Hey all - read a lot re. the 9'8" X 34" X 200L Naish Odysseus on the Breeze, and from all reports (including reviews from DJ The Great!) it sounds like a great 'stable-table' type SUP to get newbies hooked and a nice cruising board for just pottering about. Clearly it's not going to be super fast, nor be a great surf SUP, but seems to do a little bit of everything reasonably well.
I'm on a 10' Mana and love it, and my better half is (finally!!) starting to get the SUP bug so looking at getting her a board of her own. She won't be doing any surfing nor long distance, so something nice & wide, with great stability will be purchased. Problem is I need to keep length to =/<10ft in length (storage issues). Have considered iSUP's but would prefer a solid board if possible.
With that in mind, the Odysseus clearly fits the bill - stable, short enough to store, and great reviews. Before I pull the trigger and place an order though, are there any other suggestions for something similar in other brands (bear in mind needs to be super stable for a novice and less than 10ft)? Starboard / Fanatic have anything similar? Any ideas if Simon & the gurus at Deep would be willing to knock up a Custom in similar dimensions to an Odysseus? Keeping it local would great if it's possible! 
Chalk and cheese difference unfortunately..
It's mostly the channels.. along with the big square tail and chunky rails on the Odysseus that make such a short, wide and thick board work so well..
The Whopper has none of these features.. The Whopper would be a better choice if surfing was your main priority..
Select to expand quoteDavidJohn said..
Chalk and cheese difference unfortunately..
It's mostly the channels.. along with the big square tail and chunky rails on the Odysseus that make such a short, wide and thick board work so well..
The Whopper has none of these features..
Odysseus is an easy platform to develop SUP skills
Great in smooth protected water and fun to muck around on in small surf
Good for just drifting over sand banks and weed beds and exploring protected waters and lots of laughs in small wave smooth days at the beach
And remember it's all about having lots of laughs
There's the Coreban EZ, 10'x34", 198 liters; and the Jimmy Lewis Maestro, 10-3x35", 213 liters. But they too might be a bit too surf oriented for what you want.. I'm pretty sure Naish has a niche board in the Odysseus
No dis on the Odysseus, but... it's heavy, way over the listed 26lb. The one I weighed was well over 30lb. And that's ditto for all the other boards mentioned. If you are under 175lb or so, something in the 9'5" x 32" range will be much more suitable and lighter.
Select to expand quoteDavidJohn said..
Chalk and cheese difference unfortunately..
It's mostly the channels.. along with the big square tail and chunky rails on the Odysseus that make such a short, wide and thick board work so well..
The Whopper has none of these features.. The Whopper would be a better choice if surfing was your main priority..
That's kinda what I figure - the high volume in the rails + the slightly recessed deck, big overall volume @ 200L plus the wide outline through to nose & tail, combined with the channels, in my mind = highly stable board in a short length. It won't be used in surf - almost exclusively slow-speed flat-water fun cruising. She's never been a surfer and has no inclination to learn, so this is pretty much what we need. If storage weren't an issue I'd probably have her on an 11'6+ board...
Sounds like the Odysseus definitely has this particular short/stable niche cornered. Thanks for the feedback all
Select to expand quotebaddog said..
No dis on the Odysseus, but... it's heavy, way over the listed 26lb. The one I weighed was well over 30lb. And that's ditto for all the other boards mentioned. If you are under 175lb or so, something in the 9'5" x 32" range will be much more suitable and lighter.
Understood, baddog - weight not a massive issue as we rarely have to carry them far, and I'm tall so getting em on & off the car is no prob. For my better half, the more stable and easy it is to paddle, the more chance I've got of her not getting the ****s with wobbling all over the place and not coming out with me, so the 9'5's are probably getting a little loose for her (and my!!!) purposes. Cheers
Gidday 808.
the Odysseus ticks alot of the boxes ..and good quality..
3 of my friends have them ..they are very happy with them
they turn easy, great literage for a relaxing paddle ..
wide.
I didn't think they where too heavy at 11.8 kg s
thats only .400 grams heavier than a GT mana.
