Tail sinking

SUP
#1

I got a new SUP this weekend and when I ride the Tail sinks on me, is this bad?

The board is 10’2" 32" 181L and I am 240 lbs, and I know that’s the biggest part of it, and it doesn’t appear to be any more an issue than hard to balance. I am new, the longest I’ve stood up is 4 minutes on calm water. I paddled it mostly on my knees or sitting for 2.5 miles with no issues, but watching my daughters video she took the tail was under water. I have a lot to work on and as a beginner I might want to go to a larger volume board, according to my google searching, but nothing at all says weather the tail being partially underwater matters.

#2

If only the bow or stern is sunk, you are not standing in the middle of the board. Trim refers to the boat sitting level front-to-back.
It sounds like your trim is stern heavy which would sink the stern and make the bow stick up. This is undesirable, as basically all boats should sit trim (level) on flat water. Adjust where you stand until the board is trim (as in move your feet forward until the board is level)

Once the board is trim, if the entire thing is sitting too low in the water, then you need a higher volume SUP.

1 Like
#3

Thank you, that makes sense. My stupid brain tries to do everything based off the middle or a point, like the carrying handle, without thinking that it might be something simple. Someone else told me that it sounded like I needed to step forward, I felt that I was to far forward to start, but that’s what I’ll try. And yeah on stepping up to a higher volume I knew that as I was buying the board lol, but it was a nice used board for the right price and I figure I always figure out and get pretty good at stuff, encouragement to lose some weight this way :stuck_out_tongue: .

#4

In general the carry handle is a good center point to start from, and then you can move forward or backward as needed to correct the trim.

If you aren’t able to stay standing for long due to balance issues, it likely is the board is too small for you. A larger volume board would allow you to stand more.

I looked at a brand at random with a listed 181 liter volume (Isle SUP) and it says capacity was 245 lbs. If your board is similar, the board is undersized for you. All paddle vessels, especially for people starting in the sport, shouldn’t be loaded near capacity. As you get closer to exceeding capacity, the vessel becomes less stable. Better for recreational paddling would look for a board with 300ish pound capacity.

#5

Your board is too small for you. You need a 12 foot long board.
You’ll never enjoy paddling on that board, and SUP paddling should be fun

Jack L