Hi Everyone,
I'm hoping to purchase my first SUP. I have done some research and found the abovementioned two SUP for what I think are reasonable prices.
The specs are:
Fly Pure
Price: $1299 (including carbon paddle, ankle strap and rail tape)
Volume: 159L
Width: 30"
Length: 10'0"
Thickness: ??
Odysseus
Price: $1399 (including carbon paddle) or $1199 for a soft top (including carbon paddle).
Volume: 200L
Width: 34"
Length: 9'8"
Thickness: 4 7/6"
I enjoy flat water paddling and want to progress onto some small waves in the future. I'm 6ft tall and weigh around 75kg (give or take a few kgs).
Do you think either of these boards would be ok for me? And does a soft top board have any benefits / drawbacks?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Scotty.
IMO.. either of these two boards will work for you..
The soft top has a slight advantage of being a full deck pad (nose to tail and rail to rail) and this is great for paddling with kids or pets and it's slightly more durable and less prone to dings if being used as a family board.. Personally I prefer the non-soft top Odysseus.. Are they the same price or more?
At your weight you don't need the added width of the Odysseus and the Fly is a good choice.. Unless stability is more important.. like someone I know who's lighter than you and paddles the Odysseus and absolutely loves it because its super-duper stable.. and if for storage reasons the 9'8" is that little bit shorter the Odysseus might be the better board..
I've paddled both and the Odysseus paddles better having the channels make it easier to paddle straight.. You don't need to swap sides as often as the Fly.. and it feels faster than the Fly.. If progressing to small surf is your goal the Fly is going to be the better of the two in that area.. IMO.. 
If you can you should demo both.. You'll be surprised at just how different they are.. Or if you can't demo you might just have to toss a coin.. 
Select to expand quoteDavidJohn said..
IMO.. either of these two boards will work for you..
The soft top has a slight advantage of being a full deck pad (nose to tail and rail to rail) and this is great for paddling with kids or pets and it's slightly more durable and less prone to dings if being used as a family board.. Personally I prefer the non-soft top Odysseus.. Are they the same price or more?
At your weight you don't need the added width of the Odysseus and the Fly is a good choice.. Unless stability is more important.. like someone I know who's lighter than you and paddles the Odysseus and absolutely loves it because its super-duper stable.. and if for storage reasons the 9'8" is that little bit shorter the Odysseus might be the better board..
I've paddled both and the Odysseus paddles better having the channels make it easier to paddle straight.. You don't need to swap sides as often as the Fly.. and it feels faster than the Fly.. If progressing to small surf is your goal the Fly is going to be the better of the two in that area.. IMO..
If you can you should demo both.. You'll be surprised at just how different they are.. Or if you can't demo you might just have to toss a coin..
I agree completely DJ. Both great boards for their purpose as entry level boards. The Odysseus better for kids and dogs and the Fly a little better for surfing small rollers.
Unless the manufacturing has changed I would steer away from the Fanatic Pure construction boards, I had 2 x 11'6 fanatic fly's, one in the HRS construction which was bullet proof and the other in the Pure construction which I found was very brittle and chipped and cracked very easily and was much heavier. Yes they are cheaper but I would fork out the extra $ on the HRS construction as it would be a better long term proposition.
