional fin box in the centre of the board. This is missing on the Fanatic, which unfortunately reduces its suitability for windsurfing.
