Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6 iSUP Review – 2025

Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6’’ iSUP Review

9.7

Overall Rating

9.7/10

Pros

• Superbly stable platform - heavier riders will absolutely love how user-friendly and supportive this board feels!
• Has the lively and responsive feeling of a much smaller board
• Surprisingly easy to paddle quickly for such a big board - it cuts an easy and smooth line through the water.
• Great cargo carrying potential, especially back in the tail area with all that extra width.
• One of the best boards ever for learning to do step-back turns on!
• Nice having the kayak seat option, which will work really well on this board due to its stability
• Red Paddle Co construction remains one of the best in the business
• Excellent carrying bag and really good hand pump as part of the kit

Cons

• The full-length US-style finbox looks a bit dated nowadays, as most brands have progressed on to the split-style US finbox which makes rolling up the board a lot easier.
• The permanently fixed side fins won’t be to everyone's liking
• If the center handle was lower profile the board would be even better for yoga/fitness!

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Is Red Paddle Co’s new addition to the Ride range a game-changer in the super-stable board class? You need to read this review!

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The Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6 is a new addition to the brand’s line-up for 2025, and we were super excited to get an advance look at it. It has been designed to offer the most stable platform possible, yet not at the expense of performance – and that is no easy task. In general, when you increase stability in a design, you pay a price in terms of losing maneuverability and glide. In simplest terms, more stability usually means a less lively board.

Yet Red thinks they’ve cracked it. And the shape is certainly nothing like we’ve ever seen from them before. Which in itself is interesting. For readers unfamiliar with the brand, Red Paddle Co have been around pretty much since the beginning of the modern paddleboarding scene, and have been a ground-breaking, market-leading brand in the iSUP space from the outset. Many of the innovations we now take for granted came from the Red design house. However, in general their board shapes are subtle and sophisticated rather than radically pushing the boundaries in new directions. Or so we thought – until we saw the Ride 11’6! Not only is it a heavily tweaked shape, it’s also just 4.7” thick. That, to us geeky reviewers, is a potentially very exciting combination indeed. Read on to find out what we discovered when we got it onto the water.

We think the Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6 would be a great SUP for:

• Heavier paddlers who really value a whole lot of stability in their paddleboard
• Heavier paddlers wanting a board that is easy to clamber back onto
• Paddlers wanting maximum carrying capacity
• Paddlers wanting a big board that still has a responsive and playful feel
• Paddlers wanting a bigger board with a kayak seat option.

Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6: Spec Sheet

• Board Category: All-round, Large Paddlers
• Listed Board Dimensions: 11’6 x 33 x 4.7″
• Measured Board Dimensions: 11’5 x 34.5” x 5”
• Listed Board Weight: 24.14 lbs
• Actual Board Weight (inflated): 24.1 lbs
• Listed Max Capacity: 265 lbs
• Recommended PSI: 15-22 PSI
• Fins: 9” US box touring fin + 2 permanently fixed sidebites.
• Paddle: Choose between Cruiser Tough, Hybrid, Prime, Ultimate
• Board Shell Construction Materials: MSL®800 Fusion
• Drop-stitch type: x-woven dropstitch
• Price Range: High
• Warranty: 5 year (as long as you register the board within 3 months)

Performance Review of the Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6 Stand Up Paddle Board

Overall Score: [9.7/10]

• Stability: 9.7/10
• Speed: 6.0/10
• Tracking: 9.4
• Maneuverability: 9.4/10
• Construction Quality: 9.8/10
• Features/Accessories: 9.2/10

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Stability Rating: [9.6/10]

The stability score shown here is a global rating, based on comparative performance to all other sizes and styles of paddleboards (other than multi-person boards).

Stability is very much the defining aspect of the Red Paddle Co RIde 11’6, so it’s appropriate that we start with a discussion of this performance parameter. Red have clearly, unambiguously and unashamedly pushed the plan shape of this board to maximise stability. The board gets wide early on and then holds that width for a very long way back behind the central standing area, culminating in that super wide tail, maximising what we refer to as the ‘hips’ and ‘shoulders’ of the plan shape to optimise both the primary and secondary stability.

A quick note here. Red Paddle Co are labelling the board as being 33” wide, but both the review models we measured came in at over 34”, which is quite a significant difference. It’s hard to determine the maximum width exactly on Red Paddle Co boards because the RSS batten pocket effectively adds another half inch of width anyway, but even allowing for this, the board is easily 34”. We have absolutely no issue with this actual width; the board feels ‘right’ and we loved the stability it was offering. However, we’d recommend that buyers understand that it should be viewed essentially as a 34” board not the 33” advertised.

Width isn’t the only card that Red Paddle Co are playing with this design though. Many other brands have gone down that route. The icing on the cake with the Ride 11’6 is the reduced dropstitch thickness, which brings the rider closer to the water, creating an even more stable feel. And if that wasn’t enough, they’ve given the board three fairly solid fins to stabilize the board yet further.

Red Paddle Co have suggested an upper weight limit of 265 lbs for the Ride 11’6. This is perhaps a bit understated, the board could undoubtedly carry more. However, this is where the move to the thinner grade of dropstitch comes into play. Riders much heavier than 265 lbs may well find that, while the board still has plenty of stability to offer, it starts to sag or ‘hinge’ slightly in the middle under their feet, simply because 4.7” dropstitch has less natural rigidity than 6” dropstitch. So if you are significantly heavier than 265 lbs you’ll probably be better off with a thicker board. However, for riders up to 265 lbs the benefits of the thinner dropstitch vastly outweigh that loss of rigidity. The stability difference is considerable.

Stability isn’t just about weight-carrying, either. Many tall paddlers, particularly if well built in the upper body, also find stability to be a major issue, and for those paddlers also this board will be an absolute delight. And indeed for anyone who is naturally just a bit more heavy on their feet.

Overall, the Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6 really is extraordinarily stable; indeed it’s undoubtedly one of the most stable board platforms that you’re going to find without getting into the realms of multi-user boards. Hence the extremely high score we’re giving it for this parameter. But to be honest, we pretty much predicted this top score from the first moment we saw the board. The bigger question was going to be – how much of a toll was all that stability going to take on the other parameters?

Speed: 6.0/10

So this is where it gets interesting. How would all that stability and width affect the board speed and ride?

Cruising

In this mode the Ride 11’6 is very comfortable to paddle. Despite all that width the board does not feel particularly ‘draggy’; that arrow-head nose shape cuts cleanly and easily through the water.

Fast Cruising

This is where the Ride 11’6 surprised us. Some bigger boards really don’t enjoy being pushed harder but the Ride 11’6 doesn’t fight you; it’s actually quite happy being pushed along at a decent pace. While it’s no faster than you’d expect from a board of this size, it still cuts through the water pleasingly easily.

Going Hard

Again the Ride 11’6 does pretty well, and is vastly better for going hard on than round-nosed bigger boards, which really start pushing water when you try and put the hammer down. The issue for sustained faster paddling on this board actually becomes more about the fact that it’s just difficult to maintain good paddling technique on such a wide board, than it being about the board shape not wanting to be paddled fast.

Overall

While you’re not going to win any races on the Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6, we were very pleasantly surprised by how easily it slips through the water, whether in cruising mode or paddling hard. The nose shape cuts a clean line, and then the water just seems to flow down those long parallel sides and exit with a very clean smooth wake. The board feels a lot less wide than its actual width. (It’s worth noting here that Red do have a great pedigree in making fast inflatables, their Elite raceboards have been at the front of the iSUP raceboard fleet for many years, and this knowledge of how to make a board go fast has clearly been helpful in creating this Ride 11’6 design). In a side-by-side comparison to the other board of similar width in the Red range, the Ride 10’8, the 11’6 was both considerably faster and easier to paddle fast.

Tracking: 9.4/10

Tracking ultimately comes down to board length; a longer board will almost always track better than a shorter board of the same general width. So our tracking scores are intended to show how a board compares to other boards of similar size. In the case of the Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6 the scores compare to other boards in the 10’6 – 11’6 all-purpose/touring category.

For a board of this width the Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6 tracks extremely well. The pointed nose and parallel-sided planshape really lock it onto its course, and the large fin area in the tail plays a significant role too. Indeed if it wasn’t for the fact that your paddle inevitably ends up quite a long way out from the centerline simply because of the sheer width of board, the tracking would be scoring even higher. Beginner/intermediate paddlers will find it easy to hold a reasonably straight line on, while more experienced paddlers will find the tracking as good as any 11’6 iSUP can offer.

Maneuverability: 9.4/10

Maneuverability scores are based on comparative performance to boards of a similar general length and style. In the case of the Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6 the scores compare to other boards in the 10’6 – 11’6 all-purpose/touring category.

Normally, when a board scores highly in the tracking department, it will fare less well when it comes to maneuvering. However, there’s a really interesting (well, interesting for us geeky reviewer-types, anyway) thing going on with the 11’6 Ride design. Because the volume distribution is orientated towards the tail, the balance point and standing position is quite a long way behind the actual center of the board. Because of this, plus of course that extra width meaning that your paddle is engaging a long way from the center line anyway, it’s remarkably easy to make course changes on the board – it naturally pivots very easily. This gives it a surprisingly lively and responsive feel for such a big board.

It responds extremely well to forward sweep turns and more powerful turning techniques such as rudder and crossbow turns. It’s also fabulous for step-back turning because there’s so much width and volume in the tail, giving immense stability and support. The one type of turning it doesn’t respond quite so well to is reverse sweep turns, because a) you have less leverage, being closer to the tail in your normal standing position anyway, but also because b) all that fin area in the tail is actively resisting your attempts to move it. It still turns, but it takes quite a bit more effort than on narrower-tailed designs of this size.

Unless you’re specifically wanting absolute maximum tracking and stability performance from the board, we’d actually suggest loosening it up a bit by replacing the 9” touring fin with something smaller. The board actually almost feels over-finned! Red Paddle Co really have thrown everything at the Ride to maximise that stability factor, so for most people it’d be perfectly viable to dial back slightly on this by using a 7” fin or smaller in the center finbox. (Being a US box, finding an alternative fin will be absolutely no problem). We tried the board without any center fin at all, and it’s great fun but perhaps just slightly too loose in that configuration. A smaller center fin will balance it perfectly.

To understand more about turning styles and how to do them, check out our how-to video

Construction Quality: 9.8/10

Red Paddle Co have long been recognised as industry leaders in terms of iSUP construction process, with a very labour-intensive and detail-rich construction process. It’s very noticeable that Red’s seams and general finish tend to be more accurate and well-aligned than we see from pretty much any other brand. This season they have introduced some new construction labels, with the Sport 11’3 built utilising their brand new MSL800 technology. MSL stands for ‘Monocoque Structural Laminate’ while the 800 refers to how much weight (in grams) has been saved per square metre compared to their previous system.

Inside the board
At the heart of the new MSL 800 process is a cross-woven drop stitch core. The top and bottom of the board are connected by thousands of “drop-stitched” threads making an X-pattern if viewed from the side, rather than the traditional dropstitch V-pattern. X woven dropstitch is lighter yet still extremely rigid, allowing for some significant savings in board weight. Plus of course the ability to make a board this big in 4.7” dropstitch. (Which we measured at 5” incidentally, but this is typical of pretty much every 4.7” board we measure. Once inflated they fill out to 5”).

Top and Bottom Skin
Red pioneered the ‘fusion’ construction model, whereby two layers of PVC are fused directly to the dropstitch substrate with heat and pressure. The new MSL 800 process is a further refinement of the fusion approach. Red plays their cards pretty close to their chest when it comes to the details, other than that they use a unique method and set of materials to bind their reinforced PVC layer to the underlying dropstitch fabric, but we don’t know any more about the exact specifications, materials and thicknesses.

Side Construction
Red have maintained their own specific approach to how the sides of their boards are constructed, bringing the top and bottom layers together and then adding further layers of reinforcement to create that ‘monocoque’ construction rather than using side panels, as most other brands do. It’s a more expensive and labour intensive way of building a board, but has definitely withstood the test of time.

Extra Stiffening Systems
Red Paddle Co introduced their RSS (Rail Stiffening System) over 10 years ago, a system developed from windsurfing sail manufacturing, Red’s other skill-set in those early years of iSUP development. The system mirrors the stiffening battens used on high performance windsurfing sails. The RSS batten slides into a pocket built onto each side of the board adjacent to the standing area, to minimise the flex through that area of the board. From our own measurements, while it doesn’t always significantly reduce the overall flex in the board, it definitely puts more rigidity into that central standing area, which translates into a stiffer feel.

Overall, the Ride 11’6 is as well constructed as we have come to expect from Red Paddle Co, and the new MSL 800 process has clearly saved weight too, because this board is actually surprisingly light considering the sheer quantity of material involved in creating such a big board.

Board Stiffness Test: 1” Bend

The 1” deflection in our 150lb bend test is with the RSS battens in place, and is a really good result for a 4.7” board. Wider boards are usually a bit more rigid anyway, and those RSS battens do help too, as does the MSL800 construction system.

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Features/Accessory Review: [9.2/10]

Features:

The Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6 comes in the one colorway, with the super-grippy ‘Red’ embossed cushioned EVA deckpad for optimum traction and comfort underfoot.

Most brands market their super-stable offering as a multi purpose board, for adventuring, multiple riders, fishing etc, and cram as many features onto the deck as they can to this effect. Whereas Red Paddle Co have focussed more on lots of uncluttered deck space to make the board as user-friendly as possible for the heavier rider. Nevertheless, it still has some useful additions.

On the nose we find a well padded carrying handle, plus a screw-in (M6 thread) action camera/accessory mount point. Next up are the three webbing cargo straps, attached to steel D Rings. The straps are not the full width of the nose, so the actual cargo carrying space isn’t huge, but should be more than enough for most day adventures. We really like Red’s little trick of putting the extra fitting on the strap nearest the rider, creating a loop perfectly sized for holding a water bottle.

From this rearmost front cargo strap, the deck is open and uncluttered all the way back to the tail, other than the central carrying handle. A suggestion to Red, make this handle lower profile, because this large area is fabulous for yoga/fitness work and it’d be even better if the handle was less upstanding.

Positioned out on the rail (which we really like as it keeps them out of the way) are a set of D rings to affix a kayak seat should you so desire, which is a nice addition since this board is wide and stable enough to work well in kayak mode. Top tip: put a foam roller or similar onto the rearmost front cargo strap to act as a footrest (or get a purpose-made footrest and use it with those D ring strap fixings); it makes all the difference to your ergonomic comfort when in kayaking position.

Another screw-in action cam mount is positioned behind the standing area on the left hand side, which could be useful for another camera mount music box, another drink holder or even a fishing rod holder. It also has a D ring, which allows you to attach an additional lanyard so you don’t lose your camera if it comes off the mount.

In the tail area we have D rings for more cargo straps or bungees should they be required. With all that width and support back there, this would undoubtedly be a great place to carry cargo. Finally, at the very back of the board we have another carrying handle and the leash fixing point.

On the underside we have a three fin configuration. This is deserving of a bit more analysis, because Red have very much gone their own way in this department. Firstly, the central US-style finbox is full length, rather than the split style now found on most other leading brands because it makes a board easier to roll up. We’ve discussed this at length in our other Red Paddle Co board reviews for this year. While there’s nothing at all wrong with the full length US box option, it just now looks a little dated compared to the split style system.

Next up, the permanently-fixed side fins. Red Paddle Co is one of the only brands still continuing with this approach, and it’s undoubtedly controversial. Very big on the plus side – there is zero risk of getting to the beach and finding that you’ve left the fin(s) at home! Or having the fin break. Any retailer at a popular holiday spot will confirm that selling fins to tourists who have forgotten or lost their sup fin is a lucrative line of business. Plus which, having soft, semi-indestructible ‘gummy’ style fins means that the board can be used in family fun mode, with youngsters using it as a jumping off platform, riding it up the beach, running over rocks or whatever with no risk of damage (assuming you take the center fin out of course!). As this is how so many paddleboards get used in the summer, the advantages of this are not to be understated.

On the flip side though – permanently fixed fins make the board bigger when rolled up. The Red ATB bag is big enough to cope with this, but it still does definitely take up more space. Plus which, the fins are soft enough to deform when the boards weight is left on them for any significant time. They usually correct back quite quickly once no longer under load, but not immediately. And then, probably the most important factor of all, there is no facility to remove them. Which on a very versatile board like this Ride 11’6, isn’t ideal. As discussed in the manoeuvrability section, the side fins are slightly too small to make the center fin redundant, but big enough that the board almost feels over-finned when also used with the center fin supplied. Moving to a fin box solution as Red use on their excellent Compact range would be the obvious answer here. Something to consider for future models maybe.

Included Accessories:

Red Paddle Co boards come with what is widely considered to be the best bag in the business, their ‘ATB’ (all-terrain-bag). What sets it apart from the others is that the hip belt and rucksack straps can easily be detached, turning it into a fabulous ‘coffin’ bag for air travel or general storage. It’s extremely tough and robust, has well-padded and reinforced handles on every surface, and heavy duty wheels that can even cope with sand.

The Titan II pump is similarly legendary. Red Paddle Co led the way with the move to double chamber pumps and their Titan has stood the test of time. If you’re going to inflate a board by hand then this is the easiest way to do it. However, Red may need to move towards offering this as an optional accessory, as electric pumps become more affordable and practical.

The Ride 11’6 is not packaged with a paddle as standard but can be purchased with any of the main Red paddle range.

Summary Review of the Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6

Red Paddle Co has indeed achieved what they claimed with the Ride 11’6. The board is superbly stable yet still manages to maintain a fun and responsive feel. The combination of a stability-maximising planshape and the thinner dropstitch really has delivered the goods. We have no doubt that heavier paddlers or indeed anyone who just likes a whole lot of stability in their board will absolutely love the Ride 11’6. Being thinner, it’s also significantly easier to clamber back onto from the water than a 6” board. It’s amazing what a difference losing just an inch of thickness makes.

As mentioned in the stability section, it’s important to note that the Ride 11’6 is actually a full 34” wide, a bit more if you include the batten pockets, rather than the 33” as stated on the board. This is not a problem; the width works perfectly with the design, it’s just important to understand that you’re not actually getting a 33” board.

There are already some great boards in this super-stable-platform category, and many boast a more extensive set of fittings and fixtures than the Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6. (There are a couple of minor refinements in this area that we’d recommend for future generations of this board.) However, it definitely sets new standards in the class for sheer enjoyment and ease of paddling. Throw in the excellent construction and warranty, and there’s no doubt that this board is going to be a winner.

Happy paddling! We hope you enjoyed this review of the Red Paddle Co Ride 11’6. If you have any questions or comments please leave us a comment below!

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SupBoardGuide

Heyo! At SupBoardGuide.com we are a team who love the water, the outdoors, and are more than grateful that our full-time job allows us to review stand up paddle boards. We paddle year round (it helps that we are just about 2 hours outside of Las Vegas), and we bring in a wide range of paddlers with the goal of providing our readers with the best, most in-depth, and accurate stand up paddle board reviews.

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